Water Bucket Website hosts "homepage" for 2012 Cowichan Valley Forum on Sustainable Rainwater Management

Inter-Regional Education Initiative 
on Vancouver Island

On March 28, the Cowichan Valley is the host region for the 2nd Vancouver Island Water Balance Model Forum. To help tell the story of this event, and  connect the dots to the inaugural 2008 Forum, a homepage has been established on the Water Bucket website.

“The Forum is the kick-off for an Inter-Regional Education Initiative on Vancouver Island to be implemented in four regions over several years. Sharing of experiences, collaboration, alignment and a consistent approach on Vancouver Island will allow everyone to go farther, more efficiently and effectively," reports Kate Miller of the Cowichan Valley Regional District. Kate is Manager of the Regional Environmental Policy Division. She is also Chair of the Cowichan Valley Regional Team comprising five local governments, the Cowichan Tribes, and the Cowichan Watershed Board.

"The Water Bucket team is working with the Cowichan Valley Regional Team to help them capture their key messages about the 2012 Forum on Sustainable Rainwater Management in a conversational way,"  states Mike Tanner, Chair of the Water Bucket Website Partnership. "The Water Bucket provides a tangible way to record history as it is being created by those who are convening for action in British Columbia."

TO LEARN MORE: To access the Forum page, click here. 

 

2008 Cowichan Valley Forum was provincial pilot for building developer and local government capacity to apply the Water Balance Model

About the Educational Approach

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. The Forum was held in October 2008. Both were provincial pilots and both were part of the rollout of Living Water Smart, British Columbia's Water Plan. The purpose of the Series and the Forum was to facilitate a consistent provincial approach to rainwater management and green infrastructure.

“The Cowichan Valley was the pilot region for an inclusive and collaborative approach to building capacity through education and training,” recalls Jay Bradley, Chair of the Vancouver Island Coordinating Team, a sub-group of the inter-governmental Water Balance Model Partnership. "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 educational approach is helping us to identify and empower a core group of local champions who will then have the expertise to apply and advance the water balance approach to land development,” adds Peter Nilsen, Deputy Engineer with the District of North Cowichan. “This building of practitioner capacity encompasses both local government and the development community. Project proponents and reviewers will have a common language.”


TO LEARN MORE: To access a set of online stories that elaborate on what was accomplished by the 2008 Forum, click on 2008 Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum: List of Water Bucket Stories. 

The Cowichan Valley Learning Lunch Seminar 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.

 

2008 Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum featured case studies at watershed, neighbourhood and site scales

Create Liveable Communities and 

Protect Stream Health

In October 2008, the Cowichan Water Balance Model Forum featured a roundtable sharing of case study experience related to achieving runoff-based performance targets. Willing owners/developers and their planning/design consultants collaborated with the Water Balance Model team to develop three case study applications that were shared at the Forum.

Educational Context
The case study applications were at the watershed, neighbourhood and site scales. Prior to the Forum, the Water Balance Model was applied to these projects so that the results would inform the Forum learning outcomes:

• Watershed-scale: Bamberton Lands, a project by Three Point Properties
• Neighbourhood-scale: Artisan Village (Chemainus), a project by Chris Clement 
• Site-scale: Lanes Landing (Cowichan Bay), a project by Len Barrie

The purpose of the case study applications was to demonstrate that the Water Balance Model: can be applied at all scales of land use; places the emphasis on what is important; provides a consistent approach; generates reliable numbers easily and quickly; and informs land development strategies.

"What was unique about our approach was the educational context. Willing project proponents volunteered to develop and share the case studies. It truly was a collaborative effort,” recalls Rob Conway, Manager of  the Development Services Division at the Cowichan Valley Regional District. 

TO LEARN MORE: To access a set of online stories that elaborate on what was accomplished by the 2008 Forum, click on 2008 Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum: List of Water Bucket Stories.

"Deal with Rainwater Runoff Responsibly", urged Rob Conway at 2008 Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum

Living Water Smart: 

Doing Business Differently in BC

The Cowichan Valley is a provincial demonstration region for designing with nature to create liveable communities, protect stream health and produce 'green value'. In October 2008, the Cowichan Valley Regional District hosted a Water Balance Model Forum that 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 was a key event in the early rollout of Living Water Smart, British Columbia's Water Plan; and featured a roundtable sharing of case study experience related to achieving runoff-based performance targets.

"We are increasingly advising development applicants that they need to manage rainwater runoff where it falls. Until now we have not had an appropriate way to assess their proposed solutions," noted Rob Conway (Manager, Development Services) in his closing comments. 

