A number of British Columbia municipalities have embraced the concept of “sustainable streets” and have recently completed flagship projects.

The Greater Vancouver Regional District provided funding so that the Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP) could further enhance the Water Balance Model for British Columbia by adding a Tree Canopy Module.

The Stormwater Interagency Liaison Group (SILG), a technical committee of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, has provided funding so the Water Sustainability Committee (WSC) of the British Columbia Water & Waste Association can implement the Rainwater Management Community-of-Interest (COI).

TLC is a non-profit, charitable Land Trust working throughout British Columbia. TLC protects important habitat for plants, animals and natural communities as well as properties with historical, cultural, scientific, scenic or compatible recreational value.

CMN's MapBuilder is a mapping and knowledge management application that allows you to create your own custom map and data queries. Select from over 1,000 thematic layers for British Columbia and Canada.

FREMP is an inter-governmental partnership established to coordinate the environmental management of the significant aquatic ecosystem of the Fraser River Estuary in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.

To help us develop our region in a way that lets us achieve economic prosperity, environmental health and community well-being, Buildsmart provides a resource for the design and construction industry, helping you make smart, sustainable choices when crafting the future of our constructed environment.

Collaboration between researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Greater Vancouver region’s three North Shore municipalities --- North Vancouver District, North Vancouver City, and the District of West Vancouver --- has opened the door to a long-term partnership to bring science into the community. Clovelly-Caulfeild in West Vancouver is the first North Shore neighbourhood to step forward and participate in the 'UBC Tree Canopy Interception Research Project'.

The British Columbia-based Inter-Governmental Partnership is reaching out to academia to bring the Water Balance Model into university classrooms. The University of British Columbia and the University of Calgary are the first post-secondary institutions to incorporate the Water Balance Model in undergraduate and master's level courses, respectively. Dalhousie University in Halifax and the University of Guelph in Ontario have also expressed interest in using this scenario modeling and decision support tool.

The Inter-Governmental Partnership has partnered with the Real Estate Foundation to build broad-based support for the ‘design with nature’ approach to rainwater management via an Outreach and Continuing Education Program that comprises seminar presentations and training workshops for a range of audience types.

"Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia" formalized a science-based understanding to set performance targets for reducing rainwater runoff volumes and rates. These targets represent the synthesis of biological and hydrological understanding. At the heart of the Guidebook is the Water Balance Methodology. Recognizing that practitioners and others needed a tool so that they could readily apply the Methodology, the Inter-Governmental Partnership then developed the Water Balance Model for British Columbia.

The Guidebook formalized a science-based understanding to set performance targets for reducing rainwater runoff volumes and rates. These targets represent the synthesis of biological and hydrological understanding.

Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, New Zealand's foremost environmental research organization, recently met with the District of North Vancouver to learn more about how this British Columbia municipality is applying the Water Balance Model to achieve sustainability objectives on the ground

In undertaking the Fergus Creek Integrated Stormwater Management Plan, the City of Surrey is pushing the envelope in pioneering the application of innovative approaches that it believes will achieve noticeable benefits over a 50-year planning horizon. The City challenged the consulting engineering community to demonstrate their innovation in providing a work plan that would actually facilitate changes in how land is developed and/or re-developed in Surrey.

In British Columbia, the term Integrated Stormwater Management Planning (ISMP) has gained widespread acceptance by local governments and the environmental agencies to describe a comprehensive, ecosystem-based approach to rainwater management. In the Greater Vancouver region, one of the primary results of a co-ordinated approach has been the creation of a template for ISMPs, which are watershed- specific, flexible and adaptive strategies.

All the major municipalities on the south side of the Fraser River are now partners in the Water Balance Model initiative, namely: Langley Township, Delta, Surrey, Abbotsford and Chilliwack.

To complement the Water Balance Model, the Greater Vancouver Regional District commissioned a research project to create "Stormwater Source Controls Design Guidelines 2005". This work is based on the adaptation of design standards from areas of Europe and North America with similar climatic and soil conditions.

In British Columbia, the technical language is being simplified. Six simplified categories have been defined, one of which is Absorbent Landscapes.

In British Columbia, the technical language is being simplified. Six simplified categories have been defined, one of which is Infiltration Swale Systems.

The University of British Columbia and a BC-based Inter-Governmental Partnership are proceeding with an applied research program that will explore the variables influencing the rainfall interception process and hence quantify interception of trees and bushes within an urban environment. In particular, the program will focus on the effects of tree density, tree structure and tree species. This research will directly inform urban planning and will be used to populate the Water Balance Model with real data.

