2008 Vancouver Island Water Balance Model Forum featured Cowichan Valley case study applications

Living Water Smart in British Columbia: 

Doing Business Differently

In October 2008, the Cowichan Valley Regional District hosted a ‘by invitation only’ Water Balance Model Forum. This was part of the implementation program for Beyond the Guidebook: The New Business As Usual, and was organized under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia. 

The Forum was designed to add depth to Living Water Smart, the provincial government’s vision and plan to keep British Columbia's water healthy and secure for the future. "The Province and local government are collaborating to develop a suite of user-friendly tools and approaches for assessment purposes and to provide consistency when reviewing development applications. The web-based Water Balance Model for British Columbia is one of these tools," Jay Bradley, speaking on behalf of the Province, informed the Forum audience.

"The Forum was conducted as a hybrid-training workshop to inform, educate and enable those who wish to apply the Water Balance Model to support a Design with Nature approach to land development. The Forum featured a roundtable sharing of case study experience related to achieving runoff-based performance targets," reports Kate Miller, chair of the inter-governmental Cowichan Valley Regional Team.

"Willing owners/developers and their planning/design consultants collaborated with the Water Balance Model team to develop  applications at the watershed, neighbourhood and site scales. These examples provided the technical foundation for sharing, exploration and cross-fertilization of ideas on how to implement green infrastructure effectively."

Building on the Vancouver Island experience, the City of Surrey hosted the first Metro Vancouver Water Balance Model Forum in March 2009. This learning event adapted the Cowichan Valley format for establishing local government expectations.

TO LEARN MORE:
For the complete story on the Forum, click on 2008 Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum: List of Water Bucket Stories. 

These stories are consolidated in a downloadable document which can be accessed by clicking on Summary Report on Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum.

"The Story of the 2008 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series" - pilot for aligning local actions & provincial goals

 Doing Business Differently to Create Liveable Communities and Protect Stream Health

In conjunction with the release of Living Water Smart, British Columbia's Water Plan in 2008, the Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series promoteda consistent provincial approach to rainwater management and green infrastructure. Participating local governments in two regions represented some 250,000 people. 

• The Cowichan Valley Series comprised a set of three sessions held during the June - July 2008 period. To access links to a comprehensive set of 16 web stories describing all aspects of the Cowichan Valley series, click on Promoting a consistent approach to Rainwater Management & Green Infrastructure to achieve liveable communities in balance with ecology. 
• The Comox Valley Series comprised a set of three sessions held during the September - November 2008 period. To access links to a comprehensive set of 28 web stories describing all aspects of the Comox Valley series, click on Nature Knows No Boundaries: Making Green Choices to Create Liveable Communities & Protect Stream Health.

In 2008, the Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series was the first step in building a regional team approach so that there will be a common understanding and consistent messaging regarding on-the-ground expectations for rainwater management and green infrastructure in British Columbia.

TO LEARN MORE: The Story of the 2008 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series is told in the words of those who embraced the concept and made it happen. The story describes how this pilot fits into a bigger picture; and how the program elements that comprise Convening for Action on Vancouver Island are linked. Each success builds on the last, and paves the way for the next. To download a report-style PDF copy, click here. 

In 2008, the Cowichan Valley Learning Lunch Seminar Series provided the springboard to the inaugural Vancouver Island Water Balance Model Forum, hosted by the Cowichan Valley Regional District and organized by the inter-governmental Cowichan Valley Regional Team chaired by Kate Miller.

Capture Rain Where It Falls: Application of the Water Balance Model to 'Design with Nature'

 

 An article published in the 

Communities in Transition Newsletter

In a guest column published online by the Communities in Transition Information Resource in March 2009, Kim Stephens explained why the Water Balance Model for British Columbia is garnering considerable attention as an important ‘decision support tool’ to help improve the way we develop land in British Columbia.

According to Hans Peter Myer, CIT Editor, "Kim Stephens returns to the CIT Information Resource with more news about ‘design with nature’ approaches to community, land development, and water management. One of our editorial team described Kim’s treatment as the best overview she’s come across."

"The Water Balance Model, as an approach to managing rainwater, was first introduced in 2003. It was an impressive step towards applying a ‘design with nature’ solution to a growing problem for many municipalities. A ‘new’ WBM was launched at the end of 2008 to considerable acclaim. It garnered the Premier’s Award for Innovation & Excellence in February 2009 and considerable attention as an important “decision support tool” to help improve the way we develop land in British Columbia," wrote Kim Stephens. He is responsible for developing the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia.

