LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Staff gives good advice and Council makes the decision – the operative phrase is a respect-based relationship,” stated Pete Steblin, former City Engineer and City Manager
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. The edition published on March 12, 2024 features a conversational interview with Pete Steblin, former City Manager with the City of Coquitlam in the Metro Vancouver region. In the interview, he reflected on his experience in building trust through collaborating to create a culture and cycle of appreciation in the city.
Collaboration – steppingstone to a culture of appreciation
“With adoption by the Regional Board and ministerial approval of the Metro Vancouver region’s first Liquid Waste Management Plan in 2002, local governments formally embraced the concept of watershed-based community planning. Other than Surrey, however, none had yet developed a solid mechanism for rolling out watershed-based approaches and processes,”stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.
“In Coquitlam, 2003 was a defining year. The Council amended the city’s Official Community Plan. The new policies required that Watershed Plans be developed first and Neighbourhood Plans second; and that land use plans account for watershed conditions and needs.”
“In 2003, the City was clearly visionary when it first embraced and then formalized a watershed-based approach as a foundation piece in the Official Community Plan. By the latter part of the decade, however, Coquitlam was viewed by others in the region as the example of what not do. This is the backdrop for the story behind the story that follows.”
Coquitlam is the model for keeping things simple, practical, and implementable
“At the time, the City’s approach to watershed-based community planning, rainwater management and green infrastructure was quite idealistic. It was also prescriptive and impractical. As a result, the city could not implement what was proposed. That is the crisis situation that I inherited at the end of 2007,” recalls Pete Steblin.
Through a trust-building process guided by Pete Steblin, the City of Coquitlam turned a crisis into a transformational outcome. The city emerged as a regional green infrastructure leader. “The final solution has to be doable; it has to be achievable,” emphasizes Pete Steblin.
“If the City of Surrey is the gold standard for a watershed-based approach to rainwater management and green infrastructure, then the City of Coquitlam is the silver standard,” concludes Kim Stephens. “A noteworthy aspect of the Coquitlam story is how quickly municipal staff learned from experience, adapted their approach, and successfully instilled a new way of doing business.”
To Learn More:
To read the complete story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Collaboration – steppingstone to a culture of appreciation.
