“Have a look at some of the Water Balance Model slideshow presentations that have been made to industry and government groups starting in 2001. This includes some of the early presentations on the Water Balance Methodology that helped pave the way for the paradigm-shift from 'peak flow thinking' to 'volume-based thinking'. The many presentations created awareness and influenced expectations,” stated Ted van der Gulik.
“UBC-Okanagan is pleased to have provided the venue for this application of sustainability-on-the-ground. This sponsorship opportunity was an outcome of a meeting with the Chair of the Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP), at which time we realized that UBC-Okanagan and the IGP shared a common objective in advancing the state-of-the-art for water management in the Okanagan,” stated Bernard Bauer, Dean ot the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences.
For over half a century Credit Valley Conservation has worked to minimize drought and flooding, improve water quality, support socially and economically viable communities, protect natural features and green spaces, and restore damaged ecosystems. In June 2006, Credit Valley Conservation and the US-based Center for Watershed Protection held an interactive 4-day workshop to provide knowledge-transfer related to experience and lessons learned in other jurisdictions, including British Columbia. Tom Schueler, Center co-founder, praised the British Columbia Guidebook because of its innovation.
The City of Calgary has made an initial contribution of $10,000 towards development of the Water Balance Model for Canada. This will help fund the next leap forward in the evolution of the Water Balance Model – which is to provide the engineering community with ‘one-stop shopping’ for hydrologic and hydraulic modeling. The enhanced tool will help Albertans do a better job of designing with nature to achieve water sustainability objectives.
The City of Dawson Creek hosted a workshop titled “Sustainable Planning and Development for Small Communities”, a program developed by Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation to help small communities. Held in December 2006, the workshop was attended by municipalities from throughout the Peace River region. The workshop provided a timely opportunity to introduce the Water Balance Model to the City of Dawson Creek and others in the region.
Bert van Duin reported that a pre-conference workshop on the Water Balance Model attracted an audience of over 90 in Cochrane, Alberta. Municipal representatives from communities throughout Alberta attended. The workshop was held in conjunction with Innovations in Urban Development, a conference on Low Impact Development hosted by the Town of Cochrane.
To sustain the early success of the Water Balance Model, and in response to ‘needs and wants' identified through discussions with the Alberta Low Impact Development Partnership (ALIDP) and others, the British Columbia Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP) has taken the first steps along a pathway that will materially expand the capabilities of the web-accessible Water Balance Model: This has involved an evaluation of how to most effectively enhance the hydrology engine; and has led to the decision to merge the Water Balance Model with QUALHYMO.
The Alberta Low Impact Development Partnership (ALIDP) continues to make progress in defining how the Province's Water for Life vision will be translated into actions on the ground. At its April 2006 stakeholder meeting, ALIDP continued its discussions with British Columbia regarding the elements of an inter-provincial partnership.
The British Columbia-based Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP) has taken another step towards making the Water Balance Model (WBM) available and relevant to communities across Canada. Initial contact with the Centre for Water Resource Studies at Dalhousie University could open the door to a broader conversation with Nova Scotia stakeholders who see the value in sharing tools and resources through an inter-provincial partnership.
The EMCO Corporation has collaborated with the inter-governmental Water Balance Model Partnership to sponsor and organize three regional technical sessions on Rainwater Management in British Columbia. The first two events were held in Kelowna and Kamloops in late 2005. The third in the series was an evening session in Victoria in June 2006.
