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Stormwater Guidebook British Columbia

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

May 28, 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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“Why is British Columbia falling behind the United States west coast in protecting streams?” is the question Jim Dumont asks

October 3, 2023


“While many advances have been made in managing rainwater on-site, BC communities are failing to utilize practices that directly benefit streams during droughts and floods. The needs of BC communities closely align with the other west coast areas that suffer from adverse stream flows rather than the degradation of water quality which is the case on the east coast. The western states require that stormwater management systems maintain stream flow duration to protect against stream erosion and flooding,” stated Jim Dumont.

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