“Context for the Wetland Workshop was provided by the vision for a Metro Vancouver Regional Green Infrastructure Network. Wetlands are the kidneys of the earth. We are challenging local government by posing this question: Is your municipality doing enough to prevent downstream impacts from rainwater runoff while maintaining healthy aquatic habitat?,” stated Neil Fletcher.
“We must continue to invest in protecting and restoring our nation’s streams and rivers as they are vital sources of our drinking water, provide many recreational opportunities, and play a critical role in the economy,” stated Nancy Stoner.
“Salmon are able to return to Spanish Banks Creek for the first time in over fifty years thanks to a community-inspired project that brought citizens and government agencies together,” stated Zo Ann Morten of the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation.
“The plan deals with the pressures of an increasing population while planning to bring an aging infrastructure up to modern standards. Valid for the next eight years, the plan includes upgrades to two existing wastewater treatment plants and incorporates resource recovery to capture heat and energy from sewage,” stated Terry Lake, BC Minister of Environment.
“We can actually restore fish habitat and riparian areas, build refuge habitat, stabilize banks, stabilize sub-straits, and end up with a system that's going to be self-sustaining,” stated Jack Minard, Executive Director of the Comox Valley Land Trust.
Mayor Nutter explained that Philadelphia has developed a US $1.6 bllion plan to transform the city by 'peeling back' a lot of the city’s concrete and asphalt and replacing them with plants.
“This project is a key part of West Vancouver’s ongoing long-term plan to supply our own high quality drinking water. We are proud partners with the provincial and federal governments in the provision of this essential public resource,” stated West Vancouver Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones.
“The implications of this study regarding standards for development are truly sobering. Our touch must be as light as those builders who used to prepare land with hand tools,” states Tom Holz.
“Sooke is proud of its natural environment. And as the first community in British Columbia to integrate both rainwater and sanitary in a liquid waste management plan, we now have the tools to protect the watersheds and the Sooke Harbour and Basin for future generations,” stated Mayor Janet Evans.
“The bill is based on applying a standard that is already required for the construction of federal buildings – which requires maintaining a site as natural as possible to keep water from leaving the site – to federally funded highway and road projects. Projects must include technologies to infiltrate and manage stormwater onsite so that runoff pollution to local streams, rivers, and drinking water supplies doesn’t increase after construction,” says Stacey Detwiler.
