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“The purpose of the ‘Beyond the Guidebook’ initiative is to help local governments and the development community establish what level of rainwater runoff volume reduction makes sense at the site, catchment and watershed scales. The objective is to protect stream health, which is broader than how much volume one can infiltrate on a particular development,” stated Corino Salomi, “Drainage practice is at a crossroad in the path defining the methodologies and applications used in rainwater management. “

“The early success of the Water Balance Model in British Columbia generated interest in expanding the focus of the tool to reach a national audience. This culminated in the decision by CMHC in 2004 to fund development of the national portal,” stated Cate Soroczan. “The rainwater harvesting and storage component with variable sizing and demand will allow the user to optimize both the demand for potable water and the size of the physical storage.”

“The community of Water Balance Model users had been asking for a technical manual that documents the intelligent WBM interface that translates user information into data used by the QUALHYMO engine. The lens for manual development was the engineering user who wants to follow the numbers from the WBM interface keystroke to the QUALHYMO file. In a nutshell, it is all about data mapping,” stated Richard Boase in 2010.

“A principal result of increased volumes and rates of flow associated with urbanization is the consequent increase in stream erosion,” stated Jim Dumont. “This can be an economically important factor as maintenance and hydraulic capacity is affected, and it can also be an ecologically important factor as habitat is impaired through degradation, aggregation and increased suspended solids transport.”

“An essential part of the plan for ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Water Balance Model is the creation of a legal entity where the tool will reside permanently. This action has now been completed,” reports Ted van der Gulik. “Formation of the society is a pivotal milestone in the history of the WBM. Over the years, various people have asked us who owns the WBM. Now when we answer ‘the Partnership owns it’, it will be crystal clear to everyone.”

“The East Clayton development in Surrey was the first development in the Lower Mainland that utilized green infrastructure techniques and facilities. Looking back, application of the water balance methodology to East Clayton can now be seen as the genesis for the Stream Health Methodology that is embedded in the Water Balance Model powered by QUALHYMO,” reports Kim Stephens

“We saw the Water Balance Model as an important tool that would help us to work within our developed community to restore function and value based on the premise that developed land can contribute to watershed restoration,” said Richard Boase. “A key message from the District of North Vancouver experience is that Council is making informed decisions based on information derived from use of the Water Balance Model.”

The City of Kelowna assisted with the WBM pre-launch in Spring 2003. City case study experience provided on the ground examples that reassured participants about the paradigm-shift,reported Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd.

“The goal of the District of Mission in managing rainwater is to provide sustainable hydrologic systems that mimic natural systems, protect groundwater resources, and minimize downstream flooding and erosion. We look forward to sharing our experience with other WBM Partners in applying the Stream Health Methodology,” stated Hirod Gill.

“Because our vision is to advance water-centric green infrastructure, it was essential that we have high-level political endorsement. UBCM provided us with a high-profile platform at its Urban Forum. In 2003, the support of two mayors was key to making this happen,” stated Ted van der Gulik.