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“The Water Balance Methodology now synthesizes fundamentals of hydrology, flood protection, aquatic ecology, geomorphology and hydrogeology,” stated Jim Dumont. “The flow-duration relationship is the cornerstone of the methodology. By maintaining flow-duration, stream erosion is not increased during wet weather and ‘environmental flows’ are sustained during dry weather. We integrated Flow-Duration Analysis in 2007. Washington State and California have gone a step further and mandated use of Flow-Duration Analysis in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

“In this first step, town conversations and plans moved to regional, watershed based projects. Using BC as inspiration the next step will weave those regional projects and plans in a network of resiliency and sustainability for Vermont that is hoped to be a model for the rest of the country,” wrote Jan Lambert.

“At Washington State University, I study urban stormwater runoff and its impacts on aquatic animals. The really exciting thing about the research that we are doing, and the results we are getting, is that it gives people hope. We chose to work with road runoff because roads are the common denominator across all urban land uses,” states Jennifer McIntyre. “We don’t need to know everything about how toxic runoff is, or how it causes toxicity, to be able to do something about the problem. To date, the experimental results are pretty impressive for 100% fish survival.”

“Unless and until land development practices mimic the natural water balance, communities cannot expect to restore the biological communities within streams. Simply put, hydrology hits first and hardest – one could pour an equivalent volume of distilled water into a stream, and the consequences for stream health would be the same as if it was urban runoff,” stated Richard Horner. “So many studies manipulate a single variable out of context with the whole and its many additional variables.”

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is a combination of two other significant concepts: EBM (ecosystem-based management) and climate change adaptation. The evaluation framework developed by Julia Berry provides rainwater and adaptation planners with an overview of EbA that can be used to assess and score the extent to which provincial, regional or municipal documents incorporate EbA principles. The value of her work is that it connects current research to past approaches that have been fallow for more than a decade,” stated Kim Stephens.

“Short-term thinking governs much of what we do. In many organizations, the long-term view has somehow become excluded. Both ways of thinking are important, but the sad part is that we have convinced ourselves that the Left Hemisphere can do EVERYTHING. The new research by Ian McGilchrist now ‘turns the table’ because it demonstrates the true and indispensable role of the Right Hemisphere for ALL sustainable development work,” states Eva Kras.

“The timing of this national conference, and the exposure to the British Columbia experience, coincided well with the implementation of U.S. EPA’s Phase II NPDES Storm Water Program during 2003,” recalls Eric Strecker. “We invited Kim Stephens to present a paper about the British Columbia Guidebook because we thought it would make a good fit with the theme of thinking beyond regulations to solving the problem.”

“In 2002, the Guidebook applied a science-based understanding, developed the water balance methodology to establish performance targets, and demonstrated that urban watershed restoration could be accomplished over a 50-year time-frame as and when communities redevelop,” states Peter Law. “The premise underpinning the Guidebook was that land development and watershed protection can be compatible.”

“Sustainable and resilient are complementary terms that draw attention to the future, and help focus thought and action. However, use of resilient more clearly shines the spotlight on Context, Intent and Results. Sustainable refers to attaining certain conditions in the context of social, economic and environmental considerations. Resilient in a biological sense is primarily the ability for an ecosystem to recover from an intervention,” states Erik Karlsen.

“By 2017, an over-arching program goal (for the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative) is that local governments in the five participating regions would truly understand how natural systems support municipal services and would be able to fully integrate this understanding and associated methodologies into programs, planning and funding,” states Kim Stephens.