British Columbia Partnership announces that rebuilt “Water Balance Model” now incorporates Tree Canopy Module

2nd Announcement in a Series 

The Water Balance Model for British Columbia is a scenario comparison tool. Re-launched on a Linux platform, the WBM now incorporates the Tree Canopy Module. This innovation resulted from a unique multi-jurisdictional partnership.  Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) collaborated with Metro Vancouver’s three North Shore municipalities --- North Vancouver District, North Vancouver City, and West Vancouver --- to establish a network of 60 monitoring stations that quantified tree canopy interception of annual rainfall.

“If a tree on an urban lot is cut down, how big is the net loss on that lot?  Or if a tree is planted, how big is the benefit?  If a tree overshadows grass on one side and a rooftop on the other, how does it compare to a tree simply spreading over a lawn?  The unfortunate situation is that until now, answering these kinds of questions was largely based on what we might call informed guesswork - if they were answered at all,” states Yeganeh Asadian, the UBC researcher whose thesis informed development of the Tree Canopy Module.

“Yet these questions are exactly the ones that need to be dealt with if we are going to properly manage this vital resource.  We need more than good principles and concepts.  To make well founded decisions, we need to be able to put numbers on the results of the decisions we make.”

TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete story, click on BritishColumbia Partnership announces that rebuilt “Water Balance Model” nowincorporates Tree Canopy Module. To read a set of related articles, scroll down or click on these links:  

• Rainfall Interception in an Urban Environment: Results of UBC Tree Canopy Research published
• A New Approach in Measuring Rainfall Interception by Urban Trees in Coastal British Columbia
• University of British Columbia Brings Rainwater Management Science into the Community
• District of North Vanouver Partnered with Community Association to Build Tree Canopy Climate Stations
• District of North Vancouver Partnered with University of British Columbia to Quantify Benefits of Tree Canopy Interception

Anyone can register as a TRIAL USER. Just go to www.waterbalance.ca to set up an account and check out the Tree Canopy Module. 

E-Blast #2012-20

May 23, 2012