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“A Water Conservation Strategy for British Columbia” was developed by a working group chaired by Prad Khare. The Strategy will contribute to a sustained and healthy resource and provide a common framework for water management activities throughout the province by advancing water as a valuable resource which must be utilized efficiently, wisely and cost-effectively to sustain a high quality of social, environmental and economic well-being, for now and in the future.

In 1992, co-authored papers by Tom Heath and Kim Stephens and by Ted van der Gulik (left) and Kim Stephens, respectively, were published as an integrated magazine article. “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 the authors in their opening paragraph.

“Mark Twain once said there are lies, damned lies and statistics. And that was over 100 years ago, before we had computers and billions of data points to analyze. All the numbers available to us these days can lead to some odd statistical reporting…Newfoundlanders are not the highest water users, statistics just make them look that way,” concludes Neal Klassen.

In 2011 the Pacific Institute, in collaboration with Google, launched a smartphone application that could help address a major water challenge: finding, supporting, and expanding the United States’s public drinking water fountains. “The average American now drinks nearly 30 gallons of commercial bottled water per year. One of the reasons for this explosive growth in the sales of bottled water is the disappearance of public drinking water fountains,” stated Peter Gleick.

The United States Water Prize Program is a celebration of sustainable solutions that advance holistic, watershed-based approaches to water quality and quantity challenges.

The best way to achieve a sustainable future for fresh water is to develop decision-making processes, institutions, and technologies that emphasize both efficiency and conservation.

Don Degen (City of Kelowna):
New landscaping standards will help to reduce water consumption across the city and reduce residential landscaping water consumption by a further 15 per cent. This makes Kelowna the first city in BC to set this level of landscape water usage standards.

This is the first comprehensive analysis of the water soft path, drawing on studies from Canada and around the world. The book demonstrates that soft path analyses are both analytical and practical. It emphasizes that soft paths, beyond being conceptually attractive, can be economically and politically feasible.

The recommended approach is to “use the same water tomorrow we use today,” which accommodates all future population and economic growth to 2040, and beyond, using the same amount of water used in 2008.

Program provide residents with the tools to reduce water and energy use, save on energy and water bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated through water heating.