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LAND PLANNING PERSPECTIVE FOR RISK REDUCTION ON STREAMS: “Urban streams are rarely managed as ecological systems or as municipal assets. Rather, they are sliced and diced to suit land development objectives," Tim Pringle, Chair of the Ecological Accounting Process (EAP)
"The starting point for EAP is Natural Asset Management. We are taking a spatial approach. We deal with parcels which is as spatial as you can get. We need readers to understand that in order for EAP to be real to them. It lets local governments know the financial ...
AN ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE GROUNDS NATURAL ASSET MANAGEMENT: "We see EAP as a closely aligned initiative with the things that we promised to do in the 10-year work plan for the region's Drinking Water & Watershed Protection Program," stated Murray Walters, Manager of Water Services with the Regional District of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island
“Our focus in moving forward with EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, is on land we own. The RDN is all-in with our participation. As an organization, we need to get wiser about natural asset management. We need to be able to open people’s eyes about natural asset management ...
AFFORDABLE, EFFECTIVE AND PRAGMATIC NATURAL ASSET MANAGEMENT: “The credibility of the Ecological Accounting Process is building. With UBCM involvement, it is about hitting that critical mass piece as you get more and more understanding," stated Bill Sims, General Manager of Engineering and Public Works with the City of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island
"The EAP program is embedded in our Integrated Action Plan. This supports City Plan: Nanaimo Reimagined which provides direction for the coming 25 years on everything...land use, transportation, climate adaptation, etc. We made sure EAP is part of that. It is firmly rooted," stated Bill Sims. "By being pragmatic ...
CONVENING FOR ACTION AT THE 2024 BC LAND SUMMIT: “Held in Nanaimo, the summit showcased the transition strategy for the passing of an intergenerational baton from the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC to create an EAP centre of excellence at Vancouver Island University," stated Anna Lawrence, Program Coordinator in the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute for EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process
Because the audience comprised players involved in the land professions, the BC Land Summit was a watershed moment for showcasing new ideas. "The session about the Ecological Accounting Process began with Tim Pringle detailing EAP and its nine demonstration applications in local governments in BC. Then I spoke about ...
EAP, THE ECOLOGICAL ACCOUNTING PROCESS, IS A FINANCIAL TOOL TO HELP STREAMS SURVIVE: "We are in a 3-year transition strategy to embed EAP at Vancouver Island University. We can see the many directions EAP could take," stated Anna Lawrence, Project Coordinator, Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute at VIU
“There are so many different parts to EAP. And with each part you can go down a distinct pathway that helps local governments. I am very focused on the 3-year transition strategy because Year One was just trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible. It was a juggling ...
EAP, THE ECOLOGICAL ACCOUNTING PROCESS, IS AN EXPRESSION OF BLUE ECOLOGY: "Both are all about a restorative framework and mindset. This means restoring the interconnectivity and function of natural systems in a way that truly represents their importance," stated Richard Boase, career environmental champion within local government
"We must do a better job of protecting streams. I am in a position now to reflect on this because I believe I have earned that right over the course of a 30-year career. Given how much I have seen, done and been exposed to in my local government ...
EAP, THE ECOLOGICAL ACCOUNTING PROCESS, IS AN EXPRESSION OF BLUE ECOLOGY: “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, a founding director and Past-President of the Partnership for Water Sustainability
“Because nature is a system, you cannot slice and dice it. EAP recognizes this and is a financial tool to give streams the support they need to survive. EAP provides a value picture of a stream system as a land use. How are Blue Ecology and EAP ...
FOCUS ON THE HEALTH OF STREAM CORRIDORS: “There is a need for a new approach to hydrologic design, Jim Dumont advocated in the mid-2000s. So, Fergus Creek became the pilot," stated Rémi Dubé, former Drainage Planning Manager with the City of Surrey
By the late 2000s, Surrey was poised to move beyond pilot projects to a broader watershed-based objectives approach. And they did as of 2008 when Council passed am enabling bylaw. From that bold leap forward emerged the framework for Surrey’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. The genesis for the strategy ...
SCIENCE, WATERSHED-BASED DRAINAGE PLANNING AND EAP, THE ECOLOGICAL ACCOUNTING PROCESS - “EAP is thinking about more purposefully managing creeks and ponds that are integrated into our stormwater drainage infrastructure," stated Dr. Dave Preikshot, Senior Environmental Specialist with the Municipality of North Cowichan
“EAP has a very practical application. MNC is very limited in its ability to manage agricultural land. What we are really seeking to achieve through our involvement in the EAP Partnership is an understanding of what policy options are available to us to work with the farming community. MNC ...
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: "Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Lynn Kriwoken, champion for Living Water Smart " – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2025
"Living Water Smart was a government commitment plan, 17 years ago with 50 commitments signed off by the government of the day. Many public servants have worked over many years to deliver on those commitments. But government administrations change, ministers change, priorities change, budgets change. That process carries on ...
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: "Living Water Smart in British Columbia: waterbucket.ca, Storytelling Platform for an Ecosystem-Based Approach to Land and Water Use" – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2025
The waterbucket.ca community is about networking and collaboration and waterbucket.ca provides a platform for learning from each other through sharing of success stories. The 20th anniversary of the waterbucket.ca website is an opportunity for celebration as well as reflection. “The waterbucket.ca website is providing reasons to have ...
