Water-Centric Planning

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Kelowna’s Water Security Plan sets out goals and actions of what we can do as a City. Having the Plan in place helps staff respond consistently to the public and our community partners,” stated Rod MacLean, Utilities Planning Manager


    “It took us eight years to get Kelowna’s first Water Security Plan across the finish line. We define our responsibilities within this plan. We looked through a One Water lens to address community needs and responsibilities. Our community must be consistent in its response and actions. First Nations, other communities, we all share the lake. But not all have the resources we have at the City of Kelowna. We felt it important to lead by example. We have accomplished something special. I see it. Others see it. This plan is critical for the growth of the city,” stated Rod MacLean.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “You can build warehouses and industrial stuff pretty well anywhere you have a piece of property. You cannot build a farm by bringing in soil. That is what we have to protect. We have to find other places for this other stuff,” stated Christina Gemino, graduate of School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University


    Christina Gemino breaks new ground with her master’s thesis titled “The Silent Death of Agriculture in Metro Vancouver”. Using data from the provincial Agricultural Land Inventory (ALI) program, she draws attention to the consequential impacts of non-sanctioned (aka illegal) changes in how agricultural land is used and abused. “The non-sanctioned expansion of industrial use on agricultural land was a factor that drove my research. This can mean a lot of things. These uses can forever change the agricultural land base,” stated Christina Gemino.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Nature can heal itself if only we give it a chance,” stated Mark Angelo, Chair and founder of World Rivers Day; globally renowned river conservationist, speaker, teacher, writer, adventurer, and paddler


    “I have always believed that BC has perhaps the world’s finest wild river heritage. We have amazing waterways in our province. I have long written articles for academic and technical audiences. After I wrote my first children’s book, I began to wonder whether I could write a book that would introduce the allure and magic of rivers to a broader audience that perhaps I had not reached before. The reason for publishing my book River Magic in 2025 is that it is in concert with the 20th anniversary of World Rivers Day which was inspired by BC Rivers Day,” explained Mark Angelo.

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    RIVER MAGIC, TALES FROM A LIFE ON 1000 RIVERS: “While the book takes the reader around the world, it is also important to note that BC locales are well represented. That is pertinent and appropriate because in BC our river heritage is as good as any in the world,” stated Mark Angelo


    In the story behind the story, Mark Angelo explains why his title is River Magic; why the Fraser River is the heart and soul of BC; and why Guichon Creek in Burnaby shows never give up. “The Fraser River has been such a big part of my life and a river that is dear to my heart. In 1975, I spent the entire summer paddling down the entire 1375-kilometre length of the Fraser River. I was so enamoured with the river, its powers, its beauty, its diversity. Ever since, I have referred to and felt passionately about the Fraser River as literally the heart and soul of BC,: stated Mark Angelo.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Those who are in the front lines of local government are embattled, stretched to the limit, and under-appreciated. But they are not alone. They can look to the network for inspiration, peer support and hope,” stated Richard Boase, Vice-President of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC


    The Partnership embarked on a multi-year transition strategy in 2023. The strategy is designed to achieve two outcomes in sequence. The Partnership continues to add to the leadership team; has crafted what the Partnership and network would look like after 2025; and recognized and acted on the need to accelerate the strategy to put in place leadership for 2028 and beyond. To achieve our intergenerational mission through the network, the Partnership launched the Ambassadors Program in 2021. The ambassadors are the bridges across boundaries.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “A request from Todd Pugh of CivicInfo BC was my source of inspiration for evolving Waterbucket eNews to feature stories behind the sources,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC


    In 2020, Todd Pugh of CivicInfo BC had an idea for a feature called Civic Voices. This inspired the Partnership for Water Sustainability to run with the idea of stories behind the stories. “The idea is pretty simple. We run a lot of municipal press releases, but there are deeper stories to be told. We want thoughtful columns that highlight interesting ideas, concepts, or experiences. In short, we would love to hear about the journey – a behind-the-scenes story, from a first-person perspective,” stated Todd.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “We share our world view through our stories and storytelling. It is not the technical stuff that carries the day. It is the stories about the technical stuff that carry the day.” – season finale for Living Water Smart Series (June 2025)


    A look into the future by Jay Bradley in 2007 has proven prescient in foreshadowing what is happening in the post-COVID era. “What happens if lessons we are learning are not passed on and are lost when there is an exodus of experienced people with deep knowledge and understanding? What then? It takes a career to figure this stuff out,” he said. Jay Bradley’s quote nails the nub of one of the challenges of our time. Loss of understanding;. Never has storytelling been more important than it is today. And that is because knowledge is being lost at an alarming rate.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “We are giving what we can to build something with nothing. It is the collective impact of our team that actually makes something,” stated Cindy Lise, co-lead for the Cowichan Climate Gathering, a collaborative initiative for collective impact


    “Keep in mind that the vision is finding a way to take the broad collective and get us paddling the canoe in the same way. How do we as a community take the strengths of everyone of our partners and drive towards a shared goal through aligned activities? We are the choir. We already have this drive, this passion, and this focus to do climate sustainability and resiliency work. But the broader public does not necessarily know that. If we really want this work to be successful, we need to have someone driving the bus all the way. And as a focus of their foundational work,” stated Cindy Lise.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “I always had issues with the discipline of ecology as taught in the university system where it was very much mechanistic, Cartesian dualism of mind and body and human and nature,” stated Dr. Zbigniew Grabowski, principal author of ‘What is green infrastructure? A study of definitions in US city planning’


    “My research is the first systematic review of the use and definition of the green infrastructure concept in local government plans in the US. Many plans fail to explicitly define green infrastructure. How green infrastructure is defined guides the types of projects that local governments implement, with enduring impacts to people and the urban environment. We need a new paradigm that reimagines green infrastructure to address root causes of water quality issues. But most of the academic systems are not really lined up with deep transformative action,” stated Zbigniew Grabowski.

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    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “When read together, the stories of conversations with 13 green infrastructure influencers in the Metro Vancouver region paint a picture of what it takes to innovate and lead changes in practice in the local government setting,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability


    “A unifying theme in conversations with 13 green infrastructure influencers is that staff champions in local government can only carry things so far. Only when someone who is elected takes the lead, and is the champion, does something happen. In the 2000s, everything was in alignment. The right people were in the right place at the right time. There was energy, there was passion. The regional team approach to municipal collaboration brought all the players together for a shared mission. They learned from each other; they moved forward in tandem,” stated Kim Stephens.

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