CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “All regions were dealing with challenges associated with watershed monitoring. Each was at a different point along the watershed health continuum. Each region had something unique to contribute,” stated Kate Miller about the period 2012 – 2017 covered in Part E of the Chronicle
Note to Reader:
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story (REPRODUCED BELOW).
The edition published on April 21, 2026 featured the fifth installment of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver. Part E covers the period 2012 through 2017. This sweeping narrative weaves quotable quotes to provide the reader with a perspective on Metro Vancouver collaboration with four other regional districts bordering the Salish Sea.
While it was a defining period for inter-regional collaboration, something happened in Metro Vancouver to change the trajectory. After 2017, the gap between understanding and implementation widened rather than being bridged.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY OF THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE CHRONICLE: Open minds, overcome inertia, implement effective standards of practice for urban watershed health in BC
The Green Infrastructure Chronicle covers the period between 1994 and 2024. At 700-plus pages, it is a tome. By definition, tome means it is both unusually large and unusually important. The Chronicle is oral history and the storyline is a work-in-progress because the story is not finished.
Since the 1990s, drainage has been a galvanizing issue for sustainable development. The cumulative impacts of land use changes on stream function are proven. Streamside protection regulation is a fact of life. We understand how to turn problems into solutions. But we keep failing to overcome inertia.
Georgia Basin IREI builds on a long and rich history
The Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative is the foundation for the initiatives described in Part E of the Chronicle. Launched in 2012, the IREI is a unique mechanism for inter-regional and inter-governmental collaboration. The Georgia Bason Initiative seeded the idea for it in1994.
Complementary regional lenses produced a complete picture of the Urban Watershed Health issue
Entering the 2010s, watershed and stream health and rainwater management were priorities for communities on the east coast of Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland region.
Metro Vancouver, Capital Region, Cowichan Region, Nanaimo Region and Comox Valley regional districts are IREI founding members. Each region had a vision and goals for water and watershed sustainability. This commonality was the point of departure for sharing and learning from each other.
Annual milestones in a collaborative process
Communities were struggling with the question of how best to move forward on the Watershed Health issue, particularly in light of a changing climate and financial drivers to provide higher levels-of-service at reduced levels-of-cost. Inter-regional collaboration helped each region understand what the other regions are doing, what works and what does not. ‘
“Beyond the Guidebook 2015” is the centrepiece of the story about the period 2012 through 2017
Outcomes resulting from collaboration across boundaries are documented in Beyond the Guidebook 2015: Moving Towards “Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management”. But Beyond the Guidebook 2015 is much, much more.
At one level, it is a progress report on “convening for action” in the five Georgia Basin regions bordering the Salish Sea. Overarching, however, is that it includes a road map for integrating watershed thinking into municipal asset management.
Sustainable Urban Watershed Systems can be achieved through Municipal Asset Management
Cascading Objectives inform a whole-system approach to land use
HISTORY AT A GLANCE: Convening for action in the Georgia Basin between 2012 and 2017
COLOUR CODE: yellow is Georgia Basin in scope and white is specific to Metro Vancouver
TABLE OF CONTENTS: for Chronicle and for Part E
Structured in ten segments, Part E provides the reader with perspective on Metro Vancouver collaboration with other regional districts bordering the Salish Sea.
To Learn More:
Waterbucket eNews stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective and Context for Busy Reader, and the Story Behind the Story. To read the complete 3-part storyline, download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Open Minds, Overcome Inertia, Implement Effective Standards of Practice for Urban Watershed Health in British Columbia.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/gi/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/04/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Kim-Stephens-on-Overcoming-Inertia_2026_with-Part-E.pdf