STORYTELLING PLATFORM FOR ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH TO LAND AND WATER USE: “To inspire improved practices in all aspects of land development and water resource management, waterbucket.ca provides universal access to stories of peer-based learning," stated Mike Tanner, founding chair of the intergovernmental waterbucket.ca partnership
"Twenty years ago, we went live with the waterbucket.ca website. We profile those who do good work in the spirit of Living Water Smart. This is a big reason why waterbucket.ca has become the place where people go to look for information on water. We have the ...
METRO VANCOUVER LEGACY RESEARCH; BENCHMARK FOR WATERSHED HEALTH: “By the late 1990s, it was clear that engineering solutions alone would not result in good stormwater management and environmental protection, nor address regulatory infraction risk," stated Robert Hicks, a career engineer-planner in local government in the Metro Vancouver region
“The 1992 Land Development Guidelines were about doing business differently because the status quo was not working. Municipalities were feeling the pressure to change course. So, we built on Puget Sound research and developed a watershed health rating system for our region. A trend projection from 1996 ...
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: "Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Urban streams are municipal assets; they supply ecological services" – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2025
"The Ecological Accounting Process is about the condition and financial value of municipal stream assets that supply ecological services, Urban streams are rarely managed as ecological systems or as municipal assets. When local governments obtain a financial value for streams as spatial assets, they can include them in their ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Many books have been written about individual communities and industries around the great waterway, but none have examined the Georgia Basin region as a geographical unit with its own dynamic systems, which can best be understood as an interrelated whole," Dr. Howard Macdonald Stewart, author of Views of the Salish Sea
In "Views of the Salish Sea", Howard Macdonald Stewart documents that, too often in his career as an advisor to the United Nations, he experienced a vital paradise that had become an environmental desert due to ‘business as usual’ decisions. He wrote the book to help readers better understand ...
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: "Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Livability of Southwest BC at a crossroads, again" - released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2025
“The region’s continued health and sustainability demands that we treat it as one system, not as a composite of separate and jurisdictionally distinct entities. As Parliamentary Secretary for the Georgia Basin Initiative, I had a visionary document and strong personal support from Minister Marzari at the top. And I ...
RISKS, UNCERTAINTIES AND VULNERABILITIES WHEN THE CLIMATE IS CHANGING: "Floods directly impact a few, droughts impact everyone. When there is no water, there is no water until it rains again," stated Kim Stephens of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia
"For the past decade, the situation in BC has been touch and go almost every year. In 2015, Western North America clearly crossed an invisible threshold into a different hydrometeorological regime. Over the past decade, it has been one drought after another, dramatized by the extremes that impacted BC ...
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: "Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Melting Glaciers, Healthy Watersheds, and You" – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in March 2025
“The Melting Glaciers, Healthy Watersheds and You panel is about education and raising awareness. One of the foundational programs with the Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation is our monitoring and reporting program. Monitoring and reporting aside, it is not just about the science. It is about people. We know we ...
GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: "In a meeting with Assistant Deputy Minister Jim Mattison in 2005, Premier Gordon Campbell gave the team our marching orders. So began the creation of Living Water Smart. Leading up to 2008, we were on a fast track," recalled Lynn Kriwoken, former Executive Director in the Ministry of Environment
“After their re-election in 2005, the Gordon Campbell government created a Water Stewardship Division in the Ministry of Environment. That had never been done before. It was a single division with headquarters staff in Victoria and regional staff throughout BC. This brought water together organizationally and operationally. The ...
GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “EAP gives municipalities the methodology and metrics that will let them add streams to their asset management strategy in terms of budget and plan," stated Tim Pringle, Adjunct Faculty with the Master of Community Planning Department at Vancouver Island University
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“Urban streams are rarely managed as ecological systems or as municipal assets. Rather, they are sliced and diced to suit land development objectives. And this has consequences. When local governments obtain a financial value for streams as spatial assets, however, they can include them in their asset management plans ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: "The Georgia Basin region is at both a cross-roads and a tipping point for regional growth management and livability. The region was at a similar crossroads three decades ago," stated Kim Stephens when the Partnership for Water Sustainability released Part A titled Georgia Basin Context
"The issues today in the Georgia Basin region are no different than they were 30 years ago. They are just more complex and more urgent. Will historical precedent provide communities and decision makers with inspiration in 2025? Writing the 'Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation' is my way ...
COWICHAN REGION CLIMATE GATHERING IN DECEMBER 2024: “The network of networks within the Cowichan region is like a forest ecosystem in a way. There are connections happening in these networks that are beyond what we can fully characterize," stated Keith Lawrence, lead person from the Cowichan Valley Regional District and co-moderator
"I see myself as merely a narrator speaking about a shared experience that we all had in planning the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering. We just know that ultimately, the network of networks can help us to work together towards a common vision," stated Keith Lawrence. “It was recognized from ...
GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “There is hope because we are seeing renewed interest by local governments to talk about how to operationalize Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery," stated Arnold Schwabe, Executive Director with Asset Management BC
Arnold Schwabe's focus is on what local governments are supposed to do. Too often, he observes, councils do not understand the purposes and function of local government. "When I receive requests to talk to elected officials," he says, "that opens the door for me to help them understand ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Technical people have to demonstrate cost-effectiveness in order to transform political acceptability into political will to implement change and spend money," stated Barry Janyk (1952-2024), former 4-term mayor of Gibsons & moderator for the SmartStorm Forum Series (1999-2001)
The context for the Partnership for Water Sustainability celebrating the life of Barry Janyk is the Smartstorm Forum Series. This transformational series fueled a movement and galvanized an ecosystem-based approach to rainwater management and green infrastructure within the Georgia Basin bioregion of southwestern British Columbia. Barry Janyk, who ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Knowing what we know, it is not as simple as going from an X to a tick mark in each column of the table of cascading factors," stated Ray Fung, past-chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership (2008-2011)
Nine cascading factors that must be in alignment to implement a course correction. At the top of the list of cascading factors is political leadership and commitment to the shared vision. Leadership boils down to a willingness to act and bring together other champions willing to provide ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Cities are all about choices – choices that become reality very quickly, with lasting consequences. Over the 21st century – the urban century – much will depend upon getting the choices right," stated Mike Harcourt, the former Premier of British Columbia whose leadership made possible the Growth Strategies Act (5th installment in a preview series)
"How do we manage the number of people that are moving into the Georgia Basin when we have a very tough geography where the urban space is pretty limited by the sea and the mountains, and by rivers and agricultural land and park wilderness. When you take all that ...
LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: "With unwavering vision and courage, Lynn Kriwoken brought water management in British Columbia from a jurisdictional backwater to the most progressive in Canada," stated Mike Wei, former Deputy Comptroller of Water Rights
“"In the 1990’s, water management in BC lagged decades behind other Canadian jurisdictions. Lynn Kriwoken saw a future of recurring drought, conflicts and urgent need for strong water legislation for BC. With single-mindedness, she articulated her vision to successive governments (NDP and Liberal) and convinced them to take ...
VISION WITH A TASK IS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD: “Living Water Smart is a timeless story about the value of water in all its forms and its message continues to resonate with people today,” says Lynn Kriwoken, recipient of the Partnership for Water Sustainability's 2025 Watershed Moments Award
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Lynn Kriwoken is a former Executive Director in the BC Ministry of Environment. In government, Lynn was a leader who made a difference behind the scenes with her vision and ability to make things happen. She was the Living Water Smart champion, and her passion and leadership drove it. ...
LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: "The Partnership for Water Sustainability's waterbucket.ca website records history in the making while also providing a platform for individuals and groups to share their success stories," stated Mike Tanner, founding chair of the intergovernmental waterbucket.ca partnership which was formed in 2004
Mike Tanner is the waterbucket.ca visionary. His leadership got the website off the ground and online within 12 months of the inaugural meeting of founding partners in 2004. He did the heavy lifting that brought together provincial ministries and so many others for a common purpose. “Somebody ...
LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: "The EAP results resonate with local governments when they think about how to improve their asset management of streams. We give them a number to put in their asset management budget," stated Tim Pringle, Adjunct Faculty with the Master of Community Planning Department at Vancouver Island University
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“Urban streams are rarely managed as ecological systems or as municipal assets. Rather, they are sliced and diced to suit land development objectives. And this has consequences. If land use intensity increases to levels that destroy the conditions of the stream, then there will be no stream asset to ...
LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The region’s continued health and sustainability demands that we treat it as one system, not as a composite of separate and jurisdictionally distinct entities," stated Joan Sawicki, former cabinet minister and Parliamentary Secretary for the Georgia Basin Initiative
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“The region’s continued health and sustainability demands that we treat it as one system, not as a composite of separate and jurisdictionally distinct entities. As Parliamentary Secretary for the Georgia Basin Initiative, I had a visionary document and strong personal support from Minister Marzari at the top. And I ...
BRITISH COLUMBIA SNOWPACK LEVELS ARE IN THE RED ZONE: "Floods directly impact a few, droughts impact everyone. When there is no water, there is no water until it rains again. For the past decade, the situation has been touch and go almost every year," stated Kim Stephens of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia
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"Climate change has aggravated an existing vulnerability related to seasonal supply of water in British Columbia. Over time, and as the population has grown, the safety factor has been shrinking. While it rains a lot, we do not have an abundance of supply when demand is greatest. In 2015, ...
MELTING GLACIERS, HEALTHY WATERSHEDS, AND YOU: "It is a story about making a positive difference in the world, influencing change, stewardship and the important role of citizens in all this," stated Lynn Kriwoken - career water champion, president of the Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation
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“It is not just about the science; it is about people. It is about our history, our experience, our connection to place. It is the values we hold, the decisions we make and the stories we pass on to our children and grandchildren. The mindset that we are ...
LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “My water career started in the field with scientists and progressed into policy then leadership roles. Now I am happy to have my feet back in the water as citizen scientist," stated Lynn Kriwoken, former Executive Director in the BC Ministry of Environment
"One afternoon in the summer of 2020 I was enjoying the sparkle of Alta Lake from my deck, when an excited neighbour appeared waving a membership form, telling me I should join this new lake group. Freshly retired from a 30+ year water career with the provincial government, my ...
FOOD SECURITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF LAND, WATER, AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE: “Without a shift in thinking, sustainable water management may never be achieved in British Columbia. But Donald Trump's threats make a mind-set change possible," stated Ted van der Gulik, President of the Partnership for Water Sustainability, and former Senior Engineer in the Ministry of Agriculture
"If you are importing food, you are importing water. It is that simple. Also, our agricultural land in BC really is not as secure as everyone thinks. You can see all kinds of activities that do not support food production that are going on within the Agricultural Land Reserve. ...