To download a PDF version of the column, click on Capture Rain Where It Falls: Application of the Water Balance Model to 'Design with Nature'

About Communities in Transition: For many years, Communities in Transition (CIT) was a signature program of the Real Estate Foundation of BC. It was created to help increase the ability of non-metropolitan communities to address the challenges they face when planning for use and conservation of lands.

In 2010, the CIT program was wound down. What does this mean? The Real Estate Foundation's involvement in current projects under the "CIT" label has changed or ceased. The Foundation continues to make grants in all regions of the province--as it has since 1988--though they are no longer identified with the CIT brand.

Sustainable Rainwater Management in the District of Sooke: What Does It Look Like?

2012 Building SustainAble Communities Conference showcases innovation

The Fresh Outlook Foundation is hosting its 5th Building SustainAble Communities conference February 27th to March 1st, 2012 in Kelowna, BC, Canada. The program--inspired by 75 industry experts on 11 planning committees--features a variety of plenaries, breakouts, panels, workshops, debates, and interactive sessions to provide opportunities for enhanced communication and collaboration.

“There is a special day-long session devoted to sustainable water management issues. Six panel sessions will address different aspects of water and provide a broad-brush picture of the innovation that is emerging in British Columbia. The Sustainable Rainwater Management session will set the stage for a Water Balance Model companion event organized by the Okanagan Basin Water Board," reports Joanne deVries, Fresh Outlook Founder and CEO.

Rainwater Panel
The Rainwater Panel will present a series of ‘vignettes’ to showcase the experience of local governments that are BC leaders in innovation. These vignettes will be cascading in providing the audience with a picture of what ‘Sustainable Rainwater Management” looks like at three scales: watershed basin, watershed catchment and project site.

The vignettes will illustrate desired outcomes for the current “ISMP Course Correction” initiative in BC, where ISMP is the acronym for Integrated Stormwater Management Plan. The unifying theme for the session is: Integrate the site with the watershed and stream to protect watershed and stream health. 

The Rainwater Panel comprises Kim Stephens (Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC), Laura Byrne (District of Sooke), Richard Boase (District of North Vancouver) and Carrie Baron (City of Surrey). To learn more about the Rainwater Panel session, click on SustainableRainwater Management: What Does It Look Like?

District of Sooke's Rainwater Management Plan: The District of Sooke on Vancouver Island has taken a proactive approach to wastewater and rainwater management and is recognizing the significance of environmental protection of the region. Sooke is the first community in British Columbia to integrate both Sanitary and Rainwater LWMPs (Liquid Waste Management Plans).

“The District of Sooke has exceeded provincial requirements for liquid waste management and  created a rainwater management plan that makes protecting water quality a guiding principle in land use decisions,” states Laura Byrne, the District’s project manager for plan development. “Because our rainwater management plan is outcome-oriented, it has stayed true to Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia. The plan works on three principles: protect existing water quality, prevent future damage, and remediate areas that may already be damaged. The District aims to improve water quality in Sooke Harbour and the Sooke Basin to the point where a longstanding ban on shellfish harvesting can be lifted.”

“To achieve the community vision for healthy streams and harbour, the District encourages green infrastructure for rainwater capture and also encourages use of the Water Balance Model. In fact, the draft Subdivision and Development Standard Bylaw includes a requirement for developers to employ the Water Balance Model for all developments, regardless of the number of lots. Sooke recognizes that the water balance methodology links rainfall to streams, and this is how we will protect our streams,” concludes Laura Byrne. 

TO LEARN MORE: Enhanced rainwater management will have direct effects on the environment (watercourses and watersheds), public health and well-being and the ways in which municipal infrastructure and private land is developed. For more information and to download the Sooke plan, click here.

E-Blast #2012-06

February 14, 2012

Learning to Think Like a Watershed

Collaboration is a Necessity

Imagine engaging all interests and governments in an effective collaborative process that successfully responds to the challenges and opportunities of watershed governance. In January 2012, this was the primary purpose for gathering key players working on and interested in collaborative watershed governance in British Columbia. The title of the 2-day event was:

• A Water Gathering: Collaborative Watershed Governance in BC and Beyond

Hosted in Vancouver by the Pacific Business & Law Insitute, this gathering was a shared exploration of how to build and maintain successful collaborative processes to govern watersheds. According to Oliver Brandes, a program organizer, the goal was to share participants’ collective experiences and, in workshops, engage those with widely-recognized expertise in addressing practical challenges.

"Dialogue is always a precursor to action in a healthy democracy. The challenge is to include a broader cast of characters so that more than just the “usual” suspects are involved in decisions. This forum was designed with the belief that collaborative solutions are within reach, calling on successful stories of change," states Oliver Brandes, Senior Research Associate and Co-Director of the POLIS Project at the University of Victoria.

