Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC

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BALANCING ACT – H20 AND HEALTHY STREAMS: “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, career environmental champion within local government in British Columbia

 

Note to Reader:

Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. Storylines accommodate a range of reader attention spans. Read the headline and move on, or take the time to delve deeper – it is your choice!  Downloadable versions are available at Living Water Smart in British Columbia: The Series.

The edition published on April 23, 2024 featured North Vancouver’s Richard Boase, an environmental champion in word and deed. His 30-year career history in local government is defined by the partnerships he forged with academia through collaboration with UBC’s Hans Schreier. This form of collaboration is an essential ingredient in the intergenerational baton strategy.

 

💧 Balancing Act: H2O and Healthy Streams

At the BC Land Summit on May 9 in Nanaimo, Richard Boase will tag-team with Paul Chapman to lead a session about Blue Ecology, a compass for a water-first approach. The session theme is caring for the land.

Blue Ecology is a framework for interweaving Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge. Water reconciliation is the goal. “We are telling the same story but just speaking two different languages,” observes Paul Chapman, Chair of the Watershed Moments Team.

The team produced  a 90-minute video about Blue Ecology moderated by Richard Boase, released on World Rivers Day 2023, and broadcast multiple times throughout BC by Shaw Spotlight on their community channels.

A passion for applied research in pursuit of solutions

Richard Boase is an environmental champion in word and deed. His 30-year career history in local government is defined by the partnerships he forged with academia through collaboration with UBC’s Hans Schreier.

Richard Boase has the courage of his convictions. He leads by example to demonstrate how to apply “science-based understanding”. His vision is to protect, restore and enhance stream systems in the built environment.

With Richard Boase as the internal champion, the Partnership for Water Sustainability could always count on the District of North Vancouver to be a proving ground for innovative tools and approaches.

The session that changed everything for Richard Boase: 

“In the 1990s, the UBC research team led by Hans Schreier and Ken Hall dated all these sediment cores from Burnaby Lake and extracted sediments from certain years. They identified, for example, when lead stopped being used in gasoline,” states Richard Boase.

“They also showed how pollutants in road runoff work their way through the drainage networks and into streams where they deposit. It was an inspiring moment for me. I saw a path forward for making a difference.”

 

 

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER

“In the April 16th edition of Waterbucket eNews, we featured the Partnership’s current collaboration with Vancouver Island University. Thanks to Richard Boase and his longstanding connection to Hans Schreier, the Partnership has an even longer relationship with the University of British Columbia,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.

“Collaboration with academia is an essential ingredient in what we in the Partnership frame as our intergenerational baton strategy. Our goal is to identify, invest in, and mentor those in the next generation who want to accept the baton because they see the benefits of building on experience.”

How we turn ideas into action

“At a critical moment, members of the Partnership team would have an idea around a research theme that supported our hypotheses,” recalled Richard Boase. “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.”

 

“One project that everyone involved in is especially proud of,” continued Kim Stephens, “is the North Shore Tree Canopy Rainfall Interception Project. Richard Boase and Hans Schreier ran with the idea, expanded the partnership to include the Canada Water Network, involved community volunteers, and implemented a network of 60 tree canopy climate stations across three municipalities.”

“The research quantified the proportion of rainfall intercepted by the tree canopy in an urban forest. This demonstrates the benefits of maintaining a tree canopy in the urban environment,” explained Richard Boase.

 

An inter-municipal coordinating team developed tree and site selection criteria and, with the assistance of UBC’s Dr. Markus Weiler (above), implemented an innovative system for capturing rain that makes it through the tree canopy.

 

Pursuit of knowledge in a quest to improve the urban fabric

“In my moments of reflection, I am proud of my pursuit of knowledge. It was shortly after the Hans Schreier workshop in the mid-1990s that I embarked on applied research that has defined my career with the District,” stated Richard Boase.

“Hans inspired me. Because of that relationship, the District used grad students to carry out vital research.”

“This research was in pursuit of making changes to the fabric of our urbanized areas. I was so encapsulated by what I saw around me, and the need for change, that my mind was always racing. And I needed to find ways to do research into what we were talking about.”

 

 

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: 💧 Balancing Act: H2O and Healthy Streams – extracts from conversations with Richard Boase and Hans Schreier 

“Hans Schreier of UBC ignited my passion in the mid-1990s when he presented what his grad students had learned from sediment cores taken from Burnaby Lake. It was an aha moment for me,” recalls Richard Boase.

