US-based Center for Clean Air Policy releases report that quantifies value of green infrastructure

How can smart planning help cities adapt to climate change

A new report documents the ways in which pioneering cities and counties have developed and applied proactive approaches to increase community resilience by planning for and adapting to emerging climate change impacts. 

“The Value of Green Infrastructure for Urban Climate Adaptation is intended as a resource for planners and decision makers at all levels of government,” said Steve Winkelman, Director of Adaptation Programs. “The innovative examples we review indicate that green infrastructure investments can provide a cost-effective way to enhance community resilience and prosperity.”

TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete story posted on the Water Bucket website, click on How can smart planning help cities adapt to climate change?

Calculating the Green in Green: What's an Urban Tree Worth?

Dollars and Cents

New research from the Pacific Northwest Research Station demonstrates that street trees increase home prices in Portland, Oregon, that shade trees reduce household energy use in Sacramento, California, and that these effects can be measured and expressed in dollars.

"Neighborhood and yard trees are not market commodities, so there is no simple, agreed-upon basis for calculating their value, comparing it to that of other urban-planning priorities such as keeping development costs low, or weighing benefits of trees against their costs," writes Gail Wells, a science writer, in a feature article published in Greenhouse Management & Production.

"This research is important to city governments, communities and environmental organizations because it helps them make a case for publicly funded “green infrastructure,” that supports many environmental and social amenities."

TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete story posted on the Water Bucket website, click on Calculating the Green in Green: What's an Urban Tree Worth?

UBC students in Patrick Condon's urban design course unveil "Vancouver 2050 Vision: The Streetcar City"

Plan Paints a Compelling Picture

"Vancouver is one of only a few major cities in North America that does not have a physical master plan guiding change and growth," wrote Bob Ransford in an article published in the Vancouver Sun newspaper in December 2010.

"The Vancouver Town Planning Commission hired American urban planner Harland Bartholomew in the 1920s to draft the last city-wide plan. Bartholomew's plan, completed in 1929, was never officially adopted, but did set the tone for much of Vancouver's current urban structure."

"But now, a group of architecture and planning students at the University of B.C. has recently crafted a master plan for Vancouver that paints a vivid and compelling picture of change in Vancouver over the next 40 years."

TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete story posted on the Water Bucket website, click on UBC students in Patrick Condon's urban design course unveil "Vancouver 2050 Vision: The Streetcar City"

New Report from "Green For All" Shows the Broad Economic and Environmental Benefits of Upgrading America's Water Systems

Infrastructure that Mimics Nature

Want to create 1.9 million American jobs and add $265 billion to the economy? Upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure. That’s the message of a new report from Green For All, in partnership with American Rivers,  the Economic Policy Institute, and the Pacific Institute. 

The report looks at an investment of $US188.4 billion in water infrastructure – the amount the US Environmental Protection Agency indicates would be required to manage rainwater/stormwater and preserve water quality.  American Rivers’ interest in the topic was the Green Infrastructure aspect.

“Cleaning our environment and putting people to work has always been the value proposition of the green economy,” said Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green For All. “This report demonstrates that there’s a massive opportunity to ensure clean water, improve the economy, and put people – particularly low-income workers –back to work.” Her organization is dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.

The report makes the case that maximizing the use of green infrastructure - infrastructure that mimics natural solutions - is essential to meet the rainwater management needs of communities while also providing a number of additional co-benefits.

TO LEARN MORE: To download a copy of the report, click on Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment

The report was released October 4 at the Clean Water America Alliance's Urban Waters SustainabilityLeadership Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

2nd Announcement: “The Public Infrastructure Dilemma: How will we sustain our water, our streets, and ourselves?”

­­­­­­A Forum within the State of the Island Summit

In exactly two weeks, the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance (VIEA) is hosting its 5^th Annual Summit. As part of the program, CAVI-Convening for Action on Vancouver Island is holding a “Forum within the Summit” on the afternoon of October 18^th. Designed for local government, the Forum is co-hosted by VIEA’s Sustainability Committee. The Forum starts at 12:30pm.

“CAVI participation at the 2010 VIEA Summit was both timely and rewarding in that a promising partnership was formed with VIEA. This partnership provides an opportunity to develop an integrated approach to sustainability on Vancouver Island based upon a balanced understanding of the relationship between the economy and the environment,” reports Eric Bonham, a founding member of the CAVI Leadership Team. He is a former Director in the Ministries of Environment and Municipal Affairs.

Eric Bonham will open the Forum with a call to action. His message: ‘We can achieve Mission Possible: A 50-Year Vision for Vancouver Island’. The next day, he will repeat this message at the main Summit.

