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    TODAY’S DECISIONS – TOMORROW’S FUTURE: “During times of crisis, a few leaders always step into the spotlight with a new vision bridging conflicting worldviews. Michael Blackstock is one of these visionaries,” stated Glen Brown, Chair of Asset Management BC, when he announced the keynote speaker for the AMBC annual conference in November 2024


    “During times of crisis, a few leaders always step into the spotlight with a new vision bridging conflicting worldviews. Michael Blackstock is one of these visionaries,” stated Glen Brown. “As an Independent Indigenous Scholar and founder of the Blue Ecology™ theory, Michael Blackstock offers a unique First Nations perspective on the climate crisis, inserting water into the difficult debates about carbon emissions. His ability to mediate grew out of a uniquely diverse background as a writer, a thought leader, and Forester. He has written over two dozen peer reviewed papers.”

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    BLUE ECOLOGY IS FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT AN ATTITUDE CHANGE: “When you examine what comprises the heat balance, carbon is definitely a factor. But it only accounts for 4% compared to 95% for water. People do not understand this linkage,” stated Michael Blackstock, independent Indigenous scholar and co-founder of the Blue Ecology Institute


    “Every year I listen to the climate change debates. Scientists talk about temperature rise to one decimal place. An image of a committee with their hands on a thermostat popped into my mind. And they are trying to adjust it. There is so much arrogance in that, and so much naivety at the same time,” stated Michael Blackstock. The image of a Climate Change Thermostat draws attention to the flaws in a “slice-and-dice” approach that does not account for the interaction of variables within a system.

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    ARE WATER CYCLES THE MISSING PIECE OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE CRISIS? — “No plants, no rain. Water begets water, say hydrologists; soil is the womb, vegetation is the midwife,” wrote Eurof Uppington in an article for Euronews (March 2024)


    “Warming is speeding up, and many climate scientists worry something may be missing from the models. Could the answer lie in an inconvenient and forgotten, but critically important piece of climate science? Water cycles are beautifully complex, with endless feedback loops. Modelling them is a huge challenge most climate simulators, seeking clear outputs for policymakers, shy away from. The effect of CO2 by contrast is simple, and aesthetically boring, but easier to explain,” wrote Eurof Uppington.

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    SCIENCE OF FORESTS AND FLOODS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “A forest’s influence on flooding stems from the many random or ‘chancy’ features in a watershed,” stated UBC forestry professor Younes Alila in calling for a rethink of forestry practices and policy


    “If we continue to mischaracterize (extremes), and if we continue to manage the forest and disturbance levels as if we were doing fine, we’re going to take the system further and further out of anything that is protective,” stated Dr. Younes Alila. And as climate extremes become more frequent and severe, he says, assessing the risks incorrectly could lead to greater damages and losses of life. He says frequency is the “lost dimension” in B.C. forest hydrology. It’s crucial to consider frequency because dikes and bridges can fail when battered by peak flows that are happening more often.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: The voices of experience remind us that progress is measured in terms of decades.


    The Partnership for Water Sustainability in its present form was birthed in 2003. It was a case of seizing the moment and moving into a vacuum. Timing is everything. At the beginning of 2003, the members of an intergovernmental committee comprised of three levels of government were in place. In September 2003, mere weeks after the Kelowna fires resulted in evacuation of some 27,000 residents, Lynn Kriwoken of the Ministry of Environment asked the committee to spearhead development and implementation of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, released in February 2004.

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    CONTEXT AND HISTORY DO MATTER: “We have had two decades to prepare for the obvious and the inevitable. 2003 was the first of a series of ‘teachable years’, with the full onslaught of a changing climate hitting hard as of 2015,” stated the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC’s Kim Stephens (September 2023)


    “Mother Nature has an amazing sense of timing. On the 20th anniversary of the evacuation of 27,000 people from Kelowna due to forest fires, history repeated itself in August in the Kelowna region, in particular West Kelowna. We have had two decades to prepare for the obvious and the inevitable. Some of us have spent our careers working on solutions to watershed, water and food security issues and challenges. Climate change is accelerating. There is no time to re-invent the wheel, fiddle, or go down cul-de-sacs. Understand how the past informs the future and build on that experience,” stated Kim Stephens.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “We have raised expectations that communities can do a better job of managing land and water. But what happens if knowledge, experience and the lessons we are learning are not passed on or are lost?” – a question posed in 2007 by Jay Bradley, Chair of the Vancouver Island Coordinating Team


    This edition brings to a close the current season (January through June 2023) of the Waterbucket eNews weekly newsletter series. We celebrate the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. During the past 5-month period, the Partnership for Water Sustainability has published 20 feature stories. This finale edition constitutes our “season in review”. To refresh reader memories about the topics and how much ground we have covered, we have brought forward the headline plus defining quotable quote from each of the 20 storylines.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: Cowichan Valley’s Kate Miller is the inaugural recipient of the Watershed Moments Team Award which recognizes extraordinary contributions and accomplishments to embed ecosystem values within municipal planning, processes and projects


    The Watershed Moments Award honours the legacy of the late Rob Lawrance, former Environmental Planner with the City of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. “Kate Miller is a worthy inaugural recipient of this award. Kate connects the dots between community and regional government water stewardship collaboration. Kate also leads in inter-regional collaboration on water stewardship initiatives through her key participation on the Watershed Moments Team. Kate and Rob worked together on water stewardship efforts,” stated Chair Paul Chapman during award presentation.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Our watersheds have been stewarded for thousands of years by First Nations. We can continue to steward them for thousands of years into the future,” stated Keith Lawrence, Cowichan Valley Regional District (January 2023)


    “When I first joined CVRD, watershed governance was top of mind for some folks. We were working on a program to collaborate with various organizations to look at watershed and groundwater governance. We were trying to understand the problems with the current governance framework which was informal and identify a framework that could work going forward. The Cowichan watershed is a great example of community involvement. Given the number of organizations, one needs to create a mind map to understand it, because the stewardship network is an ecosystem in and of itself.” stated Keith Lawrence.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Getting involved in a Water Sustainability Plan is one thing. Leading it is another. Who is going to take charge, who is going to step up and really lead that process,” stated Brian Carruthers, former Chief Administrative Officer with the Cowichan Valley Regional District (January 2023)


    “When I think about the experience in the Cowichan, in many ways the region is still in the theoretical stage in terms of weaving Indigenous knowledge and Western science,” stated Brian Carruthers. “We created the framework for that to happen, but I cannot say that it truly has happened. The foundation for interweaving in the Cowichan region is really with the Cowichan Tribes. Everything the Cowichan Valley Regional District has done has been shoulder to shoulder with them. The framework is in place and the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection service exists.”

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