The research quest began with performance effectiveness of oil and grit separators

“When I look back at our history of collaboration, I think wow, how did we do so much. It started with the performance assessment of oil and grit interceptors in the 1990s. And it continued over the next two decades.”

 

“Once I saw the need to focus on erosion and sediment control, Hans and I found grad students to do research for us. Their work was crucial. The findings clearly showed that the interceptors were not the silver bullet that the District had hung our hats on.”

“We were installing them left and right all over the place. But they were just not doing the job. We showed that you must properly look after them. Otherwise, the unintended consequence is that you create another problem for yourself.”

“That relationship with Hans Schreier led to tree canopy and green infrastructure research. It was the same with the Hastings Creek Watershed Blueprint. We had a need and Hans had grad students who were interested in doing the research. Win-win.”

We must do a better job of protecting streams

“It was about 1997 when the vision began to crystallize for me about the connection between green infrastructure and stream health. The next huge moment for me occurred a couple of years later at an inter-municipal regional meeting held at Metro Vancouver. You (Kim Stephens) were dissecting the misapplication of hydrology in terms of urban design.”

Simple is profound

“This was around the time when you developed the Water Balance Methodology. You looked at rainfall differently. The thing that I will always remember is how a light went on when you showed a rainfall event distribution and compared Metro Vancouver to Kelowna.”

 

 

“It was the idea of a universal relationship that transcended geography. It was one of those moments when you realize that simple is profound.”

“In that moment, it was clear to me  why rainfall capture is achievable, and that green infrastructure is the solution, but you must understand the role of soil in the hydrologic cycle.”

Richard Boase as “Bill Nye The Science Guy”    

“In 2002, following release of Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia, the District of North Vancouver was a founding member of the inter-governmental partnership which developed the Water Balance as an extension of the Guidebook. I quickly volunteered to serve on the leadership team.”

Rain boxes and marble racing

Richard Boase is known far and wide for his creativity in developing simple tools for explaining and demonstrating core concepts.

For years, the rain boxes and marble racers were mainstays of the Water Balance Model outreach and continuing education program (OCEP). The three rain boxes demonstrated how soil type and depth determine the rate at which water infiltrates into the ground. 

 

 

The marble racers demonstrated how friction (simulated with nails) slows runoff

 

 

Collaboration with Hans Schreier brought science into local government through applied research designed to make a difference

“After retiring from UBC in 2007, I volunteered my time and continued to teach courses until two years ago. So, all through those years, I still had access to students,” states Hans Schreier, Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Land and Water Systems at the University of British Columbia.

“Students are always looking for projects where they can make a difference. We have a problem in academia; we are not very good communicators of science. The idea was how can we bring more science into development to make a difference.”

 

“And so, connecting with Richard Boase in the 1990s was really fundamental because he is on the inside. And he is an excellent and persuasive communicator. Richard identified projects where the students could benefit directly and make a difference. To me, that was the opportunity.”

Right people, right place, right time

“Often, you meet people and things work out more or less, but the chemistry was right with Richard Boase. He had the right persuasion, the right personality, and he knew how to find those who were willing to do innovative things.”

“And then, we have all these young, keen students. All I did was link them up with Richard. He would say, we have a problem and what can we do.”

“Municipalities have limited access to science and they do not have time to do the science. So, why not use the students? Not only is it a benefit to community leaders, the students benefit because they are doing something that makes a difference,” concludes Hans Schreier.

 

 

Living Water Smart in British Columbia Series

To download a copy of the foregoing resource as a PDF document for your records and/or sharing, click on Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Balancing Act – H2O and Healthy Streams. The downloadable version includes a bonus feature in an appendix. The bonus is the complete interview with Richard Boase. This preview is extracted from the Chronicle of the Metro Vancouver region’s Green Infrastructure Journey (1997-2023) which will be published later in 2024.

DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/04/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Richard-Boase_bring-science-into-local-govt_2024.pdf

 

About the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC

Technical knowledge alone is not enough to resolve water challenges facing BC. Making things happen in the real world requires an appreciation and understanding of human behaviour, combined with a knowledge of how decisions are made. It takes a career to figure this out.

The Partnership has a primary goal, to build bridges of understanding and pass the baton from the past to the present and future. To achieve the goal, the Partnership is growing a network in the local government setting. This network embraces collaborative leadership and inter-generational collaboration.

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT: https://waterbucket.ca/about-us/

DOWNLOAD: https://waterbucket.ca/atp/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2024/01/PWSBC_Annual-Report-2023_as-published.pdf