Rainwater Management

“Managing our water resources better is one of the most important things that local government elected representatives can champion. There is no political downside. Now is the time to act,” stated Darrell Mussatto, former mayor of North Vancouver City. His time in office (1993-2018) coincides with the timeline for the early adopter and leading by example phases of the Metro region’s green infrastructure journey.

What went wrong with the stream systems component after Minister of Environment Terry Lake approved the Liquid Waste Management Plan in 2011? Failure to follow through and build on work done up to 2011 to deal with requirements in his ministerial approval is an unintended outcome. Failure to follow through reflected scant understanding of a stream system context.

“You can bend the hydrology of a watershed over decades just because of the housing redevelopment cycle. But you get just one chance every 50 years,” stated Robert Hicks. “In the 2000s, Metro Vancouver had the budget to fund work on the Water Balance Methodology and bridge the source control information gap. Use the water balance approach and green infrastructure to bend the hydrograph down.”

We share our world view through our stories and storytelling This is how we pass on our oral history. Storytelling is the way we share intergenerational knowledge, experience and wisdom. “Storytelling is the commonality of all human beings, in all places, in all times,” stated Professor Rives Collins, Northwestern University, author of “The Power of Story: Teaching Through Storytelling”.

“The 1990s was a very heady time in government in terms of land use planning and natural resource management. There are initiatives and programs flourishing today that had their beginnings in the Georgia Basin Initiative. And isn’t that how turning that supertanker of thinking happens? Just incrementally, then by gosh, we end up going in a whole different direction than we were when we started,” stated Joan Sawicki.

“The multi-jurisdictional nature of our watersheds requires the collective commitment of local and senior government agencies, First Nations, and communities to improve the health of our watersheds. Utilizing a ‘Design with Nature’ approach, we are changing the way we develop our land by attempting to re-engineer the hydrological function back into our urban landscape,” stated Jody Watson.

“Achieving sustainable service delivery is the primary objective of asset management,” stated Minister Peter Fassbender. “No longer is asset management only about hard engineered assets such as watermains, sewers and roads. The BC Framework encourages local governments to manage their natural assets in the same way they manage their hard engineered assets. Benefits are long term.”

Puget Sound research correlated land use changes with impacts on streams. Hydrology and riparian integrity are of equal importance. “There are many factors that influence stream degradation. There is not a single smoking gun. Impervious area is the main culprit. But you can trash a stream just as badly by deforestation of the riparian zone as you can by paving over the headwaters with a mall,” says Chris May.

“Members of the Partnership team would have an idea around a research theme. And as often happened, I was the arm that had the energy and willingness to take on the research, apply new science in North Vancouver, and get the work done. There is a lot to be proud of in terms of all that research that we produced in pursuit of making changes to the fabric of our urbanized areas,” stated Richard Boase.

Many factors influence stream degradation. “So many studies manipulate a single variable out of context with the whole and its many additional variables. We, on the other hand, investigated whole systems in place, tying together measures of the landscape, stream habitat, and aquatic life,” stated Richard Horner. “If we get the hydrology right, water quality typically takes care of itself.”