LYNN KRIWOKEN, LIVING WATER SMART CHAMPION: "With unwavering vision and courage, Lynn Kriwoken brought water management in British Columbia from a jurisdictional backwater to the most progressive in Canada," stated Mike Wei, Ambassador of the Partnership for Water Sustainability, former Deputy Comptroller of Water Rights
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In government, Lynn was a leader who made a difference behind the scenes with her vision and ability to make things happen. She was the Living Water Smart champion, and her passion and leadership drove it. "Living Water Smart is a timeless story about the value of ...
STORYTELLING PLATFORM FOR ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH TO LAND AND WATER USE: “waterbucket.ca is a trusted source of information. 20 years and counting!" - Mike Tanner, founding chair of waterbucket.ca website partnership and former senior manager with BC Hydro Power Smart
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“waterbucket.ca has matured into a legacy resource. In 2004, we were thinking about where we are now. We have adapted over the past 20 years. We have changed when we have had to. We have always gone where there is interest and energy. We have done all ...
METRO VANCOUVER LEGACY RESEARCH; BENCHMARK FOR WATERSHED HEALTH: "The Ecological Accounting Process is about the condition and financial value of municipal stream assets that supply ecological services," stated Tim Pringle, Adjunct Faculty with the Master of Community Planning Department at Vancouver Island University
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"When local governments obtain a financial value for streams as spatial assets, they can include them in their asset management plans and budgets. If land use intensity increases to levels that destroy the conditions of the stream, then there will be no stream asset to produce ecological services. Communities ...
LIVABILITY OF SOUTHWEST BRITISH COLUMBIA AT A CROSSROADS, AGAIN: The issues today are no different than they were 30 years ago. They are just more complex and more urgent.
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In "Views of the Salish Sea", Howard Macdonald Stewart documents that, too often in his career as an advisor to the United Nations, he experienced a vital paradise that had become an environmental desert due to ‘business as usual’ decisions. He wrote the book to help readers better understand ...
BRITISH COLUMBIA SNOWPACK LEVELS ARE IN THE RED ZONE: "Low snowpack and lingering impacts from on-going drought are pointing towards elevated drought hazards for this upcoming spring and summer" - SOURCE: Snow Survey and Water Supply Bulletin – March 1st, 2025
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"Climate change has aggravated an existing vulnerability related to seasonal supply of water in British Columbia. Over time, and as the population has grown, the safety factor has been shrinking. While it rains a lot, we do not have an abundance of supply when demand is greatest. This creates ...
MELTING GLACIERS, HEALTHY WATERSHEDS, AND YOU: “Our actions and behaviours today are influenced by the stories, behaviours and actions of our parents and grandparents," stated Lynn Kriwoken - career water champion, president of the Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation
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“In a nutshell, we chose a compelling title... Melting Glaciers, Watersheds and You...that ties watershed health to personal responsibility. It is inevitably a bad news/good news story that we want to end with hope. And a call to action. we have an all-star panel in Dr. Brian Menounos, Dr. ...
FOOD SECURITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF LAND, WATER, AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE: “We got lucky with the timing for the launch of the Canada Food Flows interactive portal. Overnight, food security is a national priority due to Donald Trump's threats," stated Dr. Kushank Bajaj, researcher at the UBC Land Use and Global Environment Lab
"Once you start understanding where your food comes from, and what you are eating, it opens conversations into all kinds of water and land issues. Almost always, Canada’s own exposure to weather extremes are lower than the other places we depend on...especially the USA. When we look at trade ...
OVERCOMING FEAR AND DOUBT TO BUILD A COMMUNITY ATOP BURNABY MOUNTAIN: "Dealing with drainage and stormwater management is more challenging when you put 6 homes on a single-family lot than anything we did at UniverCity," stated Michael Geller, founding president and CEO of the SFU Community Trust
"Not everyone gets to plan a brand-new community on top of a mountain as I did at Simon Fraser University. To everybody embarking on these gentle densification projects to construct 4 or 6 homes on single-family lots, you must get the drainage right. Get it wrong and it can ...
COWICHAN REGION CLIMATE GATHERING IN DECEMBER 2024: “The network of networks within the Cowichan region is like a forest ecosystem in a way. There are connections happening in these networks that are beyond what we can fully characterize," stated Keith Lawrence, lead person from the Cowichan Valley Regional District and co-moderator
"I see myself as merely a narrator speaking about a shared experience that we all had in planning the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering. We just know that ultimately, the network of networks can help us to work together towards a common vision," stated Keith Lawrence. “It was recognized ...
WATERUCKET.CA, STORYTELLING PLATFORM FOR ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH TO LAND AND WATER USE: "In 2004. a consortium of provincial and regional organizations and federal agencies came together to form a partnership and fund development of waterbucket.ca," stated Mike Tanner, founding chair of the intergovernmental partnership
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The story behind the story of the waterbucket.ca partnership and website is structured in four parts. In Part One, Mike Tanner explains the importance of the Project Charter as the framework document that crystallized the shared vision for waterbucket.ca as an online magazine. In Part Two, he ...
UNTAPPED POTENTIAL FOR RAINWATER HARVESTING: “We need to elevate the role of stormwater capture across the country as part of the toolbox to help alleviate the increasing stress in our water supplies," stated Bruk Berhanu, Ph.D., a senior researcher for the Pacific Institute
“The results of our analysis clearly show that there’s a vast opportunity to support water resilience in communities by implementing more stormwater capture to supplement water supplies and help offset the negative impacts of urban stormwater runoff,” said Bruk Berhanu. “The next steps would be for communities to build ...
