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Our world seems to be getting more wobbly, more unstable, more uncertain. When we are part of a network, we are not alone. We can support each other to make everyone’s work easier by creating a knowledge network. Work is more effective and more fun when people work in community with each other. When we are part of a network, everyone goes further.
The Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia (the Partnership) is a unique organizational model. The Partnership has its roots in government and public service but is not government. Incorporated as a society, the Partnership is the engine that powers a network in the local government setting.
Will it be development that controls us or development that sustains us? British Columbia faces critical choices, again and again. The really BIG IDEA driving the Partnership mission is intergenerational in scope: Settlement, Economy, and Ecology in Balance.
The Partnership stemmed from a movement that strives for Design With Nature outcomes. The Partnership mission revolves around three strategies: Design With Nature; Living Water Smart; and grow the Living Water Smart Network rather than build an organization.
Imagine that everyone understands and cares where our water comes from and goes! The Partnership stewards Living Water Smart in British Columbia, a vision which transcends government. Released in 2004, the Water Sustainability Action Plan was the proof of concept for Living Water Smart and continues to provide a partnership umbrella for being bold and imaginative. And the Partnership’s online tools and resource library support Living Water Smart.
The path to water sustainability is a journey. The Partnership delivers results across boundaries through a ‘Regional Team Approach’ that is founded on collaboration and partnerships. The regional team approach seeks to align actions at three scales – provincial, regional and local. Everyone needs to agree on expectations and how all the players will work together. And after that each community can reach its goals in its own way. It is top-down and bottom-up.
When citizen talent is aligned with a local government that is both visionary and focused, outstanding achievements are possible and realistic. Engagement of community through stewardship is a credible formula. It is to be encouraged and mainstreamed at every opportunity.
"We know what a functioning catchment looks like. We know how to restore one. We can measure the return in flood peaks avoided, low flows sustained, sediment retained and assets protected. The science is mature. The constraint is institutional. The barrier is the continued belief that we can engineer our way out of a problem that engineering created. The result is a landscape that delivers water to the wrong places at the wrong speed with the wrong force. Drought and flood look like opposite problems. They are not. They are the same problem," stated ...
"For a growing number of municipalities, running out of water is no longer hypothetical. Last fall, years of drought pushed Dawson Creek’s water supplies to critical levels, forcing the city to declare a state of emergency and pursue costly emergency measures. The Sunshine Coast and the Village of McBride declared water emergencies in 2023 and 2024. And last month, the Syilx Okanagan Nation declared a watershed emergency across the Okanagan and neighbouring watersheds. These aren’t isolated incidents. Water insecurity is now a fact of life," stated Vickey ...
"Deep knowledge is being ignored or dismissed at an alarming rate. Our world seems to be getting more wobbly, more unstable, more uncertain, and for all sorts of reasons. Storytelling is needed more than ever. It matters how we share information to ensure concepts are conveyed to, and understood by, the people who need to know. Solutions to the issues of our time lie in WHAT stories we tell and HOW we tell those stories. There is tremendous value in networks to help solve problems together. Cooperation will help buttress this wobbly world," ...
"Recent streamflow droughts in south coastal British Columbia have had major socioeconomic and ecological impacts. Increasing drought severity under projected climate change poses serious water management challenges, particularly in the small coastal watersheds that serve as primary water sources for most communities in the region," stated Bethany Coulthard.Using 350 years of tree ring data as well as long-term drought records, Coulthard found at least 16 historical droughts worse than the benchmarks used today by hydrologists and water managers in coastal BC. ...
"We learn through stories. This is how we pass on our oral history. Storytelling is the way we share intergenerational knowledge, experience and wisdom. This is why each and every edition of Waterbucket eNews is built around a conversational interview. The Partnership shares the 'stories behind the stories' of community innovators and champions in the local government and stewardship sectors with this outcome in mind: That successive generations will be inspired by can-do leaders and will grow the knowledge network. Learn. Do. Adapt. Tell the story," stated Kim Stephens. ...
The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency opened a Pandora's box. The cascading impact of his uncivility spilled across the US-British Columbia border and has poisoned our well. Over the past decade, the consequences of incivility have been playing out in the world of local government. Now what? Local government is at a tipping point. "History reminds us that seasons of civic decay and renewal are not new," writes Diane Kalen-Sukra. Could her book, Lead with Civility, be the spark that catalyzes action to turn the cultural tide in British ...
"Lately I have been reminding folks that in the 1970s, Canada saw an infrastructure funding boom - everyone built arenas, pools, sewers and water systems on 25 cent dollars. The problem is not aging infrastructure. The problem is the decades that we did not pay attention to it. This inattention created the infrastructure gap! No one thought about the need to replace, or maintain, all those pipes and buildings. And no one could have anticipated the dramatic escalation in replacement costs, now at 100% dollars. So, the infrastructure gap grows," stated Bill ...
"Drainage has long been a galvanizing issue for sustainable development. The cumulative impacts of land use changes on stream function are proven. Streamside protection regulation is a fact of life. We understand how to turn problems into solutions. But we keep failing to overcome inertia,” stated Richard Boase. Restoration of urban watershed health is an unfulfilled promise. Inertia stymies universal, consistent implementation of effective standards of development practice. How do you overcome inertia? Peer-based learning plus collaboration across ...
"In this issue, authors Derek Richmond and Kim Stephens begin by saying that 'networks are a way to get greater leverage on your scarce resources and move forward together with other likeminded, values-aligned colleagues.' However, they fear that human to-human connection is being lost," wrote Steve Davey in his editorial comment. "Recently, the Partnership hosted the Convening for Action Forum, as part of a strategy to help reverse this situation. Reading about this event brought back my early memories of face-to-face ...
"Part of the vision for GRIN is to use green roofs to break down silos. If we truly acknowledged the climate emergency, biodiversity crisis and loneliness epidemic, there would be green roofs everywhere. We have the tools. We just need political will, and critical mass," stated Christine Thuring. The "story behind the story" is that Christine Thuring and her GRIN colleagues are committed to putting green roofs back on municipal radar screens. They have a vision, they have a plan, and they are doing outreach. It takes passion, hard work, and perseverance to have ...
“Metro Vancouver faces increasing resistance to provincially mandated Transit-Oriented Area (TOA) development amid concerns over the impacts of rapid densification. Without coordinated planning, this growth risks producing fragmented, unaffordable, and poorly serviced communities. Now that Metro region mayors have called on the Province to repeal ill-conceived housing legislation, this creates a unique opportunity for a course correction because the housing density issue hits everybody literally where they live. It is not esoteric," stated Patrick ...
