A $6.9-million collaborative adaptation program will help B.C. communities deal with the impacts of climate change on water use, forest and watershed management, flood protection and community planning. The Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced a Regional Adaptation Collaborative led by the Government of Canada, the Government of British Columbia and the Fraser Basin Council. The new initiative, entitled Preparing for Climate Change: Securing B.C.’s Water Future, is coordinated by the non-profit Fraser Basin Council and the B.C. Ministry of Environment. Natural Resources Canada is providing $3.3 million of the $6.9 million, which includes contributions from 18 partners in provincial ministries, local governments, First Nations and non-governmental organizations, the private sector and academia.

Over the coming weeks and months, we will be using a new Living Water Smart blog to encourage water stewardship in B.C., share ideas and stories, and celebrate our water smart successes. The blog will be used to support dialogue on modernizing the Water Act and will complement a public discussion paper and a series of regional meetings to be announced early in 2010. To join the discussion all you have to do is select comment and tell us what you think. Have your say on how B.C. can be a world leader in water stewardship.

The ministry’s proposed objectives for the Municipal Sewage Regulation review and the proposed revisions to the regulation are provided in a policy intentions paper out now for consultation. A response form to seek responses and comments from stakeholders and the public is provided on the website.
Comments should be submitted by January 29, 2010.

The Water Conservation Calculator is an on-line user-friendly tool geared for water purveyors of smaller communities. Its purpose is to illustrate how specific conservation measures yield both fiscal and physical water consumption savings. Smaller communities often cannot allocate resources to traditional infrastructure projects or cannot budget for the development of professional water conservation/efficiency plans. Water purveyors can use the tool to assist in presenting their conservation case to council and other decision makers.

» www.waterconservationcalculator.ca

Due to low winter snowpacks and drought conditions this summer, and to protect the kokanee salmon population in the Nicola River, Environment Minister Barry Penner has ordered the temporary curtailment of water use on the river, upstream from Nicola Lake. The order is the first of its kind in B.C. and was issued under the authority of Section 9 of the Fish Protection Act. Section 9 was brought into force this August in anticipation of a need to protect fish populations in times of drought.

For the second consecutive year, Science World is challenging BC’s students to document their green actions and submit their digital stories online to the BC Green Games contest. Cash prizes will be given to winning submissions that showcase their environmental success stories. Registration has begun.
Go to www.bcgreengames.ca for more information.

The current long, hot, dry summer which much of the province is experiencing has highlighted the need to conserve water and plan for drought. The Drought Handbook is designed to assist local water suppliers in dealing with drought management and water conservation planning. It provides proactive drought management goals to help prevent the onset of drought conditions, and assists water suppliers to assess, plan, and respond to drought conditions and coordinate internal and external communications.

Canadian Premiers have agreed to implement a Water Efficiency Labelling program across Canada and to establish a Council of the Federation Water Stewardship Council that will focus on water efficiency and conservation. Water efficient labels on water-using appliances and fixtures will help Canadian consumers make informed, environmentally friendly choices about products such as clothes washers, toilets and showerheads. This will ultimately reduce our Nation’s water consumption.

• Upgrading toilets and showerheads to low flow models and placing aerators on taps
• Thinking differently about water use in the home
• Changing the styles of landscaping away from thirsty plants to xeriscaping
• Collecting rainwater or waste water for use in the garden
• Washing cars less frequently, with a cloth or at a car wash that recycles water.