BRITISH COLUMBIA'S 2023 DROUGHT AND IMPACT: “If you’re using water you don’t need right now, it’s cutting into your food security," stated Kevin Boon, General Manager of the BC Cattlemen's Association
As creeks and wells were running dry in mid-July, some B.C. farmers were trucking water to feed livestock, while others were reducing the size of their herds and anticipating crop loss. Four B.C. regions, including the northeast, Bulkley Lakes, and east and west Vancouver Island were at drought Level ...
NEW REALITY IN METRO VANCOUVER: "Climate change is now the most significant risk to the water supply," wrote Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun newspaper columnist (April 2023)
"Despite continued population growth and climate change, Metro Vancouver Water District has taken only baby steps toward expanding its storage and supply capacity. For the past two decades, its directors — councillors and mayors appointed by their various councils — have had conservation as the primary strategy. Up until ...
WATCH THE VIDEO / WATER AND A CHANGING CLIMATE: “Because the earth is a closed-loop system, new water is not being created. What is changing in British Columbia is the seasonal distribution. Longer, drier summers are followed by warmer, wetter winters. Extreme droughts followed by extreme floods show just how unbalanced the seasonal water cycle is now. This is our new reality,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability (July 2021)
“A long career provides perspective. In my five decades as water resource planner and engineer, there are three years that really stand out in British Columbia when the topic is water conservation. After what in respect was a benign half-century, 1987 was BC's first wake up call. The ...
WATER SUPPLY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA'S CHANGING CLIMATE: “Since 2000, summer precipitation has dropped about 20 per cent. This step change is unusual," stated Hans Schreier, a professor emeritus of land and water systems at the University of British Columbia (July 2021)
Climate change has aggravated an existing vulnerability related to seasonal supply of water in BC. “If we’d go to some good conservation measures, we wouldn’t have to worry for the next 15 or 20 years about summer water supplies, But we’re a very slow starter — everybody thinks we ...
DROUGHTS AFFECT ALL OF US: 42 days and counting - no end in sight for dry spell, which began after Metro Vancouver's last measurable rainfall on June 15, 2021
As Metro Vancouver headed into Day 43 of drought, officials asked residents to keep the six-week-long lack of precipitation in mind when they think about watering their lawn or washing their car. “We’re keeping a close eye on things. We need people to be really mindful about how they ...
DROUGHTS AFFECT ALL OF US: "A generation ago, water supply managers could reasonably anticipate that three months of water storage would be sufficient to maintain supply during a dry summer. Today, however, a 6-month drought is a very real likelihood," stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC (July 2021)
“Climate change has aggravated an existing vulnerability related to seasonal supply of water in BC. Over time, the safety factor has been shrinking. While it rains a lot in BC, we do not have an abundance of supply when demand is greatest. In addition, the mountainous nature of BC’s ...
OUTDOOR WATER USE IN BALANCE WITH A CHANGING WATER CYCLE: “Local governments in three regions – Okanagan, Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island – are collaborating with the Partnership for Water Sustainability to operationalize the BC Landscape Water Calculator. This new online tool helps homeowners design water efficient yards and gardens,” stated Ted van Gulik
“The power of the BC Landscape Water Calculator is that it is linked to a provincial 500 metre gridded climate dataset that was built for the Agricultural Water Demand Model. This is what establishes the allowable water budget for each and every property in British Columbia. The allowable water ...
“A Water Conservation Plan is a mandatory document in order to apply for an infrastructure grant. The Ministry requires that local governments include both an assessment of what their successes have been, and a look ahead as to where their plans are going next," stated Brian Bedford, Executive Director, Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing
“Going back to the mid-2000s, the Province recognized the need to encourage better water conservation by water users and water purveyors in BC. The question was – what policy levers were available to help make that change, and what would incentivize it? And so, the Ministry found an opportunity ...
STORYTELLING PLATFORM FOR ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH TO LAND AND WATER USE: "Success stories on waterbucket.ca profile and validate those who do good work in the spirit of Living Water Smart," stated Mike Tanner, founding chair of the intergovernmental waterbucket.ca partnership
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"In 2004, we brought together an intergovernmental partnership to fund development of the waterbucket.ca website. Launched 12 months later in 2005, waterbucket.ca has matured into a legacy resource. It has become the place where people go to look for information on water in BC. It is ...
CHAMPION FOR AN ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH: "One of the real advantages we had at UniverCity is that I was able to try out new ideas. Part of the appeal was that I have always been interested in innovations," stated Michael Geller, the CEO who overcame fear and doubt to build a community atop Burnaby Mountain (2nd in a series)
“Even before I started, I got a call from Don Stenson who was then Director of Planning at the City of Burnaby. He asked me to come to his office and said something that I have never forgotten. He said there is one thing that I want ...
