Nanaimo Water Pricing Workshop stimulates dialogue on Sustainable Service Delivery

Worth Every Penny

Held in September 2010, the Nanaimo Water Pricing Workshop is decribed as the first of its kind in Canada. Part of the rollout to stimulate a national dialogue on sustainable water management, the workshop program was a unique blend of research and practice. The workshop connected the dots between three initiatives: 

• Action for Water, implemented by the Regional District of Nanaimo following approval in a referendum in November 2008. 
• Worth Every Penny: A Primer on Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing, released in May 2010. 
• Beyond the Guidebook 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Urban Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia, released in June 2010.

"The 'water pricing workshop' resulted from a three-way collaboration involving the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN), the POLIS Water Sustainability Project, and Convening for Action on Vancouver Island (CAVI)," states John Finnie, the RDN's General Manager of Regional & Community Utilities. He is also CAVI Chair. "The desired outcome for the workshop was that participating practitioners would understand why 'conservation-oriented water pricing' is a tool to achieve a larger end.

TO LEARN MORE: To  read the complete story of the 2010 Nanaimo Water Pricing Workshop, click here to access the event 'homepage' on the Water Bucket website.