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WCEL
> Issues > Urban Growth and
Development > Smart Bylaws Guide > Part
1 > Integrated Planning > Watershed
Planning
Smart Bylaws Guide – Watershed Planning
Municipalities are increasingly addressing
riparian management on a watershed basis, and are beginning to
discuss the effects of impervious surfaces on natural hydrology.
With the use of natural watercourses as ESAs, urban amenities, and
for stormwater management, integrated watershed management is
necessary to properly address ecosystem integrity. An integrated
approach is also necessary to ensure that all uses and interests in
the watershed are adequately considered.
One of the best salmonid spawning areas in the City
of Burnaby is within Stoney Creek which is subject to high peak
flows and erosion. The City, working with other local governments (GVRD,
Port Moody and Coquitlam), academic institutions (Simon Fraser
University (SFU), UBC Westwater Institute, BCIT) and local
stewardship groups, recently completed an integrated stormwater
management plan for the watershed. The goal of the plan is to manage
stormwater while protecting and enhancing the aquatic ecosystems of
the Stoney Creek watershed. The City also manages the Stoney Creek
Environmental Work Group to coordinate the actions of all
stakeholders in the watershed, and to ensure that any works
undertaken are environmentally-sensitive. The Working Group is
composed of all stakeholders involved in the Stoney Creek watershed,
including the City, GVRD, BC Hydro, Trans Mountain Pipelines, SFU,
BCIT, the Stoney Creek Environment Committee, Burnaby Streamkeepers,
Sapperton Fish and Game Club, and the Stoney Creek Community School.
The Working Group provides input on issues such as developments
(e.g. the Burnaby Mountain Highschool and the proposed GVRD sewer
line), areas requiring enhancement (e.g. erosion sites), and
management (e.g. water quality concerns).
The City of Kelowna Council adopted a
resolution in March, 1997 directing staff to facilitate the
implementation of a Watershed Committee to develop a watershed
management and action plan for the creeks flowing through the City.
Council also directed staff to assist in the development and
implementation of an education program for residents. The Watershed
Committee is composed of agency, industry, water purveyors, and
political interests who have chosen Mill Creek as a starting point
for developing an integrated approach to watershed management.
The Cowichan
Basin Water Management Plan was commissioned and endorsed by its
project partners - the Cowichan Valley Regional District, BC
Ministry of Environment, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Catalyst Paper
Corporation, Cowichan Tribes, and Pacific Salmon Commission - in
2007, to provide actions to manage water and its use in the
Basin. Note: this is not a Water Management Plan
further to Part 4 of the BC Water Act.
The Township of Langley is currently (2007) in the process of
working with the province on a pilot to develop the first Water
Management Plan under Part 4 of the BC Water Act
For More Information
Integrated
Stormwater Management
Whistler
River of Golden Dreams Watershed Management Strategy
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