CHAMPION FOR AN ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH: “Technical people have to demonstrate cost-effectiveness in order to transform political acceptability into political will to implement change and spend money," stated Barry Janyk, former 4-term mayor of Gibsons (1st in a series)
The context for the Partnership for Water Sustainability celebrating the life of Barry Janyk is the Smartstorm Forum Series. This transformational series fueled a movement and galvanized an ecosystem-based approach to rainwater management and green infrastructure within the Georgia Basin bioregion of southwestern British Columbia. Barry Janyk, who ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER - PART A: “Each time we face an environmental challenge, we are once again looking at how we do business. A changing context causes us to ask important questions about how we might do things better," stated Dale Wall, retired Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs
“In the 1990s, very careful work by the likes of Parliamentary Secretary Joan Sawicki and Erik Karlsen created the foundation by which we could move forward with development of regional growth strategies and then implementation. It required huge amounts of work by people like Darlene Marzari when she was ...
OVERCOMING FEAR AND DOUBT TO BUILD A COMMUNITY ATOP BURNABY MOUNTAIN: “UniverCity proved to be a rare opportunity to demonstrate how a new, sustainable community can truly integrate stormwater management into urban design, starting where the rainfall lands," stated Michael Geller, founding president and CEO of the SFU Community Trust
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"Not everyone gets to plan a brand-new community on top of a mountain as I did at Simon Fraser University. To everybody embarking on these gentle densification projects to construct 4 or 6 homes on single-family lots, you must get the drainage right. Get it wrong and it can ...
NATURE-FIRST CITIES AND URBAN ECOSYSTEM-BASED PLANNING: “Nature-First Cities is not a heavy academic book. We wrote it to be inspirational. We challenge readers to understand why we have become so disconnected from nature and what happens when we start to rebuild that connection," stated SFU Professor Sean Markey
"Nature belongs in cities, but how do we put nature first without pushing people aside? Nature-First Cities reveals the false dichotomy of that question by recognizing that people and nature are indivisible. What are the costs associated with having cities that are not nature-based? What are ...
ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: "We have no more excuses. The concept has been around long enough for staff and elected officials to have an awareness of the issues. We need to move past our anxiety and confront the problems," stated Arnold Schwabe, Executive Director with Asset Management BC
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“Inability to effectively communicate the purposes of local government as defined in legislation... Community Charter for municipalities and Local Government Act for regional districts...has had an unintended consequence - and that is, distrust of staff on the part of elected officials and taxpayers. So, what do we do? We ...
CHAMPION FOR AN ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: Barry Janyk, former 4-term mayor of Gibsons, was an early political champion whose efforts as an influencer elevated the profile of the green infrastructure movement in the urban regions of BC
In 1999, Barry Janyk had a vision which morphed into the SmartStorm Forum Series. He chaired the inter-governmental committee which initiated the series. He added political profile in his moderator role for the series. His tone-setting presentation to kickoff each event was titled: The Political Consequences of Doing ...
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCER IN THE METRO VANCOUVER REGION: "We must start and end with the stream for a true measure of success," says Jim Dumont, rainwater management thought leader who evolved the Water Balance Methodology through a rigorously analytical approach
"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 in BC, we have fallen behind US west coast states in protecting streams and reducing risk. The West Coast experience of Washington State, ...
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCER IN THE METRO VANCOUVER REGION: "My passion is about driving positive change. Being committed to goals. Setting long-term objectives. And committing to those until they are delivered. That is what gets these big items over the finish line,” stated Melony Burton, Manager of Infrastructure Planning with the City of Port Coquitlam
Melony Burton's actions in driving positive change are guided by her no-nonsense approach to keeping it simple, practical and implementable. She is results-based and has a history of accomplishment with three local governments. Her responsibilities encompass the entire infrastructure portfolio. "I have leveraged my career into a position that allows me ...
STORYTELLING PLATFORM FOR ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH TO LAND AND WATER USE: “To inspire improved practices in all aspects of land development and water resource management, waterbucket.ca provides universal access to stories of peer-based learning," stated Mike Tanner, founding chair of the intergovernmental waterbucket.ca partnership
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"Twenty years ago, we went live with the waterbucket.ca website. We profile those who do good work in the spirit of Living Water Smart. This is a big reason why waterbucket.ca has become the place where people go to look for information on water. We have the ...
WATERSHED MOMENTS AWARD HONOURS ROB LAWRENCE: "In his time with the City of Nanaimo, Rob Lawrance grew the responsibilities of Environmental Planner to include community collaboration. He connected community stewardship passion with municipal capacity," stated Paul Chapman, chair of the Watershed Moments Team
Rob Lawrance grew up in the Cowichan Valley where he began his stewardship journey. In his time with the City of Nanaimo, he played a key role in almost every major waterway stewardship initiative in Nanaimo and connected community stewardship passion with municipal capacity. In 2021, Rob retired from ...
KATE MILLER IS INAUGURAL RECIPIENT OF WATERSHED MOMENTS AWARD: "Cowichan Valley’s Kate Miller connects the dots between community and regional government water stewardship collaboration,” stated Paul Chapman, chair of the Watershed Moments Team (February 2023)
“Kate Miller is a worthy inaugural recipient of this award. Kate connects the dots between community and regional government water stewardship collaboration. Kate also leads in inter-regional collaboration on water stewardship initiatives through her key participation on the Watershed Moments Team. Kate is an outstanding asset to her community ...
A VISION WITH A TASK IS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD: "Honouring of Jody Watson with the 2023 Watershed Moments Award is both timely and a great example how one individual with a long term vision and determination can make a difference," stated Eric Bonham at the Partnership for Water Sustainability Forum held in Nanaimo (October 2023)
"Early in her career, Jody Watson realized the importance and value of local government-community relationships built upon mutual trust, respect and common purpose. In her role as Supervisor of Environmental Initiatives, Jody has emphasized collaboration and teamwork at every opportunity. Creative community partnerships are being forged to address ...
