Primer on Integrated Rainwater and Groundwater Management for Lands on Vancouver Island and Beyond

Partnership Releases Guidance Document 

for Local Governments 

Released in 2008, Living Water Smart, British Columbia’s Water Plan is a call to action to prepare communities for change and do business differently. Actions and targets in Living Water Smart establish expectations as to how land will be developed and water will be used. Now, the Primer on Integrated Rainwater andGroundwater Management for Lands on Vancouver Island and Beyond provides local governments with guidance for implementation of Living Water Smart principles on the ground. 

City of Parksville Demonstration Application

“Collaboration with the City of Parksville created the opportunity to inform the educational process that is part of the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) Review. The City is a demonstration application for the Primer. The learning captured in this Primer will also be shared with other local governments on Vancouver Island. Knowledge-sharing will be facilitated through the current Inter-Regional Education Initiative. The Primer is written for expert and non-expert audiences,” reports Craig Wightman, Senior Fisheries Biologist with the BC Conservation Foundation, and a Primer co-author.

“The Primer introduces the issue of the ‘unfunded infrastructure liability’. Viewing the watershed through an asset management lens provides local governments with a driver to require that development practices mimic the Water Balance.”

“Parksville’s current OCP Review provides a great opportunity to formally recognize the value and inter-dependence of the City’s small stream and groundwater resources, and their importance to people and the region’s highly diverse fish and wildlife populations.  The term ‘livable community’ can take on new relevance in this process, and ensure Parksville remains a community of choice for residents and visitors alike.”       

LEARN MORE: The federal-provincial Regional Adaptation Collaboratives Program provided funding for Primer development. This Primer is the third in a series of guidance documents released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability since November 2011. Core concepts presented in these companion documents provide an educational foundation for rainwater management in a watershed context. To read a set of related articles, scroll down or click on these links:  

• Linking Rainfall, the Landscape, Groundwater and Streamflow: Three BC Engineers Connect Dots to Stream Health  
• Look at Groundwater Differently: Vancouver Island Demonstration Project Establishes Water Balance Precedent  
• Preparing for Climate’s Change: Securing BC’s Future 
• British ColumbiaGuidance Documents Provide Educational Foundation for Rainwater Management in aWatershed Context
• Partnership for WaterSustainability in British Columbia releases "Primer on IntegratedRainwater and Groundwater Management for Lands on Vancouver Island andBeyond"  

To download all three Primers, click on Partnership releases Primer on Integrated Rainwater and Groundwater Management for Lands on Vancouver Island and Beyond.

E-Blast #2012-18

May 8, 2012