What Proportion of Rainfall
Does the Tree Canopy Intercept?
Collaboration between researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC)
and the Metro Vancouver region’s three North Shore municipalities --- North
Vancouver District, North Vancouver City, and the District of West Vancouver --- opened the door to a long-term partnership to bring science into the
community. In 2007, Clovelly-Caulfeild in West Vancouver was the first
North Shore neighbourhood to step forward and participate in the Urban Forest Research Project.
According to Paddy Sherman, Chair of the Council-appointed
Clovelly-Caulfeild Neighourhood Plan Working Group, “We are impressed by the
innovative and easy-to-install system that Dr. Markus Weiler of
UBC and Richard Boase of North Vancouver District have
developed for capturing rain that makes it through the tree canopy. The
community volunteers are excited to play a part in this project."
"This
on-the-ground research by UBC will inform the neighbourhood planning process by
bringing science into the discussion of the role that trees play in the urban
environment. It will also advance the state-of-the-practice in rainwater
management.”
Participation of Clovelly-Caulfeild residents in the UBC project was an outcome of a neighbourhood planning process. Recent redevelopment has
altered considerably some existing streetscapes and landforms. Historically,
drainage has not been an issue in the Clovelly-Caulfeild area. But this has
changed – as trees have been removed, drainage has emerged as a problem under
both rainy weather and drought conditions. The pervasive effects of not
‘designing with nature’ have been becoming more and more visible, and have been
extending across a larger and larger area.
TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete story posted on the Waterbucket.ca website in February 2007, click on Tree Canopy Research Project Engages Clovelly-Caulfeild Neighbourhood in West Vancouver.
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