2023 Annual Report for the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia
"Growing a network breaks all the rules of conventional thinking. It is the antithesis of building an organization that has staff. Instead, the network aligns individuals and organizations to deliver results across organizational boundaries. However, a network does require a nucleus or 'engine' for legal and organizational continuity. The Partnership ...
CONTEXT AND HISTORY DO MATTER: "In 2003, we embarked on a journey with a commitment to document our history on waterbucket.ca even as we created it through collaboration and partnerships," stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director
"The Partnership for Water Sustainability in its present form was birthed in 2003. We seized the moment and moved into a vacuum. Timing is everything. At our first inter-regional focus group session, held in Kelowna in November 2003, the vision and game plan for the waterbucket.ca website had crystalized. ...
2022 Annual Report for the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia
"A Partnership strength is the real-world experience we bring because of our multiple initiatives under Living Water Smart Actions. Under that vision, various building blocks processes have evolved over the decades. The Watershed Security Strategy and Fund, an initiative of the current provincial government, is the obvious mechanism ...
About the Lifetime Category of Membership in the Partnership
"The Lifetime Members category recognizes the contributions of key individuals who have played a pivotal role in the genesis and/or evolution of the Partnership. The Directors created the Lifetime Membership category to achieve two outcomes. First, we believe this is a material way to recognize the valued contributions of those who ...
About the Champion Supporter Category of Membership
"The Champion Supporters category of membership in the Partnership is our way of formally recognizing agencies and organizations that provide the Partnership with substantial financial and/or in-kind support. Their support is vitally important because that is what enables the Partnership to develop tools and deliver programs under the umbrella of Convening for Action in British Columbia. ...
Lifetime Member - Brian Carruthers (inducted in 2022)
“I had a real incentive to come to the Cowichan Valley Regional District in 2014 because water was the primary focus. The region was in the midst of a watershed governance study. It was looking at how the CVRD could take a more active role in watershed governance. The ...
STORYTELLING PLATFORM FOR SHOWCASING AN ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH TO RAINWATER MANAGEMENT: “waterbucket.ca is a powerful communication platform. It allows Living Water Smart champions to record and share their history even as they are creating it, thus promoting peer-based learning," stated Mike Tanner, founding chair of the intergovernmental waterbucket.ca partnership
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The vision for an ecosystem-based approach to land use originated with the Georgia Basin Initiative, a call to action in 1994 to achieve settlement, economy and ecology in balance. “To inspire improved practices in all aspects of land development and water resource management, waterbucket.ca provides universal access to stories ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “The pressure on this ecologically vulnerable area will only intensify. Will we continue with Business as Usual or implement Wise Use in the Salish Sea? The first step is to understand the complex story of the region," Dr. Howard Macdonald Stewart, author of Views of the Salish Sea, published in 2017
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In his book, Howard Macdonald Stewart documents that, too often in his career as an advisor to the United Nations, he experienced a vital paradise that had become an environmental desert due to ‘business as usual’ decisions. He wrote the book to help readers better understand past decisions and ...
OVERCOMING FEAR AND DOUBT TO BUILD A COMMUNITY ATOP BURNABY MOUNTAIN: The UniverCity sustainable community atop Burnaby Mountain was the catalyst for “reinventing hydrology” by developing the Water Balance Methodology to protect Stoney Creek
"I got a call from Don Stenson, Director of Planning with the City of Burnaby. He said there is one thing that I want you to never forget... STORMWATER. What does stormwater have to do with anything, I thought. I knew about contaminated soil and geotechnical issues. But stormwater? ...
RESTORING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ECOSYSTEMS AND WITH EACH OTHER: “The point is not to write the book and say, yay that’s it. What’s next? We’re trying to promote the book because it starts the conversation about Nature-Directed Stewardship to build that connectivity back to nature," stated Sean Markey, university professor and co-author of Nature-First Cities
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"If we are to challenge how urban development has taken place without a deep understanding of our connection to nature, what is a strategy for bringing nature back into cities? How do we put nature first without pushing people aside? The answer is that it is ...
FROM THE ARCHIVES (2016): "Ecosystem-based adaptation is a novel approach to planning and adaptation that prioritizes ecosystem services, enhancing biodiversity, as well as human health and wellbeing," stated Julia Berry when she presented her research findings to the Metro Vancouver Stormwater Interagency Liaison Group
Julia Berry applied original thinking to core concepts and produced an evaluation framework for Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA). Her thesis is a foundation piece in a building blocks process that stretches over time. Publication of Nature-First Cities in 2024 is the latest milestone in that process. “Adapting to climate change will require a combination of approaches, from man-made infrastructure ...
NATURE-FIRST CITIES AND URBAN ECOSYSTEM-BASED PLANNING: "The authors condense key lessons from a vast landscape of research into a compelling decree for cities to transform and thrive," stated Cherise Burda, Executive Director, City Building Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University
Nature belongs in cities, but how do we put nature first without pushing people aside? Nature-First Cities reveals the false dichotomy of that question by recognizing that people and nature are indivisible. This new book is a guide to building urban ecosystems. “Prepare to be entertained, educated, and ...