"The Water Balance Model is a great way to do this. It provides local government reviewers with a measurable way of determining what is a good solution for a particular site. Developers showing that they are dealing with rainwater runoff responsively is a very important part of a development application."  

TO LEARN MORE: To hear Rob Conway on a YouTube video clip, click here. To access a set of online stories that elaborate on what was accomplished by the 2008 Forum, click on 2008 Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum: List of Water Bucket Stories.

Also, to access the homepage for the 2009 Surrey Water Balance Model Forum, click here.

"Success of 2008 Cowichan Water Balance Model Forum demonstrated by a number of results," concluded Jay Bradley

Report from the Chair of the 

Vancouver Island Coordinating Team  

In October 2008, the Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum was part of the implementation program for Beyond the Guidebook: The New Business As Usual. This initiative has added depth to Living Water Smart, British Columbia's Water Plan, the provincial government’s vision and plan to keep British Columbia's water healthy and secure for the future. 

Jay Bradley, Chair of the Vancouver Island Coordinating Team (VICT), a sub-group of the inter-governmental Water Balance Model Partnership, represented the Province and provided the Living Water Smart context for the Forum purpose and desired outcome. "The success of the Forum was demonstrated by a number of results," reported Jay Bradley. He summarized these as follows:
 
A Full House!
We went from a list of 20 planned to over 50 actual attendees!!
 
Big Wheels!
The participation of prominent local developers and consultants (Michelle Mahavlich of Three Point Properties; Oleh Dubek of 1st Team Consulting Ltd; Dave Conway of Creative Engineering) who reported out on their experience of using the Water Balance Model to assess their development proposals (Bamberton; Artisan Village; Lane's Landing)
 
Enthusiasm!
Everyone stayed until the end (punctually ended at 3:00); the question and answer period was notably abuzz with interest and interaction, focused on what water-centric planning is all about and what the Water Balance Model can do (as well as what the challenges are).
 
Networking!
The session brought developers, consultants and local government together to learn and share, greet and meet. I noticed a lot of card-swapping and hand-shaking going on.
 
The Bigger Picture!
Practitioners came away with an understanding that the Province's Living Water Smart plan provides further context for 'Doing Business Differently,' to create liveable communities and protect stream health.

Paradigm-Shift!
The idea of setting easily-understood science-based runoff targets and seeing the results through the Water Balance Model went a long way to shifting mindsets away from the pipe-and-convey mode of thinking, to the concept that managing rainfall "where it falls" is not only in keeping with a design with nature approach, but also creates 'green value.
 
'Facts over Fear!
Because the Water Balance Model is a science-based tool it can be used early in the development planning process to provide informed decision-making. It won't tell us what choices to make, but it will help guide choices by revealing options and their impacts.
 
Enlightenment!
From the outset the tone was set for "give and take." The forum was carried out on the principle of two-way communication, sharing and education.

"In the larger context, the forum was indicative of how far along our community of Vancouver Island practitioners has come," concluded Jay Bradley in his report. "We are fostering a growing understanding of the fact that what goes on at a site, in terms of how rainwater is treated, is linked not only to stream and watershed health, but also to our social well-being and aesthetics of our communities. Unlike the pipe-and-convey approach, the use of source control features is an investment in green value that brings returns for the developer and end-users of a site."

Sustainable Rainwater Management: What Does It Look Like in British Columbia?

 



 Okanagan Basin Water Board hosted first “Water Balance Model Training Workshop” in 2012 Series 

The web-based Water Balance Model for British Columbia (WBM) quantifies the effectiveness of green infrastructure. This scenario comparison tool can help communities create a future watershed vision by informing their decisions about the impacts, or not, of their ‘water footprint’ on stream health.

Launched by an inter-governmental partnership in 2003, the WBM has been rebuilt on a new platform. It is quicker and easier to use; and it now has launch buttons at three scales of investigation: SITE, NEIGHBOURHOOD and WATERSHED. 

Knowledge-Transfer Program

In conjunction with the rebuild, the WBM Partnership is implementing an outreach, education and training program to advance Sustainable Rainwater Management. In March, the Okanagan Basin Water Board hosted the first training workshop in the 2012-2013 Series. The workshop was part of the Board’s Climate Adaptation Workshop program.

