Waterwise Principles
Design with Nature: Community development can result in cumulative benefits for the community when we use and work with nature and the ecological services it provides especially in the rainwater (conventionally referred to as stormwater) service delivery functions of local governments. This ‘working with nature’ orientation is commonly referred to as ‘designing with nature’. The shift from conventional rainwater management that emphasizes detention and conveyance at the expense of ecological function was considered to be the ‘business as usual’ which is now changing.
Work with existing organizational capacities: Everyone needs to agree on level of service expectations for rainwater management (including the maintenance of ecological services and functions of rainwater), and how all the players will work together, and after that each community can reach its goals in its own way given its own internal processes, structures and capacities.
Everyone has a role to play: The Comox Valley CAVI team endeavours to connect the various audiences, agents, tools and languages that each of us may embody as we work towards green infrastructure practices.
Resources
Below are resources prepared by CAVI members:
The Developer’s Guide to Water Wise Land Development in the Comox Valleywas developed for education and to communicate the story of why watershed-based rainwater management planning (as opposed to jurisdictional) is necessary, the strategies available to land owners and developers to minimize their negative impacts on the watersheds they reside in, and the roles that each audience plays to achieve or maintain a healthy watershed. It is an orienting guide to the range of ongoing transformational work that’s occurring to align regulators and industry best management practices into a Design with Nature approach. The Guide is designed to be visually engaging, easy to read, with front counter ‘branding’ consistent to all four local government planning counters, and tips to applicants on how to prepare successful applications. Available at all four municipalities front counter. And Here