EDITORS NOTE: The reports below were submitted to me by the Comox Valley Water Coalition with opening comments by one of their members.

"Below are notes from a Water Governance workshop held just this past March
2008 ,please take the time to read ...this was comprised of Citizen input, with local Vancouver Island government employees, Provincial govt. employees and First Nations ....."


Highlights from Langley, Prince George and Nanaimo Water Governance Workshops

Thank you for participating in the recent Water Governance Workshops hosted by The BC Ministry of Environment, Fraser Basin Council, Living Rivers Georgia Basin/Vancouver Island and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Sustainable water management in BC is an important priority. The purpose of the workshops was to share information and explore opportunities for advancing water governance in British Columbia. Your shared perspectives from these workshops will help inform future provincial policy direction. A report is being prepared that will contain regional highlights from 4 workshops taking place across the province. Three workshops (Langley – February 12, 2008, Prince George – March 4, 2008, and Nanaimo – March 7, 2008) have already taken place, and a fourth will take place in Kelowna B.C., in May 2008. Following this, a workshop report will be distributed to all participants in early June 2008. In the meantime, here's a little of what we've heard so far from each of the 3 workshops that have already taken place:


Overarching Themes From the Workshops
Water is a critical issue.
-There is a need to shift perceptions about the value of water and the need for conservation.
-Provincial leadership on standards and empowerment of local governance is required.
-Federal investment in research and monitoring is required.
-There is a need for greater clarity and consistency in the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders may have in British Columbia related to water governance.
-There is a need for integrated water management planning that involves local citizens and First Nations

Notes from Langley (February 12, 2008):

Highlights
-A pro-active approach to water governance is required to deal with emerging issues and uncertainty around water quantity (rather than current reactive approach)
-A combination of top-down and bottom up approaches is needed to address issues
-Recognition that aquifers don't follow political bounds, nor do watersheds
-There is a need to integrate surface and ground water in legislation to enable better decision making
-Decisions need to be supported by adequate enforcement and compliance mechanisms
-An expanded hydrometric network and more monitoring stations are required
-New governance arrangements need to be developed with appropriate and adequate First Nation consultation
-Funding mechanisms are critical especially for NGOs
-Sustainability needs to factored into water governance models
-Integrated discussion around resource values, uses and potential upstream and downstream impacts is required
-Need to link to other related current planning and governance processes (e.g. land use planning)
-Need the province to demonstrate leadership in setting standards and targets

Recommendations
Groundwater legislation
Province-wide Town Hall meetings
Use existing legislation and regulations more effectively
To assist with distributed governance arrangements new provincial standards for water are required; including water quality, instream flow, monitoring, metering, and groundwater regulation
Priority issues to be addressed include adequate monitoring and licensing of new wells
Require adequate and fair consultation on all new water licences
Have government approve a new Provincial Water Strategy
Provide funding for education and social marketing around water use and conservation
Provide stipends/tax rebates to volunteers
Increase monitoring, collection and maintenance of stream flow data, ground water levels and water quality

Notes from Prince George (March 4, 2008):

Highlights

-Federal investment in research/science and monitoring is required
-Provincial leadership is required on standards, and to empower local governance
Local/regional level and First Nations engagement in planning is critical to achieve improved governance and more effective management of water
-Expand and clarify the discussion about governance vs. management
-Need to build a business case for community/local watershed stewardship
-Information needs are broader than Western Science and need to incorporate traditional knowledge, cultural values and stories.
-Current "Green awareness" could be used to support case for better water governance
-The system is characterized by a patchwork of legislation and conflicting responsibilities
-There is a need for broader public education and incentives to promote water conservation
-Province should provide the budget, framework and tools for local-level planning; plans should be developed at the local level

Recommendations
Establish local watershed committees with representation from industry, First Nations, local government and community to recommend priorities and approaches for planning.
Increase funding to support local monitoring and citizen participation in planning
Require water metering for domestic and industrial users
Increase the number of opportunities for stakeholder dialogue and raise awareness about existing opportunities to be involved in water planning and decision-making.
Compile, publish and maintain longitudinal data on the state of the water resource and what is being done in each region
Allow water management priorities and targets to be established locally.
Establish guiding principles and consistent standards at the provincial level and allow local governments/regions/groups to enforce the standards and determine how they are met

Notes from Nanaimo (March 7, 2008):

Highlights

-Local involvement is essential to good water management
-Local water management planning bodies need authority and funding
-Local water management planning could lead to watershed based water management bodies which would require capacity, funding and authority to implement plans
-Call to action from the Province to meaningfully engage with First Nations on shared-decision making
-Water laws should be ecosystem-based and reflect traditional and spiritual values and uses
-Role for arbitrators/mediators to resolve conflicts at local level
-Importance of Provincial vision and leadership, especially with regard to setting goals and targets for sustainable water use
-Challenges of water management relate to people and their behaviour, not simply the Water Act
-Need to recognize interconnectedness of surface and and groundwater, and factor in consideration of atmospheric water

Recommendations

Establish/fund regional based watershed water boards
Develop and implement meaningful groundwater legislation
Implement a policy to encourage awareness around household water consumption: 1 day/week all households haul water by hand for 1 month
Initiate a Province-wide reservoir construction project for winter rainfall storage
Take recommendations of these pilot workshops on water governance and implement into 4 pilot projects across the Province