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Eight innovators from across Canada shared their breakthrough examples of municipal sustainability in a range of sectors. The format was interactive, which allowed participants to share and learn from each other. “Kim Stephens provided a water perspective, with an emphasis on designing with nature. His takeaway message was that water sustainability will be achieved through green infrastructure policies and practices. There was a great deal of excitement and energy in the room and delegates were very engaged during the roundtable discussion,” stated Azzah Jeena.

“The Primer is a ‘bridging document’ because it illustrates how to seamlessly integrate the legal and administrative parts of the Land Development Process through the designing with nature and rainwater management lens,” stated Tim Pringle. “While much attention is given to the technical and legal aspects, we are not aware of anyone who has addressed administration. This piece of the puzzle is the key to implementation of effective rainwater management systems on private property.”

“The federal-provincial Regional Adaptation Collaboratives (RACs) Program
provided funding for development of this Primer. The purpose of the RACs
Program is to support coordinated action towards advancing regional climate
change adaptation decision-making,” stated Ted van der Gulik. “The Primer incorporates the findings of a precedent-setting groundwater research project undertaken by the Mid Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society.”

For British Columbians, 2015 was the year of the great drought, dwindling snow packs, melting glaciers, beleaguered salmon runs and a costly forest fire season, followed by windstorms and heavy rains. “2015 ranks with 2003 as a defining teachable year. Lessons learned will inform how local governments move forward with a ‘water balance’ approach to rainwater management, protection of watershed function and land servicing,” observes Kim Stephens.

“The ‘new normal’ in British Columbia is drought and flooding. The summer dry season has extended on both ends and communities can no longer count on a predictable snowpack and reliable rain to maintain a healthy water balance in their watersheds. This is putting water supply systems and ecosystems under extreme stress,” says Kim Stephens. “What you do on the land or how you treat the land has direct implications and consequences for water use.”

“The Inter-Regional Education Initiative, known by the acronym IREI, is closely linked to CAVI – Convening for Action on Vancouver Island. The Comox Valley CAVI team facilitates collaboration at the regional level, and IREI connects the regions for inter-regional collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas, policies and approaches for rainwater management and more recently, asset management,” said Kris La Rose.

“When we first conceived of creating a document which would collate all aspects of environmental issues around urban/rural land development, we had no inkling that the document would be recognized world-wide, nor that it would be embraced so thoroughly by so many different disciplines,” states Marlene Caskey. Now retired from government, she was the project lead for both the original 2006 and 2012 update versions.

“The proposed new commission creates the necessary link between good water-use data and water management, a significant improvement to the current process of managing BC’s precious water resource,” stated Nelson Jatel. “The business case proposes a new commission that would manage water and build on the made-in-BC Water Use Reporting software developed in the Okanagan and piloted in the Okanagan.”

“Over the past four years government has engaged widely with British Columbians. We have used this input to create legislation that provides greater certainty for water users, improves environmental protection, and better responds to local and regional needs. The Water Sustainability Act recognizes that groundwater and surface water are interconnected and addresses the need to manage them together,” stated Mary Polak.

“Living Water Smart is about adaptation – that is, collectively what we need to do…to adapt…to prepare for climate change. How we will get there is all about collaboration – that’s my code for silo jumping. We must get out of our silos and broaden our perspectives. Learn from others, share with others – that is when we grow,” states Lynn Kriwoken.