Rainwater Management

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    FROM THE ARCHIVES: “Even though we no longer have the forest we once had, with Green Infrastructure we can help the urban landscape act more like a forest,” stated Dr. Jen McIntyre of Washington State University (2016)


    “At Washington State University, I study urban stormwater runoff and its impacts on aquatic animals. The really exciting thing about the research that we are doing, and the results we are getting, is that it gives people hope. Green stormwater infrastructure really can be part of the solution,” stated Jenifer McIntyre. “Our research shows that for all experimental combinations, the bioretention system ELIMINATED the toxicity. Not reduced. Completely eliminated! Rain gardens can save salmon.”

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    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “In the 1990s, there was trouble in paradise. All communities knew they had to do something about it. That was the context for the Georgia Basin Initiative,” stated Joan Sawicki, land and resource management champion, and former provincial cabinet minister


    “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.

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    ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH TO COMMUNITY PLANNING: “It is really heartening to observe the recent renewed interest in what I think of as ecosystem-based planning and is now often called green and blue systems in cities,” stated Susan Haid, career environmental and urban planner in BC local government


    Susan Haid has played a leadership role in trailblazing an ecosystem-based approach to community planning in British Columbia. “It sounds simple, but it is heartening because this has NOT really been a key theme in the public dialogue for some time. The pandemic has reminded us of the importance of green space and access to nature,” stated Susan Haid. “It is even more important now because in the 1990s we did not have the kind of weather extremes such as atmospheric rivers and heat domes we are now regularly experiencing. There is a resurgence of ideas that is influencing policy making!”

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    ADDRESSING AFFORDABLE HOUSING’S HIDDEN UTILITY COSTS: “Supersizing pipes to accommodate drainage demand is costly and disruptive to communities,” stated Robert Hicks, career engineer-planner in local government in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia


    “The Province has come out with their transit-oriented development legislation. What that means is redevelopment. And redevelopment means a demand on utilities. Sometimes these demands have already been anticipated and planned for. And sometimes these are new and somehow have to be accommodated. Sewage and drainage are a little trickier than other utilities. That is where we have this crunch of priorities and a concern. Yes, we need affordable housing. But affordable housing must be serviced with infrastructure that is also affordable,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    LANDSCAPES AND WATERSHEDS IN BC ARE AT A HEIGHTENED RISK: “Relying solely on engineering solutions will never be adequate for managing flood risk,” stated Younes Alila, professional engineer and professor in the UBC Faculty of Forestry who is raising the alarm about scientifically indefensible practices in forest hydrology


    Younes Alila is in the news. He is courageous in challenging conventional wisdom about what he believes to be the misguided practice of forest hydrology in BC. His message boils down to RISK and LIABILITY. “Engineering solutions to flood risk mitigation deal only with symptoms. And they fail to account for cumulative effects. The outcome is unintended consequences,” he says. “Flood mitigation work in the low land must be in sync with our land use and forest cover policies in the uplands. This is our only hope of increasing our chance of managing flood risk.” His findings are relevant to urban drainage practice.

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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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    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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    START AND END WITH THE STREAM FOR A TRUE MEASURE OF SUCCESS: “The West Coast experience of Washington State, Oregon and California is a counterweight to those who lean to Ontario and Northeastern USA for their experience,” stated Jim Dumont, rainwater management thought leader (October 2023)


    “In British Columbia, we are on the right path. But that path seems to be a path less travelled. While many advances have been made in managing rainwater on-site, we have fallen behind US west coast states in protecting streams and reducing risk. Everything is in place in BC. We have led people to it, but we cannot force the uptake. We cannot force the change. The thing that I have found works is not technical. It is RISK MANAGEMENT. That is what will bring about the change. If we can get that discussion going, senior people will follow along,” stated Jim Dumont.

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    EDUCATIONAL PROCESS BRIDGES GAP IN UNDERSTANDING IN ENGINEERING COMMUNITY: “The result is an approach where assumptions and simplifications are understood by both parties and where there is mutual agreement as to their applicability to development site characteristics and the rainwater management objectives,” stated Shelley Ashfield, Director of Operations with the Town of Comox


    Comox is a beacon of inspiration for the Town’s water balance approach to land development. Their experience illustrates what it takes to successfully move the land development industry and engineering profession in a new direction. “Opening minds to accept changes in practice is challenging, especially when there is no direct regulatory or prescriptive requirement at the provincial level. Now that the Northeast Comox rainwater management plan is in place, water balance modeling is a requirement, and supporting bylaws help us regulate what developers must do on the ground,” stated Shelley Ashfield.

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    ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DRAINAGE SERVICE DELIVERY: “Nature appears more fragmented because we have to slice it into categories and dice those categories into bits before we can value bits of those bits,” stated John Henneberry (1952-2021) Professor of Property Development Studies, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom


    John Henneberry’s pioneering work serves as validation of how EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, looks at streams and water assets as a system. His eclecticism produced real insights into the operation of land and property markets, enabling all involved to see things more clearly and differently. “An industry has developed that values different aspects of nature in different ways. The sum of these parts is far short of the whole and does not capture the interconnectedness and holism of nature,” stated John Henneberry.

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