Integated rainwater management planning is an approach that recognizes the complex relationship between the built and natural environment. This new planning approach integrates rainwater management with engineering, planning and the environment to reflect the values of each watershed and community.

Published in March 2002 by the Greater Vancouver Regional District, the "Watershed / Landscape-Based Approach to Community Planning" was developed by an interdisciplinary working group. At the heart of the approach is an adaptable 10-step methodology that facilitates planning with reference to watershed-based features.

The District of North Vancouver is the managing partner for an applied research program that will explore the variables influencing the rainfall interception process and hence quantify interception of trees and bushes within an urban environment. In particular, the program will focus on the effects of tree density, tree structure and tree species. This research will directly inform urban planning and will be used to populate the Water Balance Model with real data.

At the third in the 2006 Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation Series, three roadway projects were showcased: the Country Lanes Demonstration Project and Crown Street Streetscape & Fish Habitat Enhancement Project in the City, and the Sustainability Street Project at UBC.

The challenge for high growth communities is to make informed choices that will produce cumulative benefits over time, and thereby ensure long-term community vitality and liveability. The Green Infrastructure Partnership brought its ‘design with nature' message to a receptive audience at a Sustainability Community Breakfast hosted by the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

"Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia" formalized a science-based understanding to set performance targets for reducing rainwater runoff volumes and rates.

Collaboration between researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Greater Vancouver region's three North Shore municipalities --- North Vancouver District, North Vancouver City, and the District of West Vancouver --- has opened the door to a long-term partnership to bring science into the community.

The design guidelines were commissioned in 2005 to reduce information barriers that stand in the way of effective implementation of rainwater source controls in the Georgia Basin region of British Columbia.

In British Columbia, the technical language is being simplified. Six categories have been defined, one of which is Rain Gardens.

Partners shared success stories and lessons learned in implementing green infrastructure. The experience of the City of Vancouver demonstrates that someone has to ‘build the first one' so that others will follow.

The University of British Columbia is leading a national initiative that is intended to create a national network of experts that collaborate and share their experiences. As an element of the strategy, UBC hosted a conference on June 21-22, 2007 that provided a forum that enabled practitioners, researchers and decision-makers from across Canada to share knowledge and experiences regarding advances in the theory, methods and practices of rainwater management and planning.

The Plan incorporates some of the most current green technologies and approaches such as the use of a neighbourhood energy utility, an integrated rainwater management plan, a green building strategy, and innovative ecological strategies for fish and wildlife habitat enhancement.

The partnership between the University of British Columbia and Greater Vancouver's three North Shore municipalities is precedent-setting.

Because regulatory agencies are actively pursuing the implementation of 'impact neutral' infrastructure projects and urban development, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia has undertaken a province-wide program of seminars on rainwater management.

The purpose of the Urban Forest Research Project is to provide planners, developers and municipal engineers with the tools and research they need to approach rainwater management in a more integrated and sustainable manner. Th University of British Columbia has established a website to showcase the project results and link to web stories on the Rainwater Management Community-of-Interest.

"Beyond the Guidebook" is an initiative that builds on the Guidebook foundation by advancing a runoff-based approach and tool -the ‘Water Balance Model powered by QUALHYMO’ – to help local governments achieve desired urban stream health and environmental protection outcomes at a watershed scale.

The University of British Columbia is leading a national initiative that is intended to create a network of experts that collaborate and share their experiences. Richard Boase of the District of North Vancouver made a defining presentation titled 'New Directions in Urban Watershed Health'.

During the period 2002-2001, the mantra in British Columbia was "overcoming fear and doubt" in order to move ahead with projects such as the East Clayton Sustainable Community in the City of Surrey, and UniverCity at Simon Fraser University on Burnaby Mountain in the City of Burnaby. In 2000, translating high expectations into practical design guidelines meant revisiting accepted drainage engineering practice.

About 1/3 of the urban landscape is typically covered by road rights-of-way. This creates opportunities to capture rain where it falls and restore it to natural hydrologic pathways. In British Columbia, Delta municipality is planting an urban forest to mitigate climate change. Delta has set a goal to plant 20,100 trees by the year 2010.

The project provided an opportunity to demonstrate how a new, sustainable community can integrate rainwater and watercourse management with urban design, starting where the rainfall lands.

The Ministry of Environment has prepared Develop with Care: Environmental Guidelines for Urban and Rural Land Development in British Columbia to provide guidance for maintaining environmental values during the development of urban and rural lands. This document is intended to assist people who are involved in planning, implementing, reviewing and/or approving land developments throughout British Columbia.

