Okanagan Basin Water Board hosts first in 2012–2013 Series of “Water Balance Model Training Workshops”

 

Do you wonder how communities can reduce their ‘water footprint’ & protect stream health?  

The web-based Water Balance Model for British Columbia (WBM) is a scenario comparison tool. Launched by an inter-governmental partnership in 2003, the tool quantifies the effectiveness of green infrastructure in accomplishing two inter-connected goals: reduce a community’s ‘water footprint’; and protect stream health.

“In 2011, we rebuilt the Water Balance Model on a new platform. It is quicker and cleaner to use; and it now has launch buttons at three scales of investigation; SITE, NEIGHBOURHOOD and WATERSHED. In conjunction with the re-build, the WBM Partnership is implementing an outreach, education and training program,” states Richard Boase, Partnership Co-Chair. “The Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) has stepped forward to host the first WBM training workshop in the 2012-2013 Series. It will be held on March 1^st in Kelowna as part of the OBWB Climate Adaptation Workshop program. In subsequent months, we will be announcing other WBM education and training opportunities in other regions. Training workshops will be held in computer lab settings.”

“The water balance methodology links rainfall to flows in the stream, and hence, protection of stream health. In conducting our training workshops, an educational outcome is that municipal engineers, planners and consultants will understand why and how to apply the water balance methodology to achieve targets.”

“This methodology should be a foundation block for those who are tasked with developing an Integrated Stormwater Management Plan (ISMP).  Without this ‘how-to-do-it’ understanding, they will be challenged to recommend the actions necessary to protect or restore watershed function,” concludes Richard Boase.

To Learn More About the Water Balance Model:

To register, click on http://www.obwb.ca/toolsworkshop.To download the agenda, click on SustainableRainwater Management: What Does It Look Like?

The following stories are posted on the Water Bucket website and provide background: 

1. Water Balance Model Partners are charter members of the ‘Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia’
2. Majority of Local Governments in the Lower Mainland are Water Balance Model Partners
3. Community of Users Inform Platform Conversion for Water Balance Model
4. Metro Vancouver hosts 2011 Water Balance Model Partners Forum 
5. Vision for ‘Water Balance Model Express’ introduced to Elected Representatives in Metro Vancouver Region
6. Metro Vancouver contributes $50,000 towards enhancement of the “Water Balance Model for British Columbia”
7. Primer on Rainwater Management in an Urban Watershed Context  
8. Primer on Urban Watershed Modelling to Inform Local Government Decision Processes

E-Blast #2012-05

February 8, 2012