Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC

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Richard Horner

    METRO VANCOUVER LEGACY RESEARCH; BENCHMARK FOR WATERSHED HEALTH: “The Ecological Accounting Process is about the condition and financial value of municipal stream assets that supply ecological services,” stated Tim Pringle, Adjunct Faculty with the Master of Community Planning Department at Vancouver Island University


    “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.

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    WHY WATERSHEDS ARE AT A HEIGHTENED RISK: Pressures from growth, along with new provincial housing legislation, “will likely lead to further tree canopy cover losses and impervious surface increases,” wrote the report authors – Source: 2020 Regional Tree Canopy Cover and Impervious Surface in Metro Vancouver, March 2024


    Robert Hicks is skilled at providing historical context and perspective for “the big picture” of today. “When you remove tree cover and pave over pervious surfaces so that they are hard, you effectively double the volume of runoff water to be managed and it drains faster. There are also two other consequences. No longer can you sustain minimum flow requirements in streams. And no longer can you recharge groundwater. This is the orphaned resource. It has just been so easy to overlook groundwater historically,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    Local governments invest in youth at Vancouver Island University as part of 3-year transition strategy to embed EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process


    “There are lots of partnerships that exist for selfish reasons. But the EAP Partnership is selfless; and from all angles. It is a leap of faith for member local governments. Partnership for Water Sustainability commitment to passing the baton is unwavering. Vancouver Island University is all-in because EAP is an idea that can change the game. And students are excited to contribute to the change. In a phrase, the framework for the EAP Partnership is foundational. It is also outcome-oriented,” stated Graham Sakaki.

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    ROAD MAP FOR STREAM SYSTEM INTEGRITY: The enduring legacy of Richard Horner and Chris May is that they applied systems thinking, investigated whole systems in place, identified four limiting factors, and definitively established their order-of-priority


    In the 1990s, Puget Sound research correlated land use changes with impacts on stream system condition. “Timing is everything. You learn that as you go through life. It was good timing because everyone was crying out, what is wrong and what can we do. In the 1990s, we were able to come up with some pretty good data and our conclusions are standing the test of time. Looking back, everything came together at the same time. Rich Horner and my work pointed out the problems. And the early green infrastructure work pointed to potential solutions,” stated Chis May.

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    Why land development and watershed protection can be compatible


    “When the Guidebook was released, this capability to set targets gave the steering committee the confidence to be bold and state: land development and watershed protection can be compatible. In 2002, this statement represented a radical shift in thinking. It became known as ‘the Guidebook premise’. We were hopeful that all the players would embrace shared responsibility and communities would move from stopgap remediation to long-term restoration of properly functioning streams. We are not there yet,” stated Peter Law.

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