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 ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “Technical people have to demonstrate cost-effectiveness in order to transform political acceptability into political will to implement change and spend money," stated former Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk, political champion and moderator for the SmartStorm Forum Series (1999-2001)
The context for the Partnership for Water Sustainability celebrating the life of Barry Janyk is the Smartstorm Forum Series. This transformational series fueled a movement and galvanized an ecosystem-based approach to rainwater management and green infrastructure within the Georgia Basin bioregion of southwestern British Columbia. Barry Janyk, who ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “Once per decade, there is an opportunity to look back to see ahead. The streams and trees component of the region's third Liquid Waste Management Plan is a window of opportunity to reverse past failures and get it right this time,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability
"The stream systems component of the region’s first two LWMPs drove changes in practice through the 2000s. The ecosystem-based approach emerged because of the need to remedy stream channel and corridor erosion and flooding. The unintended consequences and costs of land use practices were unfunded liabilities. Once the Minister ...
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: "Many of the issues we identified remain as pressing as they were in 2014; there is work ahead to ensure that the systemic issues are fully addressed," wrote BC Ombudsperson Jay Chalke in his 2022 update report on the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation
Between 2014 and 2022, the BC Ombudsperson published the Striking a Balance series of reports on riparian enforcement. Jay Chalke linked loss of riparian integrity to failure by local governments to employ adequate oversight of stream systems. In the late 2000s, the hollowing out of the environmental agencies meant ...
FOOD SECURITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF LAND, WATER, AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE: “We got lucky with the timing for the launch of the Canada Food Flows interactive portal. Overnight, food security is a national priority due to Donald Trump's threats," stated Dr. Kushank Bajaj, researcher at the UBC Land Use and Global Environment Lab
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"Once you start understanding where your food comes from, and what you are eating, it opens conversations into all kinds of water and land issues. Almost always, Canada’s own exposure to weather extremes are lower than the other places we depend on...especially the USA. When we look at trade ...
BC's PATH TO FOOD SECURITY IS THRU WATER SECURITY: “When we think of all the changes in thinking that we have gone through in the last 50 years, the Land Commission Act really is a testament to the incredible foresight demonstrated in 1973," stated Joan Sawicki, former MLA
"At a time when most other jurisdictions continue to lose their food lands, BC’s ALR remains the most successful agricultural land preservation program in North America. With food security now becoming a top-of-mind public issue, thanks to the foresight demonstrated in 1973 we still have “the land” – and ...
FACT SHEETS FOR AGRICULTURE: Partnership for Water Sustainability assists governments of Canada and British Columbia to develop guidance documents for water licensing and storage (January 2022)
“Farmers in British Columbia often need storage facilities to supply farmstead water or to support water licences from surface or groundwater sources that do not provide sufficient flow during summer months. Water storages can be on either private or crown land, but a licence will be required to store ...
ACCESS AND DOWNLOAD A SET OF REPORTS ON: British Columbia's Agriculture Water Demand Model - learn about province-wide application and results
"This water management planning tool calculates current and future agriculture water demands in British Columbia, and accounts for climate change. Inputs for the AWDM include land use, soil and climate information. The field component of the AWDM program centres on compilation of land use inventories for all regions of ...
OP-ED ARTICLE: Kim Stephens - Celebrating a decade of living water smart in B.C., but where to from here? (published in the Vancouver Sun in June 2018)
"A game-changer flowing from Living Water Smart is the B.C. Agricultural Water Demand Model. It accounts for climate change, is applied to establish future needs for Agricultural Water Reserves, and is the engine for the online B.C. Agriculture Water Licence Calculator. Developed to support implementation of the B.C. Groundwater ...
OP-ED ARTICLE: More irrigation is key to food security in B.C. (published in the Vancouver Sun in November 2017)
"The agricultural area irrigated in the Fraser Valley is already substantial, and is about 1.4 times that in the Okanagan. This is a fact that few people know," wrote Ted van der Gulik. "the Fraser Valley alone could provide two-thirds of the additional irrigated land area that is needed ...
Water Licensing Calculator: Managing Water as One Resource in British Columbia
Passed by the British Columbia Legislature in Spring 2014, the Water Sustainability Act and new regulations were brought into effect on February 29, 2016. It is a game-changer because it recognizes the connection between land use actions and the implications for the both the water cycle and watershed sustainability. "The Water ...
Where's the Water ? - The Devastation of Drought
- A drought occurs when a region becomes deficient in its natural water supply whether on the surface or underground. Droughts can last for months and even years. In general, droughts occur when a region receives less than the average rainfall in an annual ...
- A drought occurs when a region becomes deficient in its natural water supply whether on the surface or underground. Droughts can last for months and even years. In general, droughts occur when a region receives less than the average rainfall in an annual ...
Irrigation Industry Association of BC - IIABC
- The Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia was formed in 1979 to provide a forum for manufacturers, suppliers, and contractors to get together to communicate and exchange information about the irrigation ...
- The Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia was formed in 1979 to provide a forum for manufacturers, suppliers, and contractors to get together to communicate and exchange information about the irrigation ...
British Columbia's Irrigation Scheduling Calculator
- The Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia (IIABC), with funding from the National Water Supply Expansion Program, has developed a new agriculture irrigation scheduling calculator. The calculator will determine an irrigation schedule for all types of agricultural irrigation systems and crop types. ...
- The Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia (IIABC), with funding from the National Water Supply Expansion Program, has developed a new agriculture irrigation scheduling calculator. The calculator will determine an irrigation schedule for all types of agricultural irrigation systems and crop types. ...
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