Preparing Our Communities for Change

Water plays a huge role in shaping our communities. We need safe drinking water, water for homes and businesses, and to keep our environment healthy. We also need protection from floods. Actions in Living Water Smart will help communities adapt to climate change by designing our communities to live in harmony with water.

By living water smart, we can save water, energy, fuel, and money. By working with, rather than against nature, communities and developments will capture and use rain, treat or reuse wastewater, provide cool green spaces for urban relaxation, and reduce our energy needs. If we adopt these changes, communities will be more resilient to climate change and provide a higher quality of life.

Beyond the Guidebook 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Urban Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia [PDF 8.72MB] connects the dots between RAINwater Management and Drought Management and shows how to achieve water sustainability through outcome-oriented urban watershed plans. Beyond the Guidebook 2010 is the ‘telling of the stories’ of how change is being implemented on the ground in BC. These stories demonstrate that the practitioner and community culture is changing as an outcome of collaboration and partnerships.