Water-Centric Planning

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Joan Sawicki

    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “For a generation of elected representatives, Erik Karlsen was a familiar face in the local government setting. His influence was profound and far-reaching. He touched many lives,” stated Kim Stephens of the Partnership for Water Sustainability BC


    Erik Karlsen had a remarkable impact on the shape of BC communities. He was always where the action was – where creative and innovative energies were flowing. His ability to gravitate to that action – and to ‘morph’ into whatever current political form it was taking – was a real feature of Erik’s career. He had a job description like any other employee in the public service, but no supervisor, Assistant Deputy Minister or Deputy Minister, ever had the slightest idea what Erik actually did with his time. His trademark was that he got good things done.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The region’s continued health and sustainability demands that we treat it as one system, not as a composite of separate and jurisdictionally distinct entities,” stated Joan Sawicki, former cabinet minister and Parliamentary Secretary for the Georgia Basin Initiative


    “The region’s continued health and sustainability demands that we treat it as one system, not as a composite of separate and jurisdictionally distinct entities. As Parliamentary Secretary for the Georgia Basin Initiative, I had a visionary document and strong personal support from Minister Marzari at the top. And I had Erik Karlsen’s on-the-ground connections with Basin communities and their issues. All I had to do was run with it, And that’s what we did!. The Georgia Basin Initiative was successful because we had the right people at the right time,” stated Joan Sawicki.

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    LAND, WATER AND FOOD SECURITY ARE ONE AND THE SAME: “Long story short, as a nation, we need to get our act together to ensure there is enough land to respond to the demands of a growing population,” stated Danielle Synotte, executive director of the B.C. Agriculture Council


    “As our population expands, this creates intense competition around land usage. As municipalities become increasingly built out, political pressure around the long-held provincial Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is intensifying. As we move forward into increasingly uncertain geopolitical times, we also need to take a sober look at the risks associated with dependence on a foreign food supply. As we move forward into increasingly uncertain geopolitical times, we also need to take a sober look at the risks associated with dependence on a foreign food supply, “stated Danielle Synotte.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “To get to food security in BC, we need to increase the irrigated area from 200,000 to 300,000 hectares,” stated Ted van der Gulik, President of the Partnership for Water Sustainability, and former Senior Engineer in the Ministry of Agriculture


    “Food security, land security and water security are not separate issues. They are one and the same. Agricultural land use inventories give us accurate data on irrigated food lands in the Fraser Valley, both existing and potential. If we invest in the infrastructure needed to supply water from the Fraser River, we can increase the irrigated area by 30,000 hectares in the Fraser Valley alone. Thanks to satellite imagery, British Columbia has a powerful capability for understanding exactly what is happening on the land,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “I think it is great that the Partnership for Water Sustainability is the keeper of the Georgia Basin Initiative legacy and that what we started in the 1990s continues,” stated Mike Harcourt, the former Premier of British Columbia whose leadership made possible the Georgia Basin Initiative during a critical period


    Mike Harcourt talked about the cross-border collaboration that was his bigger picture context for the Georgia Basin Initiative. In turn, it provides context for Metro Vancouver’s Livable Region Strategic Plan. This was deemed to be the region’s first regional growth strategy when Minister of Municipal Affairs Minister Darlene Marzari approved it in February 1996. Cross-border collaboration, the George Basin Initiative and Livable Region Strategic Plan are nested layers for integrating planning, engineering and environmental perspectives to create livable communities!

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    AGRICULTURAL WATER RESERVE FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Without a protected water supply for agriculture, we risk losing local farms and, in turn, our ability to produce healthy, affordable and locally grown food,” wrote Jeremy Dunn, Kevin Boon and Danielle Synotte in their call for action


    “Local producers need sufficient access to water to grow crops, feed livestock and maintain healthy soil. In times of drought or water scarcity, a lack of water directly threatens food production and jeopardizes the livelihoods of farmers. Provincial food security hinges on predictable water availability. The impacts of climate change have disrupted this balance, casting doubt on the future of agriculture. Protecting water access for agricultural purposes is essential to maintaining food security for current and future generations,” wrote Kevin Boon and his co-authors.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The task at hand is about how to redefine things in a new political environment so you would be able to get a new vision and new political commitment,” stated Ray Fung, stated Ray Fung, a retired Director of Engineering in local government, and former Chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership


    “With the housing issue dominating the conversation, how will you reframe the goal and objective for restoration of stream systems in a way that restores political commitment and rebuilds the coalition? What combination of public self-interest and political lever will it take to effect change? What would leveraging political commitment and self-interest look like for rainwater management and riparian forest integrity in today’s context? What combination will it take to effect change? Learn from past experience. There is no time to reinvent the wheel,” stated Ray Fung.

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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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    BC’s PATH TO FOOD SECURITY IS THRU WATER SECURITY: “When we think of all the changes in thinking that we have gone through in the last 50 years, the Land Commission Act really is a testament to the incredible foresight demonstrated in 1973,” stated Joan Sawicki, former MLA


    “At a time when most other jurisdictions continue to lose their food lands, BC’s ALR remains the most successful agricultural land preservation program in North America. With food security now becoming a top-of-mind public issue, thanks to the foresight demonstrated in 1973 we still have “the land” – and I submit we would not still have the option for viable agricultural sectors in high growth areas like the Lower Mainland or the Okanagan without the ALR. The ALR has been doing exactly what it was designed to do,” stated Joan Sawicki.

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