“We must look outside our boundaries and work with our neighbouring communities for the betterment of all. Vancouver Island could be a test case…to show the world literally….how we can collaborate and pull things together.” 

INFRASTRUCTURE LIABILITY: The Forum program is designed for local government, and is built around the 'infrastructure liability' theme. Fiscal constraints provide a driver for a change in the way local governments plan, finance, implement, and over time replace infrastructure.

"Sustainable Service Delivery is the Province's branding for a comprehensive approach to infrastructure asset management. This approach goes beyond an accountant’s life-cycle analysis. The paradigm-shift starts with land use planning and determining what services can be provided sustainably, both fiscally and ecologically," explains Kim Stephens, Executive Director for the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia.

"A primary driver for doing business differently is the unfunded infrastructure liability. This refers to the financial challenge currently facing all local governments. The challenge is sometimes referred to as 'the 20/80 rule' because the initial capital cost of municipal infrastructure only represents about 20% of the ultimate life-cycle cost. Paying for the other 80% is at the heart of the public infrastructure dilemma. Each year the funding shortfall grows."

TO REGISTER: The cost of registration only for the "Forum within the Summit" is $75. To register, click on this link: http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/event/ForumwithintheSummit.asp  

To register for the Summit and attend all other sessions (including the Forum), click on www.viea.ca/summit.

TO LEARN MORE: To access the Forum 'homepage' on the Water Bucket website and learn more about the Forum context and program design, click here. To download a document that explains the Forum structure and foreshadows what will be covered, click on Convening for Action Vision for the Forum within the Summit.

News Release #2011-45

October 4, 2011

3rd Announcement: Peer-Based Learning Will Help Local Governments Implement ‘Watershed Blueprints’ in BC

Integrated Rainwater Management: Municipalities Can Achieve More With Less

An ISMP, or Integrated Stormwater Management Plan, is a potentially powerful tool. It can influence other municipal processes for the better. It can generate the blueprint for truly integrated and coordinated action at a watershed scale. The City of Surrey is the host for the first 2-day course titled ISMP Course Correction: Achieve More with Less. An inter-governmental team is providing peer-based learning.

“At the heart of the ‘Course on the Course Correction’ is the paradigm-shift to landscape-based from model-centric. In local government, we have seen what works and what hasn’t. The course will showcase tools and case study examples that will help local governments produce a Watershed Blueprint that is landscape-based AND action-oriented,” states Jody Watson, Chair of the Bowker Creek Initiative in the Capital Region. She is a member of the ISMP Course Correction Team.

“The output from a model-centric process is a report that mainly deals with hydrotechnical matters. Usually these go on a shelf because local governments cannot afford to implement them. In contrast, the outcome of a landscape-based and action-oriented process is a truly integrated plan to restore watershed function over time. Agree on the vision. Set the targets. Provide planners with the detail necessary to guide site level decisions as opportunities arise. Then implement.”

ISMP COURSE CORRECTION: During the period November-December 2010, the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia released a 5-part series about considerations driving a course correction in the way ISMPs are undertaken. Release of the Summary Report for ISMP Course Correction Series followed in February 2011.

“The purpose of the Summary Report is to guide those about to embark upon an ISMP process. In April 2011, the Water Balance Model Partners Forum provided a platform for launching an educational program that will support implementation of the ISMP Course Correction in Metro Vancouver. This will help municipalities fulfil their regulatory commitments under the region’s Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan,” states Ted van der Gulik, Chair of the Water Balance Model Partnership.

"Each document in the ISMP Course Correction Series corresponds to an action. Taken together, the five actions comprise a recommended framework for a watershed-based planning process."

TO REGISTER: Click on http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/event/ISMPCourseCorrection.asp

TO LEARN MORE: To access the ISMP Course Correction 'homepage' on the Water Bucket website and learn more about the program design, click here.  

News Release #2011-44

October 4, 2011

Toward a New Framework for Collaborative Watershed Governance in British Columbia

Resilience in the Face of Change

"Collaborative watershed governance, simply put, is working together to reach shared outcomes and resolving differences among community, private sector and governmental interests, while maintaining or restoring the biophysical and ecosystem resilience of a watershed," writes Brian Wilkes of the Collaborative Watershed Governance Initiative in a Discussion Paper prepared in September 2009.

"Watershed management and the compelling need for a more integrated and collaborative approach, are emerging as a central requirement in recent policies related to the sustainability of water and of its benefits and products."

TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete story posted on the Water Bucket website, click on Toward a New Framework for Collaborative Watershed Governance in British Columbia