The instructors for the workshop were Kim Stephens, Executive DIrector of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC; and Jim Dumont, Engineering Applications Authority for the Water Balance Model Partnership. These experienced engineers looked at rainfall differently. This led them to pioneer practical applications of water balance thinking. In conducting the training session, they shared stories that provided historical context for development of the Water Balance Methodology. People learn through stories, and storytelling is a foundation piece for the knowledge-transfer program.

"The water balance methodology links rainfall to flows in the stream, and hence, protection of stream health. In conducting 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," stated Kim Stephens. 

"The methodology integrates the components of the water balance, and assesses how they change as the percentage of hard surface increases: runoff goes up; infiltration and surface evaporation both go down. Evaporation is critical and typically gets overlooked in conventional drainage modelling," emphasized Jim Dumont. 

"What most people overlook is that evaporation is almost equal to infiltration. This means there is increasingly more volume to manage as the landscape is built over." (To download a copy of the image that Jim Dumont is pointing at, click here and also see below.)

Workshop Structure: After Kim Stephens introduced core concepts and tested the knowledge of the class, Jim Dumont guided participants step-by-step through a case study application of the Water Balance Model at the SITE scale. He demonstrated how to do scenario comparisons.

“In terms of educational dollars per unit of knowledge, I found the Water Balance Model workshop to be astounding value,” reports workshop participant Michelle Sorensen; a professional engineer with CTQ Consultants Ltd, a consulting firm based in Kelowna, British Columbia.

“I can see how the graphical results would allow me to communicate relevant information to my public and private-sector clients about the effectiveness of rainwater capture and runoff control options – not with complicated tables and calculations, but with relevant, easy-to-understand visual comparisons of the incremental benefits and costs.  What a great tool!”

TO LEARN MORE: To read an earlier story about the workshop, click on  Okanagan Basin Water Board hosts first in 2012–2013 Series of “Water Balance Model Training Workshops”

To download a copy of the Workshop Handout that guided this interactive knowledge-transfer session, click on Sustainable Rainwater Management in British Columbia: What Does It Look Like?

E-Blast #2012-10

March 13, 2012

Partnership for Water Sustainability launches Inter-Regional Education Initiative on Vancouver Island

Rainwater Management in a 

Watershed Sustainability Context 

Vancouver Island is a hot-bed of progressive ideas and provincially significant initiatives. In particular, four regional districts and their member municipalities have been taking steps to plan for water sustainability and put in place implementation strategies. The four are:

• Comox Valley Regional District
• Regional District of Nanaimo
• Cowichan Valley Regional District
• Capital Regional District

"Each region has developed a provincially significant plan or approach to achieve water and watershed sustainability," observes Derek Richmond, Manager of Engineering with the City of Courtenay, and Chair of CAVI-Convening for Action on Vancouver Island. "All are striving to implement a consistent regional approach that protects and/or restores natural watershed function over time. All are advancing watershed-based strategies and programs for integrating the site with the watershed and stream. These initiatives all recognize the importance of instilling a land ethic that respects water."

Inter-regional sharing, collaboration, alignment and consistency will accelerate effective implementation of watershed protection objectives within each regional district. The regions are linked by common interests, but are not dependent on each other.

Inter-Regional Education Initiative

“Under the CAVI umbrella, the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC is collaborating with local governments in four regions to implement an Inter-Regional Education Initiative. This initiative will provide the pathway to a consistent approach to water sustainability and green infrastructure up and down the east coast of Vancouver Island,” states Tim Pringle, Partnership President.

“Recognizing that each region has already established its ‘vision and goals’ through a community consultation process, our emphasis is on the ‘what would it look like’ details of implementation and integration. Inter-regional collaboration will result in alignment and a consistent approach to rainwater management in a watershed sustainability context. This will help everyone to go farther, more efficiently and effectively.”

“The inter-regional program will link activities so that everyone can share experiences, benefit from lessons learned, and align efforts with the provincial Living Water Smart and Green Communities initiatives. In the first half of 2012, an educational event will be held in each of the Cowichan Valley, Comox Valley, Nanaimo Region and Capital Region. The common theme will be: Sustainable Rainwater Management: What Does It Look Like?,” concludes Tim Pringle.

TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete story posted on the Water Bucket website, click on Partnership for Water Sustainability launches Inter-Regional Education Initiative on Vancouver Island.

On March 28, the Cowichan Valley is hosting the kick-off event for the 2012 program. For more information, click on Cowichan Valley Regional Team hosts Water Balance Model Forum. The venue is a LEED facility on the Duncan campus of Vancouver Island University.

E-Blast #2012-09

March 6, 2012