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Cities are murky on how they define ‘green infrastructure’. Analysis of 122 plans from 20 major cities found that many plans fail to explicitly define green infrastructure. When they do, they tend to focus on stormwater management. “Green infrastructure is broadly understood to be a good thing, but many local government plans lack a clear definition of what it is. Hydrological definitions dominate. What they mean can be unclear and inconsistent within and across local governments,” stated Zbigniew Grabowski.

“The Biodiversity Development Cost Charge Bylaw for acquiring and enhancing land in stream corridors has been in place since 2019. Surrey is the only municipality that has one. The work to create the DCC for biodiversity was initiated many years before 2019. By then, there was still some convincing to do. But people had pretty well committed to it. There was a sense that: we cannot say NO now, we have to commit to it, we have to do it based on the work done previously. It would be a lot harder to initiate something like that in 2023,” stated Rémi Dubé.

“Most of these stewardship groups draw on people who live around the streams, Who better to be out there learning and gaining experience with the tools to do the work. And then taking the knowledge gained through this process to advocate for their streams. To the best of our knowledge, nobody else in Canada has done this type of community-based network approach for hydrometrics before. There have been other types of monitoring, such as for lakes. But we are the only ones who have done it for hydrometrics,” stated Ally Badger.

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 over the course of his unique career in public service. 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.

In government, Lynn was a leader who made a difference behind the scenes with her vision and ability to make things happen. She was the Living Water Smart champion, and her passion and leadership drove it. “Living Water Smart is a timeless story about the value of water in all its forms and its message continues to resonate with people today. Living Water Smart is an idea that has a life beyond a date-stamped plan,” says Lynn Kriwoken. In rewirement she continues to draw on those same messages to inspire and educate others about water.

“waterbucket.ca has matured into a legacy resource. In 2004, we were thinking about where we are now. We have adapted over the past 20 years. We have changed when we have had to. We have always gone where there is interest and energy. We have done all this and that is a big part of our continuing success. When people say I saw it on waterbucket.ca, that is our ultimate measure and testament of success. Hopefully that will continue to be our story for another twenty years and beyond. That will be the legacy of the Waterbucket Website Partnership founders,” stated Mike Tanner.

“When local governments obtain a financial value for streams as spatial assets, they can include them in their asset management plans and budgets. If land use intensity increases to levels that destroy the conditions of the stream, then there will be no stream asset to produce ecological services. Communities need streams to be there! We are moving EAP from a primary emphasis on Asset Management to use by planners for spatial analysis related to streams and trees,” stated Tim Pringle.

In “Views of the Salish Sea”, Howard Macdonald Stewart documents that, too often in his career as an advisor to the United Nations, he experienced a vital paradise that had become an environmental desert due to ‘business as usual’ decisions. He wrote the book to help readers better understand past decisions and their consequences. “The pressure on this ecologically vulnerable area will only intensify. Will we continue with Business as Usual or implement Wise Use in the Salish Sea? The first step is to understand the complex story of the region,” stated Macdonald.

“Climate change has aggravated an existing vulnerability related to seasonal supply of water in British Columbia. Over time, and as the population has grown, the safety factor has been shrinking. While it rains a lot, we do not have an abundance of supply when demand is greatest. This creates risks. In 2015, Western North America clearly crossed an invisible threshold into a different hydrometeorological regime. Over the past decade, it has been one drought after another, dramatized by the extremes that impacted BC communities in 2021 and again in 2023,” stated Kim Stephens.

“In a nutshell, we chose a compelling title… Melting Glaciers, Watersheds and You…that ties watershed health to personal responsibility. It is inevitably a bad news/good news story that we want to end with hope. And a call to action. we have an all-star panel in Dr. Brian Menounos, Dr. Peter Ross and Michael Blackstock. Each has a powerful message to share. These people are good scientists, thought leaders and story tellers who care about our planet. Aiming to inspire action, their message is provocative and hopeful for future generations,” stated Lynn Kriwoken.