In April 2008, Metro Vancouver appointed a 9-person Reference Panel to provide comments and advice on the region’s strategy for updating its Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP). The Reference Panel reported back to the Waste Management Committee on July 9th.

Buiilding on interest and demand generated by the Rainwater Assessment Series over the past two years, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC has launched a second series on rainfall-runoff modelling. This second series supplements the Rainwater Assessment Series, and is also taught my Jim Dumont. These sessions are intended to provide a foundation of knowledge to those professionals just starting in the field and as a review for more experienced practitioners.

The West Glendover Stormwater Improvement Project in Lexington, Kentucky is an unusal project that resulted from extraordinary cooperation on the part of all parties involved. Locating a rainwater/stormwater project in an arboretum stopped flooding to nearby homes, enhanced the arboretum's collection of plants, and allowed the public to see a large-scale rain garden.

"Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia" formalized a science-based understanding to set performance targets for reducing rainwater runoff volumes and rates. These targets represent the synthesis of biological and hydrological understanding.

The Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) - commissioned a research project to create "Stormwater Source Controls Design Guidelines 2005". The objective of this project was to promote effective implementation of rainwater source controls in the Georgia Basin region of British Columbia.

Delta has completed numerous examples of rain gardens and infiltration swales on public rights-of-way. Delta's experience illustrates the benefits of landscape-based solutions to solve drainage issues and create community amenities.

During the Roundtable Sharing portion of the Partners Forum, there was emphasis on the use of soil and trees to achieve beneficial rainwater management outcomes.

The University of British Columbia is leading a national initiative that is intended to create a national network of experts that collaborate and share their experiences. As an element of the strategy, UBC is hosting a conference that will provide a forum that will enable practitioners, researchers and decision-makers from across Canada to share knowledge and experiences regarding advances in the theory, methods and practices of rainwater management and planning.

“Beyond the Guidebook” refers to a runoff-based approach to drainage modeling that connects the dots between source control evaluation and stream health assessment. In a nutshell, it means this is ‘where science meets analysis’ because runoff volume management is directly linked to stream erosion and water quality.

The City of North Vancouver is committed to integrating sustainable practices into its daily business. Furthermore, the City is leading by example in demonstrating on-the-ground leadership. This is illustrated by drainage features recently constructed within the highly urban Lonsdale Avenue corridor.

The City of Surrey's experience in successfully implementing on-site rainwater management and green infrastructure solutions has informed the evolution of the "Water Balance Model for British Columbia", and is advancing a performance target approach.

For more than a decade, the language used by drainage practitioners around the world has been changing to reflect the evolving objectives in doing business differently.

Hotter nights in August and wetter days in the spring and fall have become the norm for Metro Vancouver — and they’re likely to continue.

To provide "first flush" pollution control and rainwater management, the parking lot at the City of Surrey's Clayton Dog Off-Leash Park utilizes pervious concrete as the pavement surface.

The Real Estate Foundation is the latest organization to provide funding for the Tree Canopy Research Project that is being undertaken by the University of British Columbia in partnership with municipalities in the Greater Vancouver Region. This research will directly inform urban planning and will be used to populate the Water Balance Model with performance data for rainfall interception by the tree canopy in an urban forest..

The Water Balance Model Partners Forum hosted by the Greater Vancouver Regional District in March 2007 provided a timely opportunity to roll out ‘Beyond the Guidebook’, a runoff-based approach to drainage modeling that connects the dots between source control evaluation and stream health assessment.

During the period 2000-2001, the mantra in British Columbia was "overcoming fear and doubt" in order to move ahead with projects such as the East Clayton Sustainable Community in the City of Surrey, and UniverCity at Simon Fraser University on Burnaby Mountain in the City of Burnaby. In 2000, translating high expectations into practical design guidelines meant revisiting accepted drainage engineering practice.

The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia teamed with the Green Infrastructure Partnership to deliver a one-day seminar on how to implement ‘green solutions’ that actually protect stream health.

In April 2009, the Metro Vancouver Liquid Waste Management Reference Panel toured three projects at the University of British Columbia where innovative green infrastructure approaches and designs have been implemented: Choi Green Building, Sustainability Street, and the South Campus Neighbourhood.

Appointed by the Metro Vancouver Regional Board in April 2008, the Liquid Waste Management Reference Panel presented their "Interim Report on A Liquid Resource Management Plan for Metro Vancouver" on June 10, 2009.

The Leadership Forum was designed to start a conversation that would lead to a region-wide dialogue about achieving settlement in balance with ecology. Celebration of on-the-ground successes energized Forum participants.

