“The Ministry looks forward to aligning efforts with the Partnership to further advance implementation of the “Beyond the Guidebook” initiative. Inter-regional collaboration is the pathway to a consistent approach to water sustainability and green infrastructure policies and practices up and down the east coast of Vancouver Island,” stated Cairine MacDonald.
“Metro Vancouver’s plan for managing rainwater resources seeks improvement through innovation, using local research and development and adapting successes from elsewhere. We are asking Metro Vancouver to formalize its support for inter-regional collaboration. Then the IREI truly will be the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Educational Initiative,” states Kim Stephens.
“There is no formal mechanism to enable inter-regional collaboration. We also learned that the Partnership is trying to fill this gap by bringing together local governments around the Georgia Basin to advance a consistent approach to rainwater management and green infrastructure practices. Alignment should help everyone,” stated City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto.
“Local governments will benefit from the information sharing between four Vancouver Island regional districts, learn from the experiences of the other regional districts, and be able to participate in workshops delivered locally and elsewhere on Vancouver Island,” stated Glenn Harris.
“Participation would support the Corporate Strategic Plan Goals to develop an environmental education plan with a focus on water, biodiversity and climate change; and ti develop water planning policies to guide community planning and development practices,” noted Mayor Jon Lefebure, Chair of the Regional Services Committee.
“The initiative will focus on education, collaboration and sharing of ideas and experiences on water sustainability and rainwater management best practices. It provides another opportunity to assist local governments to better understand the relationships between watershed and stream and site development,” stated the staff report brought forward by CAO Carol Mason.
“Inter-regional sharing, collaboration, alignment and consistency will accelerate effective implementation of watershed protection objectives within each regional district. The regions are linked by common interests, but are not dependent on each other,” stated Comox Valley Board Chair Edwin Grieve.
“By aligning efforts, CAVI and VIEA can help build strong communities and ensure that careful stewardship of the Island’s natural resources is preserved,” stated George Hanson.
