LAND DEVELOPMENT AND WATERSHED PROTECTION CAN BE COMPATIBLE: “Circa 2000, the Regional District of Nanaimo was the partner region for B.C.’s Stormwater Planning Guidebook. The RDN undertook a case study demonstration to test a watershed-based approach to land planning. The process planted seeds. These ultimately bore fruit with the 2008 referendum which created the Drinking Water & Watershed Protection Service,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability (March 2022)
“Viewed through a multi-decadal lens, three distinct eras provide structure for telling the story of the RDN journey and DWWP evolution. First, the period from 2000 through 2008 is bracketed by the case study process for the Guidebook and the successful referendum. After that, DWWP Action Plan 1.0 covers the ten years from 2009 through 2019. Currently underway is DWWP Action Plan 2.0 for the period 2020 through 2030. The rainwater management emphasis closes the loop on the whole-system, water balance approach that was initiated 20 years ago with the Guidebook,” stated Kim Stephens.