Water-Centric Planning

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Ecological Accounting Process

    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The 2000s was a really exciting time around the regional table in Metro Vancouver,” stated Ray Fung, a retired Director of Engineering in local government, and former Chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership


    A confluence of events and circumstances brought a mix of key players together in 2003. It was a teachable year because of the impact of drought, forest fires and floods on public consciousness. This was a once in a generation reachable moment because minds were open and receptive to the message, “we must do better”. Between 1996 and 2020, Ray Fung sat at several local government regional tables in Metro Vancouver. During this period, he followed in the footsteps of Chuck Gale and Paul Ham and served as chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership from 2008 until 2010.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “It became clear that if one did not have a way of building confidence amongst practitioners, the rate of innovation would be slow,” stated Dale Wall, former Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs


    “We were looking in a new way at infrastructure innovation. We needed quite a lot of innovation to achieve some of the things that we hoped to achieve through regional growth strategies. The convening for action process that built confidence among practitioners to introduce new approaches. We realized that we simply had to have practitioners having discussions so that they would become more comfortable with innovative approaches. A peer learning network was one of the strands to introduce infrastructure innovation and build more sustainable regions,” stated Dale Wall.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Being an effective champion requires deep knowledge, experience and quiet resolve to make things happen,” stated Joan Sawicki, land and resource management champion, and former provincial cabinet minister


    “With the change of government in late 1991, all of a sudden land use planning and natural resource management was front and centre. We had Mike Harcourt as Premier and Darlene Marzari as Minister of Municipal Affairs. Both had come out of local government. They were very familiar with the urgent growth pressures and the ecological impacts that they were having. Then I was appointed Marzari’s Parliamentary Secretary. I had spent a term as an elected Councillor in Burnaby. So the Georgia Basin Initiative was a good fit for me,” stated Joan Sawicki.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Look at all the really important science that we were able to produce. There is a lot to be proud of in terms of all that material that we produced for the region, the network and the country,” stated Richard Boase, career environmental champion within local government in British Columbia


    “When I look back at our history, I think wow, how did we do so much applied research. We had a need and Hans Schreier had grad students who were interested in doing the research. Win-win,” stated Richard Boase. “At a critical moment, members of the Partnership team would have an idea around a research theme that supported our hypotheses. And as often happened, I was the arm that had the energy and willingness to take on the research, apply new science in North Vancouver, and get the work done.”

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Blue Ecology reinforces the attitude change that is necessary to support widespread use of tools and resources that help local governments design with nature,” stated Richard Boase, career environmental champion within local government


    “Think of Blue Ecology as a compass in terms of how it relates to a water-first approach to Water Reconciliation between cultures. The compass points the way forward and to success. Because of the diversity in backgrounds, skills and experiences that we have in the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, we are positioned to take what Michael Blackstock has created with the Blue Ecology framework and make it actionable in the local government sector,” stated Richard Boase.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The more you can build buzz around your work and get people energized, the more feasible it becomes. Success breeds success,” stated Dr. Jane Wei-Skillern of the University of California at Berkeley


    “I was teaching an MBA elective on social entrepreneurship, was doing some case writing, and came across Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Geraldine Peacock, the CEO, did all of these counter-intuitive things in order to get her organization’s impact bigger. But it was by decreasing their own organizational footprint, investing in their peers and former competitors, and focusing more narrowly on their core business, that enabled them to leverage their resources more broadly and create greater and more sustainable impact in the entire field,” stated Jane Wei-Skillern.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “How you adapt to change is that you develop a culture where you welcome, and you try and anticipate, what a future state might be like. And then be nimble enough to adapt and adjust yourself to it,” stated Ramin Seifi, former General Manager of engineering and planning with Langley Township in the Metro Vancouver region


    “In my conversations with current and former senior level municipal staff around the Metro Vancouver region, there is a sense among them that the current generation of politicians appears more interested in appeasing a few people who are outspoken, as opposed to listening to the advice of their professional staff. More than ever, we need STRONGER CHAMPIONS and people who believe in what they are doing at heart. When I reflect on my time with Langley Township, I hope my lasting contribution is the confidence that I instilled in people to not be afraid of trying something and being a champion for it,” stated Ramin Seifi.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “When we keep it simple, practical and implementable, we achieve a lot more than when we make things complex. Make this your north star. It will get you over the finish line to deliver a strategy, plan or program,” stated Melony Burton, Manager of Infrastructure Planning with the City of Port Coquitlam in Metro Vancouver


    “The purpose of the Metro Vancouver region’s Adaptive Management Framework is to measure watershed health. How well are your watershed plans working? We kept it simple, practical and implementable for a reason,” stated Melony Burton. “You are not going to measure everything every five years because it is unaffordable when you have multiple watersheds or limited resources. If you were to go back every five years and check, could you see your watershed health improving? How many of your recommendations have you implemented? ARE THEY WORKING?”

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    HUMANS ARE DEPLETING GROUNDWATER WORLD-WIDE: “Our team of data scientists, water specialists and policy experts compiled the first global-scale dataset of millions of groundwater level measurements,” stated Dr. Debra Perrone of the University of California, Santa Barbara


    “Our study has two main findings. First, we show that rapid groundwater depletion is widespread around the world and that rates of decline have accelerated in recent decades, with levels falling by 20 inches or more yearly in some locations. Second, however, our research also reveals many cases where deliberate actions halted groundwater depletion. These results show that societies are not inevitably doomed to drain their groundwater supplies, and that with timely interventions, this important resource can recover,” wrote Debra Perrone, one of three co-authors.

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    EAP, THE ECOLOGICAL ACCOUNTING PROCESS, IS AN EXPRESSION OF BLUE ECOLOGY: “Rivers and streams in BC are sending us a message… change our attitude towards them. It is hard to hear their message, from a boardroom or Zoom rooms,” stated Michael Blackstock, co-founder of the Blue Ecology Foundation Institute


    “Blue Ecology is about interweaving two ways of knowing through a collaborative framework that would help facilitate how Indigenous, provincial and local governments work as leaders on a common problem, the climate crisis. Tools like EAP can be used to shape the future, as our new attitude deploys these existing tools in new ways. Has the moment come to reframe ‘ecosystem services’ as ‘gifts of nature’? If it does not get measured, it does not get managed. EAP helps us measure and assess the trade-offs; and helps us understand when it is time to just let the land heal,” stated Michael Blackstock.

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