A series of three regional conferences on innovative rainwater/stormwater management were held in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto during 2007 to 2008 under the sponsorship of the Canadian Water Network and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

A key message about the Morgan Heights development is that the developer is holding securities for landscaping and sediment control; and that money is not released until after the houses are built.

Rainwater management is a key component of protecting quality of life, property and ecosystems. In the Greater Vancouver Region, a series of building block initiatives have resulted in a change in thinking among drainage practitioners. This change has seen the single function view of 'stormwater management' give way to the integrated and comprehensive perspective that is captured by the term 'rainwater management'.

The District of North Vancouver has partnered with ARC Woodworking Services, a division of the North Shore Association for the Mentally Handicapped, to carry out a unique rainwater management study.

To complement the Water Balance Model, the Stormwater Inter-Agency Group (SILG) - a technical committee of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) - commissioned a research project to create "Stormwater Source Controls Design Guidelines 2005". This work is based on the adaptation of design standards from areas of Europe and North America with similar climatic and soil conditions. The objective of this project is to reduce information barriers that stand in the way of effective implementation of rainwater source controls in the Georgia Basin region of British Columbia.

In British Columbia, the term Integrated Stormwater Management Planning (ISMP) has gained widespread acceptance by local governments and the environmental agencies to describe a comprehensive, ecosystem-based approach to rainwater management. In the Greater Vancouver region, one of the primary results of a co-ordinated approach has been the creation of a template for ISMPs, which are watershed- specific, flexible and adaptive strategies.

A consortium of agencies in the Greater Vancouver Region have collaborated to adapt design standards from areas of Europe and North America with similar climatic and soil conditions. The project has reduced information barriers that stand in the way of effective implementation of rainwater source controls in the Georgia Basin region of British Columbia.Key features of the research information have been displayed in a set of poster presentations that can be downloaded.

In 2006, three provincial Ministries and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) formed a Vancouver Island Coordinating Team to facilitate a consistent, science-based approach to rainwater management on Vancouver Island.

Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island are learning from each other, and are moving in the same direction.

The "Celebrating Green Infrastructure Program" is an outcome of a Consultation Workshop that was organized by the Green Infrastructure Partnership in May 2005. The goal of the program is to build regional capacity through sharing of green infrastructure approaches, experiences and lessons learned as an outcome of ‘designing with nature'. The program was launched in May 2006 when the first event in the 'Showcasing Innovation Series'was hosted by the District of North Vancouver. The Greater Vancouver program is a provincial pilot. The intention is that local governments on Vancouver Island and in the Interior will undertake similar initiatives.

This Community-of-Interest is the web-delivery vehicle for informing practitioners about the latest advancements in the state-of-the-practice for rainwater management.

The neighbourhood plan for the northeast area of the UBC South Campus includes an innovative rainwater management system for underground storage of rainwater runoff and pumping to sustain summer baseflow in an environmentally sensitive creek channel.

It’s now a mix of compulsion and persuasion to get builders to include ground infiltration systems. Developers and engineers all must now include some way to control rainwater runoff.

The program for the Surrey Water Balance Model Forum was built around the HOW question as it pertains to green infrastructure: HOW will the City of Surrey get it built right; HOW will a consistent regional approach be achieved in Metro Vancouver? The Forum was co-sponsored by the Water Balance

The East Clayton Neighbourhood Concept Plan provided the first large-scale opportunity to ‘test’ a new approach which is sometimes characterized as ‘the future is the past’.

The 2007 Annual Conference of the BC Water & Waste Association was the the venue for a presentation on "Beyond the Guidebook", an initiative of the Inter-Governmental Partnership that developed the Water Balance Model for British Columbia.

The Forum purpose is to align regional actions with provincial policy goals. Surrey's experience in championing changes in green infrastructure policies and practices will ensure the Forum has relevancy.

Sustainability in My Backyard is an educational resource developed by the City of Surrey. Students can explore the impact of rain and drainage on a creek by comparing different rain scenarios and how the sustainable design features work.

The best way to quarantee a balance between nature and urban development in the future is by teaching future planners and decision-maker today about cutting edge technology for designing with nature.

Stories are categorized by year for convenient reference

Trees can intercept upwards of 50% of the rain that falls each year on a watershed. Removing the tree cover means that more and more rainfall is converted into runoff volume.

Rainwater management is at the heart of water-centric green infrastructure. More emphasis on natural landscapes featuring better use of soils and vegetation can help improve watershed health in the urban environment.

The major work has been done, the salmon have returned to spawn as soon as the new habitat was finished. All we have to do now is finish it off.

The Water Balance Model supports new approaches to water management, and will facilitate informed decision-making about climate change adaptation. The Water Balance Model is moving toward an expert system with broad capabilities.