Klaus Koenig impresses Victoria audience
The program for the Rainwater Harvesting Workshop in Victoria was built around Klaus Koenig,
German architect and consulting engineer. Klaus has been extensively
involved with the subject of rainwater utilization for 20 years. The
author of several books in German on the subject, his first English
book on rainwater recycling, “The Rainwater Technology Handbook, Rain Harvesting in Building”, was published in 2001.
Klaus
Koenig regularly writes article and reports for professional journals
and has lectured on the subject at the International Symposia of the
United Nations in Tokyo in 1998 and in Kone, Japan in 1999. Klaus was a
panelist in the 2nd World Water Forum at the Hague, Netherlands in
2000 and at the 3rd World Water Forum at Kyoto in 2003. Klaus made
four presentations at the Victoria Workshop. Click on the links below
to view them:
Koenig#1: Sky Supply – A Global Overview of Rainwater Harvesting
Koenig#2: Water Sensitive Urban Development On-the-Ground
Koenig#3: Turning the Tap – A Closer Look at Rainwater Harvesting Systems
Koenig#4: Overcoming Barriers: WHere There is a Will, There is a Way
The Victoria Workshop was organized under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, in particular the Convening for Action initiative, the purpose of which is to:
- Challenge individuals to step back from their existing paradigms (e.g. “big pipe”)
- Inform practitioners about the alternatives (e.g. rainwater harvesting)
- Provide them with tools and the experience to do things differently.
The workshop was co-moderated by Colwyn Sunderland (Demand Management Coordinator, Capital Regional District) and Erik Karlsen
(Chair, Smart Growth on the Ground; Co-Lead, Convening for Action
Initiative). Click on the links below for their open and closing
presentations:
Sunderland: Convening for Action – We Can Create Our Future
Karlsen: Convening for Action – Closing the Cycle
In addition to the presentations by Klaus Koenig, Colwyn Sunderland and Erik Karlsen, Allan Dobie of
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation moderated a Panel Session that
featured three Greater Victoria applications of Rainwater Harvesting.
Click on the links below to view these presentations:
Alan Dobie: Pooling Ideas – Making Sense of Rainwater Harvesting on the 'Wet Coast'
Patrick Lucey: Healthy Streams and Rainwater Harvesting
Randy Page: Rainwater Harvesting at the Olympic View Golf Club
Bob Burgess: Rainwater Harvesting in the Gulf Islands
A key message of the workshop was this: “The
Urban Sector can learn from the Agricultural Sector: Rainwater
harvesting is already meeting agricultural irrigation needs.” Click on the link below to view the presentation by Dave Pendray.
Farm Economics – Understanding Rain as a Bottomline Resource