“We are using the slogan The New Business As Usual to convey the message that, for change to really occur, practices that until now have been viewed as the exception must become the norm moving forward,” stated Dale Wall.
A series of three regional conferences on innovative rainwater/stormwater management were held in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto during 2007 to 2008 under the sponsorship of the Canadian Water Network and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. “An overview of the selected papers indicates that no single innovative measure is adequate under all circumstances, and a multi-barrier approach is deemed to be most effective,” wrote Jiri Marsalek.
In April 2009, the Metro Vancouver Liquid Waste Management Reference Panel toured three projects at the University of British Columbia where innovative green infrastructure approaches and designs have been implemented: Choi Green Building, Sustainability Street, and the South Campus Neighbourhood. “These projects show what can be achieved by implementing water-centric green infrastructure at three scales: site, street and neighbourhood,” explained David Grigg.
“Part of the problem is not the amount of rain, but how it’s been coming down – not in a steady drizzle, but in intense bursts, as Vancouverites have seen this spring,” wrote Frances Bula.
People For Puget Sound have released a map that dramatically shows for the first time all the public stormd rains carrying pollutants into Puget Sound. The map was produced by a team of University of Washington GIS students for People For Puget Sound
The Province’s Living Water Smart and Green Communities initiatives provide a framework for convening for action in British Columbia. The ultimate goal is to establish expectatons that will, in turn, influence the form and function of the built environment.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's stormwater program — which oversees stormwater discharged by cities, industries, and construction activities — needs radical changes if it is to improve the quality of the nation’s waters, says a new report from the National Research Council. It recommends that permits be based on watershed boundaries, and the program focus on the impact of increased water volume rather than chemical pollutants.
“The desired outcome is that a common understanding of challenges and solutions will result in consistent expectations at front counters across Vancouver Island. To that end, the purpose of the seminars is to bring together representatives of planning, engineering, operations, building services, environment and parks departments from various municipalities. When developers and development consultants hear a consistent message about what is expected of them, we believe this will further accelerate doing business differently,” stated Kim Stephens.
“Having both tools accessible from the same website provides drainage modellers with a choice, depending on the modelling objectives and the capabilities of the user,” states Ted van der Gulik.
Andy Reese examines how our ideas about stormwater have changed since the 1800s. He insightfully looks back at why we pursued stormwater management in ways which unknowingly – at the time – foreclosed opportunities for more sustainable, livable communities. “It is much easier to know what the next paradigm is than to move into the next paradigm,” wrote Andy Reese.
