{"id":333,"date":"2011-09-07T21:47:39","date_gmt":"2011-09-08T04:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.obwb.ca\/blog\/?p=333"},"modified":"2014-08-22T14:07:43","modified_gmt":"2014-08-22T21:07:43","slug":"water-leadership-in-changing-times-trials-and-innovations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/2011\/09\/water-leadership-in-changing-times-trials-and-innovations\/","title":{"rendered":"Water leadership in changing times: trials and innovations"},"content":{"rendered":"

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”<\/em>\u00a0 – African proverb, quoted by Al Gore<\/p>\n

I got fairly hot under the collar at a Bill Rees\u2019 talk last fall \u2013 in my mild-mannered Canadian way. \u00a0He\u2019s a UBC professor famous for his work on ecological footprints<\/a> \u2013 great stuff, that I\u2019ve used to teach classes in the past.\u00a0 Where I took issue was the tenor of Bill\u2019s talk. To begin with, I never do well with extremely grim forecasts. Being in the environmental field, the future can easily be cast in a dim light, but fearless optimism is more to my taste. We start with the premise that the situation is workable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

World population from 1800 to 2100, based on UN 2004 projections and US Census Bureau historical estimates - by Loren Cobb<\/p><\/div>\n

Bill\u2019s subject was climate change and population growth, the likely tides of environmental refugees, and how we needed to draw the line in some way on our own growth and development.<\/p>\n

I grant that we need to change our approach to the growth of our cities, but as the world approaches 7 billion people this year, we have to accept that some will move here. We even welcome them \u2013 Canadians are aging, and we need workers of all kinds and levels of education.\u00a0 Canada is one of the world\u2019s great immigrant nations.<\/p>\n

Although climate change is likely to be gentler to western Canada than many other parts of the world, we won\u2019t be untouched.\u00a0 Climate adaptation is, as they say, all about the water.\u00a0 I\u2019m often asked, \u201cWhen will we run out of water? Should we stop all growth and development?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Swimmers and waders in Okanagan lake, enjoying the heat of summer.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the Okanagan, we are in for longer, warmer summers, and warmer winters \u2013 bringing the twin squeeze of less snow pack, and greater water demand from irrigation.\u00a0 Since our reservoirs were designed to include snow-storage<\/a>, we don\u2019t have space to hold all the winter precipitation in liquid form and must release it downstream.<\/p>\n

This combination sets up summer low-flows, especially in the tributarys to the Okanagan valley lakes.\u00a0 As the valley\u2019s population grows, there will be more competition for water between people and the environment. La Nina delivered a lot of water in 2011, but brought flooding and (in 2010) a massive mud-slide in Oliver<\/a>. Surges of stormwater overwhelm drainage systems, and pollute intakes.<\/p>\n

The theme of the Okanagan Basin Water Board\u2019s annual meeting this year is \u201cWater leadership in changing times.\u201d \u00a0We are intimately curious about water leadership, and how we can help accommodate changes as they happen.<\/p>\n

Change is also taking place on a political level.\u00a0 This year we have a new Premier, a change in cabinet, and a re-ordering of the ministries. The Ministry of Environment continues to revise the century-old water act<\/a> \u2013 trying to devise policy that works for the diverse geography of BC \u2013 but we won\u2019t see this passed into law for another year or more.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that there is uncertainty in all of our planning, at all levels of government. But we can\u2019t wait around for the government\u2019s action before we start making plans and taking action.<\/p>\n

What we do know is that despite modernization of the water act, there will be no new funding to implement the regulations.<\/p>\n

Local governments are naturally not keen to shoulder extra costs, so more emphasis is being placed on full-cost recovery for services, and on streamlining. But, although population growth and water shortages are inevitable, conflict doesn\u2019t have to be. The patterns of development make a huge difference in water use\u2013 low impact, high density vs. paving and sprawl. This is also less expensive to service and maintain, over the long-term.<\/p>\n

We joke that the new definition for \u201cinnovation\u201d is doing more with less, but really, we prefer to emphasize \u201cDOING MORE\u201d – regardless.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The definition of leadership has always been about getting things done.\u00a0 There\u2019s an African proverb that says, \u201cIf you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.\u201d So, to get things done in the long term, we need leadership to all get down the road in the same direction.<\/p>\n

Leadership for water in the Okanagan, where there are so many different governments and agencies, isn\u2019t about top-down authority \u2013 it can\u2019t be.\u00a0 Leadership is gathering and focusing the ideas and energy of all the different partners.\u00a0 Things get done rapidly and efficiently when we can learn from each other, share resources, and decide on priorities.\u00a0 This was why the Okanagan Basin Water Board was founded 40 years ago. This is the meat and potatoes of watershed governance.<\/p>\n

Somebody asked me last year, \u201cWhat does water sustainability look like?\u201d \u00a0I answered, \u201cWater sustainability isn\u2019t a place, it\u2019s a process. It\u2019s what happens when there are plans and agreements in place that keep problems from occurring, and that create a system for dealing with issues as they arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

My cousin, who really appreciates the water.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the next great leap forward for the Okanagan, and a great challenge. \u00a0Historically, the communities in the valley have been fragmented and parochial, but things are changing for the better.\u00a0 There is capacity and deep understanding about the value of water \u2013 everyone in the water field who visits here remarks on how well educated people are about the issues. The Okanagan Basin Water Board\u2019s leadership role is to bring everyone together, and be a vehicle for sharing resources.<\/p>\n

And when will we run out of water?\u00a0 And what\u2019s my response to Dr. Rees? We can\u2019t shut the door to new residents to the valley \u2013 and most of us probably don\u2019t want to.\u00a0 There is no change we can\u2019t adapt to if we work together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”\u00a0 – African proverb, quoted by Al Gore I got fairly hot under the collar at a Bill Rees\u2019 talk last fall \u2013 in my … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,27,35],"tags":[82,29,49,13],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climatechange","category-governance-2","category-water-act-modernization-2","tag-climatechange","tag-collaboration","tag-okanagan-water","tag-governance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":370,"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions\/370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obwb.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}