YOU TUBE VIDEO: "We are sharing and learning together about how to restore the Water Balance, build resiliency and adapt to a changing climate," stated Kris La Rose in his closing remarks at the Comox Valley Joint Staff Workshop
Note to Reader:
Inspired by the work of the Bowker Creek Initiative in the Capital Regional District, “A Guide to Water-Wise Land Development in the Comox Valley” was initiated in 2012, showcased in 2014 and completed in 2015.
A Joint Staff Workshop hosted by the Comox Valley Regional District in December 2015 commenced the formal rollout of this guidance document by the Comox Valley-CAVI Regional Team (CAVI is the acronym for ‘Convening for Action on Vancouver Island’).
View the YouTube video below (3 minutes) to listen to the closing remarks of Kris La Rose, the Chair of the Comox Valley-CAVI Regional Team. He is the CVRD’s Manager of Liquid Waste Planning.
Building on the Joint Staff Workshop – What Next?
“In 2016, we will be rolling out some form of training for the Water Balance Express as we develop an implementation strategy for Water-Wise Land Development. We also be further developing and enhancing the Water-Wise website as a communication tool to support a consistent approach to protection of watershed function in the built environment,” stated Kris La Rose.
Water-Wise Website Promotes Consistency of Understanding
“The Water-Wise website is a work-in-progress. We invite staff in all four local governments to check it out because we are seeking ideas and feedback on what else everyone would like to see posted on the site.”
“The WaterWise site is being developed as a one-stop shop for all rainwater management related resources in the valley. We’ll be working towards minimal duplication, and we will do this by providing context and links to existing resource material that has been developed by each of the Comox Valley jurisdictions.”
Whole Systems Approach to Managing Rainfall
“We will also be looking for input from our colleagues in all four jurisdictions when we undertake an inventory and gaps analysis of what everyone in the region is doing about water conservation,” foreshadowed Kris La Rose.
“This educational initiative will aim to synchronize efforts around the region towards topsoil use, water reuse, and efficient irrigation. The inventory and gap analysis of what is currently being done in the Valley will enable us to see how we can best align our efforts towards the common goal.”
Restore the Natural Water Balance to be Resilient
“We will be synthesizing all the feedback that we received during the breakout group segment of the Joint Staff Workshop. Our focus will be on identifying the best path forward for continuing the collaboration.”
“To condense what you learned today, it is about restoring and protecting watershed health to build resiliency and adapt to a changing climate. This means that we must provide the appropriate value on nature’s services. Making this happen depends on all of us working together if we are to have healthy, resilient local natural infrastructure. We are all sharing and learning together about how to implement strategies and tools that will ultimately restore the natural Water Balance,” concluded Kris La Rose.
