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Ecological Accounting Process

    GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “We were all trying to figure out what the ISMP was. And how it was different from a traditional Master Drainage Plan or Stormwater Management Plan,” stated Ray Fung, a retired Director of Engineering in local government, and former Chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership


    “In the 2000s, we were challenged with what the word integrated in ISMP meant. We already had modelling tools. But the difference was integrating them with policies, land use, the landscape, and a public engagement process. And so, we were all pioneers. But we lost momentum in the decade after 2010,” stated Ray Fung. “If you are talking about learnings, so what is the organizational learning? When we were trying to do stuff, we did not build in robust enough processes that would survive changes in personnel. Can we not learn to build on what people in the past have done?”

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    BRING SCIENCE INTO LOCAL GOVERNMENT: “Over the years, we worked on a whole range of things which were innovative. Without the participation by someone like Richard Boase, I doubt we could have done it,” stated Dr. Hans Schreier, Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Land and Water Systems at the University of British Columbia


    “Municipalities have limited access to science and they do not have time to do the science. So, why not use the students? Not only is it a benefit to community leaders, the students benefit because they are doing something that makes a difference. And so, connecting with Richard Boase in the 1990s was really fundamental because he is on the inside. Richard identified projects where the students could benefit directly and make a difference. To me, that was the opportunity,” stated Hans Schreier.

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    DESIGN WITH NATURE: “We must do a better job of protecting streams. We are talking about a change in attitude so that communities would view natural systems and water differently. We can turn the situation around,” stated Richard Boase, career environmental champion within local government in the Metro Vancouver region


    “We knew more than 20 years ago what we needed to do when designing residential communities, but local governments generally failed to act. Turning the situation around is SIMPLE when you understand hydrology. And when you understand the kinds of changes needed in development practices, and the differences they would make, property to neighhourhood to watershed. We are saying there is a way of designing communities and making decisions differently so that you can be restorative in nature within the urban development context,” stated Richard Boase.

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    SPONGE INFRASTRUCTURE AND ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS: “Planners are finding clever ways to capture stormwater, treating it as an asset instead of a liability,” wrote Matt Simon after the future fell on Los Angeles in February 2024


    “As the American West and other regions dry out, they’re searching for ways to produce more water themselves, instead of importing it by aqueduct,” wrote Matt Simon. “So the old way of stormwater management isn’t just increasingly dangerous and ineffective as the planet warms and storms get more intense—it stands in the way of a more beautiful, less sweltering, more sustainable urban landscape. LA, of all places, is showing the world there’s a better way.”

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    DESIGN WITH NATURE TO RESTORE STREAM HEALTH: “Streams need a place to be. If we cannot get our heads around that, we are not going to keep our streams,” stated Tim Pringle, Chair of the Ecological Accounting Process Initiative


    “Because nature is a system, you cannot slice and dice it. EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, recognizes this and is a financial tool to give streams the support they need to survive in the local government setting. EAP provides a value picture of a stream system as a land use. The Riparian Areas Protection Regulation enables this approach. The foundational ideas behind what we advocate are IMPLEMENTATION and RESPONSIBILITY. And there is a third idea named OPPORTUNITY,” stated Tim Pringle.

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    INSTILL A CULTURE THAT SUPPORTS CHAMPIONS: The “blue link” rain garden is symbolic of the transformational change which has taken root in the Township in the 21st century as designing with nature became the ‘new normal’.


    Resource protection – for groundwater supply and fisheries habitat – is the original driver for implementing ‘green infrastructure’ in Langley. Township staff have learned and adapted. Langley has led by example and implemented a ‘water balance’ approach to large-scale residential projects. Moving ahead on a ‘green’ platform gained momentum as standard practice evolved through ‘learn by doing’ experience. “The term ‘blue link’ describes the purpose of the current drainage standard in Langley. It replaced the traditional curb-and-gutter detail for all but arterial roadways,” stated Ramin Seifi.

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    KEEP IT SIMPLE, PRACTICAL AND IMPLEMENTABLE: “Drill down and make your plans as simple as possible. So simple that you could bring multiple, multi-year plans forward at the same time, regardless of the resources you have on hand,” stated Melony Burton, Manager of Infrastructure Planning with the City of Port Coquitlam in Metro Vancouver


    “When I looked at the history of the DCC Bylaw updates, staff had tried to take it forward several times. They would almost get to the finish line, then trip and fall. Each time, it seems that they started fresh instead of looking at why the previous attempts had failed. The first thing I did was look at WHY THEY FAILED. They tripped over being too complicated or getting sidetracked. Keeping it simple and basic is what got the DCC Bylaw over the line. In five years, we can update it and make it more complex if we need to. Now we at least have an updated bylaw adopted,” stated Melony Burton.

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    SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEX PROBLEMS REQUIRE DEEP KNOWLEDGE: “It is mentoring and actively passing on knowledge that allows complex problems to be solved. It will take time. But with a long-term strategy, you will get there,” stated Robert Hicks, a career engineer-planner in local government in the Metro Vancouver region


    “The notion of a superficial understanding explains the challenge that I am seeing. There are post-2000 graduate engineers coming out of university who are familiar with green infrastructure ideas and concepts, but they do not know the details behind them: details that they did not have to know at university or in their previous jobs. Sure, they understand rainwater management ideas and concepts at a high level. But without the background and history, can they really appreciate why certain targets and approaches were selected while others were not?” stated Robert Hicks.

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    GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATOR: “Jim Dumont’s focus is on the analytical tools that produce the numbers that make the case for innovation,” stated Rémi Dubé, former Drainage Planning Manager with the City of Surrey


    “There is a need for a new approach to hydrologic design, Jim Dumont advocated in the mid-2000s. So, Fergus Creek became the pilot for a runoff-based approach because duration of discharge links directly to stream health,” stated Rémi Dubé. “In 2006, when Surrey hosted the showcasing green innovation innovation series, Jim and I said that Fergus Creek is going beyond the guidebook. The phrase stuck. Fergus led to the Beyond the Guidebook Initiative. Jim also maintained that what the watershed will look like in future should drive the approach to rainwater management.”

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    FROM PILOT PROJECTS TO WATERSHED-BASED OBJECTIVES: “With completion of the Fergus Creek watershed plan, we were at a point where we could integrate engineering, planning, biology, geomorphology and recreation to influence the greening of the built environment,” stated Rémi Dubé, a green infrastructure champion and innovator with the City of Surrey


    “In the 2000s, Fergus Creek was the first of the new generation of watershed plans in the City of Surrey. The Fergus Creek plan showed why and how contiguous greenways make rainwater management easier and provide the land we need to actually achieve multi-purpose outcomes. In 2009, we framed the nature of the paradigm-shift with this statement: Surrey is moving beyond green infrastructure pilot projects to a broader watersheds objectives approach. From this precedent emerged the framework for Surrey’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy,” stated Rémi Dubé.

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