Water Use & Conservation

A WATER CONSERVATION STRATEGY FOR BC: “The term of the Partnership Agreement to implement the Strategy was 1998 through 2001. Very importantly, it provided the committee with funding to hire a part-time coordinator. Having this support enabled us to leverage volunteer efforts and expand our reach,” stated Eric Bonham, Executive Committee Chair

November 29, 2025 - Posted in Water Conservation Strategy for British Columbia

Note to Reader:

The early history of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia is presented in the contextual document titled Celebration of Our Story: Genesis / First Decade / What Next, published in November 2020. The following article is an extract from this key document and there are three main takeaways.

One is that change rarely occurs overnight. The process is incremental. In this extract, the water sustainability journey in British Columbia is described in terms of five distinct eras. The second takeaway is that three droughts within five years focused attention on the need for a water conservation strategy. The third is that a precedent-setting Partnership Agreement set the stage for collaborative leadership in the 2000s.

The Partnership: Overview of the Journey

“Change rarely occurs overnight. The process is incremental. Thus, the water sustainability journey in British Columbia currently stretches over five decades – from the 1980s through the 2020s. The journey has five distinct eras,” explains Ted van der Gulik.

1987 – 1992 > The Genesis – Unprecedented Droughts
1992 – 1997 > BC Response to National Action Plan
1997 – 2002 > A Water Conservation Strategy for BC
2002 – 2010 > Living Water Smart in BC
2010 – 2020 > First Decade as “The Partnership”

“The significance of each of the five eras is reflected in the title for it. Each era is a building block in a process that is long-term in scope.”

The Genesis – Unprecedented Droughts

“The 1987 drought resulted in an unprecedented test of the capacities of water supply sources throughout BC to provide for existing regional populations, raising concerns regarding the possible consequences of continued growth,” continues Kim Stephens.

Regional in Scope, Provincial in Significance

The landmark Metro Vancouver and Okanagan Valley projects focused attention on the need for a water conservation strategy for British Columbia. The urgency of the situation was accentuated by the severity of drought conditions in 1990 and 1992.

Three professional engineers were integral to these landmark studies: Tom Heath (Metro Vancouver), Ted van der Gulik (Okanagan) and Kim Stephens, who was common to both. Looking back, their work laid the foundation for the core competency of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia.

The three were founding members of the BCWWA Water Conservation Committee in 1992. The inaugural meeting of this committee coincided with publication of a magazine article co-authored by this trio, and titled Water, Water Everywhere …Does British Columbia Really Need A Water Conservation Strategy? In 1992, the three were instrumental in changing the nature of the conversation about water in BC.

Water, Water Everywhere….

“The summer of 1992 has once again heightened awareness throughout British Columbia of the limited capabilities of many existing water supply sources. Although there is a perception that BC is water-rich, the reality is that we are often seasonally water-short (mainly because of storage limitations) during the period when water demand is heaviest due to lawn and garden irrigation,” wrote Stephens, Heath and van der Gulik.

“For the third time in six years, drought conditions have been experienced in the southern part of BC, and in particular the Greater Vancouver region. The 1987 drought is one of the most extreme on record, with a return period rating in the order of 100 years. It followed a relatively benign period of almost half a century.”

A Water Conservation Strategy for British Columbia

An 18-member Provincial Working Group, supported by Ministry of Environment staff and resources, developed the Water Conservation Strategy for British Columbia. Working group members Kim Stephens, Tom Heath, Ted van der Gulik, Eric Bonham, and Mike Tanner.

Fast-tracked, it was released in September 1998 at the Annual Convention of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM). UBCM provided the setting for the Ministries of Environment and Municipal Affairs to jointly announce a precedent-setting Partnership Agreement between the Province, Environment Canada and BCWWA.

“The purpose of the agreement: implement the Water Conservation Strategy through an Executive Committee of the Water Use Efficiency Committee (WUEC),” recalls Eric Bonham. At the time, he was a director in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. He was also the architect and driving force who brought the agreement to fruition.

To Learn More:

To read the complete story about the early history of the Partnership, download a copy of Celebration of Our Story: Genesis / First Decade / What Next. It is structured in two part parts. Part One sketches an outline of many ideas and nuances about the work of The Partnership. Part Two is a deeper dive as shown in the storyboard below.