"Everyone in B.C. agrees that we want to keep our lakes and rivers clean and flowing, and that we have to share it between different uses and different kinds of users: for the environment, for washing and drinking, for farms and for fish, for economic opportunities and, most fundamentally, to ensure ecological function. It seems sensible to sort through competing interests and potential conflicts by getting those interests — and those affected — to talk together."

TO LEARN MORE: To read an op-ed article about the gathering, and published by the Vancouver Sun, click on Learning to Think Like a Watershed. The article was co-authored by Oliver Brandes, David Marshall (founding Executive Director of the Fraser Basin Council), and Anna Warwick Sears (Executive Director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board).

Oliver Brandes was the principal author of At a Watershed: Ecological Governance and Sustainable Water Management in Canada, published in 2005. To download a copy, click here.

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

Metro Vancouver contributes $50,000 towards enhancement of the “Water Balance Model for British Columbia”

Integrate the Site with the Watershed and Stream to Protect Stream Health 

The Water Balance Model for British Columbia is a scenario comparison tool. It can help local governments create a future watershed vision by informing their decisions about the impacts, or not, of their ‘water footprint’ on watershed health. The majority of Metro Vancouver municipalities are Water Balance Model Partners.

Originally developed to meet the stormwater management planning needs of Metro Vancouver municipalities, it has become "British Columbia's tool". In 2009, the Water Balance Model team received a Premier's Award for Innovation and Excellence.

In mid-September 2011, Kim Stephens (Executive Director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability) met with Metro Vancouver's Waste Management Committee and presented the vision for rebuilding the Water Balance Model on a Linux platform. Five weeks later on October 19, the Metro Vancouver Board amended its 2012 Budget to incorporate a line item for the Water Balance Model.

Regulatory Context

“Metro Vancouver has contributed $50,000 to fund further enhancement of the Water Balance Model because widespread use of this decision  tool will help Metro Vancouver and members fulfil our regulatory commitments, in particular those related to integrated rainwater management,” states Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore, Chair of the Metro Vancouver Board.

“Actions required of local government are spelled out in the region’s Integrated Liquid Waste & Resource Management Plan, approved by the Minister of Environment in May 2011. Conditions in the Minister’s approval highlight the importance of land use planning in protecting stream health. The conditions focus attention on how the degree, type and location of land development can affect the long-term health of the watershed.”

“The region and members have committed to protecting stream and watershed health. This will be accomplished by managing rain where it falls. Use of the Water Balance Model can help municipalities to define achievable and affordable performance targets at the watershed, neighbourhood and site scales,” concludes Chair Greg Moore.

ABOUT THE WATER BALANCE MODEL

"A decade ago, the Water Balance Model was developed by an inter-governmental partnership. The genesis for the partnership was a Metro Vancouver technical working group. The Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia is the legal entity for the Water Balance Model. The majority of Metro Vancouver municipalities are charter members of the Partnership," states Richard Boase, Co-Chair of the Water Balance Model Partnership. 

"This scenario comparison tool is unique because it is web-based; bridges planning and engineering; links development sites to the stream and watershed; and most importantly, it helps define science-based performance targets for protecting stream health. The water balance methodology links rainfall to flows in the stream, and hence, protection of stream health," explains Jim Dumont, Engineering Applications Authority for the Water Balance Model Partnership.

"The Water Balance Model incorporates modules for land use, source controls, climate change, rainwater harvesting and stream erosion. More modules are being added in 2012. These will open the door to an array of educational opportunities to help local government staff, builders, developers, consultants, real estate agents and others understand the effect of their choices and decisions on the natural environment," concludes Ted van der Gulik, Chair of the Water Balance Model Partnership.

To Learn More:  Click on www.waterbalance.ca and also read the following stories that are posted on the Water Bucket website: 

Water Balance Model Partners are charter members of the ‘Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia’

Majority of Local Governments in the Lower Mainland are Water Balance Model Partners

Community of Users Inform Platform Conversion for Water Balance Model

Metro Vancouver hosts 2011 Water Balance Model Partners Forum 

BC Environment Minister Strengthens Metro Vancouver's Visionary Plan for Managing Rainwater Resources

Ministry of Environment highlights importance of land use planning in protecting stream health

Vision for ‘Water Balance Model Express’ introduced to Elected Representatives in Metro Vancouver Region

Primer on Rainwater Management in an Urban Watershed Context  

Primer on Urban Watershed Modelling to Inform Local Government Decision Processes

E-Blast #2012-04

February 1, 2012