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WCEL
> Issues > Urban Growth and
Development > Smart Bylaws Guide > Part
6 > Use Site Resources Wisely >
Watercourse Protection
Smart Bylaws Guide – Use Site Resources Wisely –
Watercourse Protection
The majority of environmental protection regulations at the
municipal level focus on maintaining and enhancing riparian areas.
Municipalities do this primarily through designating watercourses as
development permit areas and attaching guidelines
for development in those areas. Municipalities also enact comprehensive
environmental bylaws to regulate development around watercourses
and the quality of the water entering them.
Watercourse protection strategies also include the following
tools:
See the Table of Watercourse
Protection Regulations for details on the typical content of
watercourse protection bylaws and regulations, and links to the
bylaws.
Through the adoption and implementation of a seemingly minor
motion of the Corporation of the District of Burnaby (now the City
of Burnaby) in 1972, all of its creeks and streams have been
retained as open waterways since that time. Alderman Lawson brought
a motion to Council creating a policy to preserve and conserve
streams, to be supported by a report from the Manager on how best to
accomplish this goal. The motion was copied to the Municipal
Engineer and Planning Director with the result that no streams were
subsequently covered over. Much of the natural drainage patters in
the municipality still function, and through top of bank
acquisitions, many riparian corridors are protected as municipal
land. The City also protects local waterways from pollution
and sediment contamination through its Watercourse
Protection bylaw (regulatory bylaws, T-Z, Watercourse Bylaw
1988).
Groundwater Protection Initiative
The Township of Langley is collaborating with the province on the
province's first Water Management Plan under Part 4 of the BC Water
Act, with a focus on groundwater protection (the project is a pilot
under Phase 3 of the province's groundwater protection
initiative). For more information, visit the Township's
website.
Coastal Ecosystem Protection
The Green Shores Initiative
"promotes sustainable use of coastal ecosystems through planning and design that recognizes the ecological features and functions of coastal systems."
The website provides information, tools, examples and resources on
planning and design approaches. The site also promotes a
voluntary certification system that has adopted a principled
approach modeled on green building rating systems such as as the
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system.
For More Information
British
Columbia Guide to Watershed Law and Planning - The information
on this comprehensive website assists the public in understanding
laws and planning processes that may have a bearing on watershed
management.
Stewardship
Bylaws: A Guide for Local Government – This guide explains the
range of environmental protection tools available to local
governments and describes a policy and bylaw development process.
Most of the document details sample stewardship bylaws and policies.
Environmental
Objectives, Best Management Practices and Requirements for Land
Development - This document was developed by the Vancouver
Island Region of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks (MELP)
to assist municipalities, regional districts, Islands Trust and
Ministry of Transportation and Highways (MOTH) planning, development
and approval staff in the environmental review of land development
proposals.
Develop
with Care: Environmental Guidelines for Urban and Rural Land
Development in British Columbia (BC Ministry of Environment,
2006)
The
Stewardship Series:
- Land
Development Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Habitat
- Access
Near Aquatic Areas: A Guide to Sensitive Planning, Design and
Management
- BC Grasslands Stewardship Guide: A Guide for Ranchers
and Recreation Users
- Green Legacies: A Donor's Guide for BC
- Stream
Stewardship: A Guide for Planners and Developers
- Shoreline
Structures Environmental Design: A Guide for Structures Along
Estuaries and Large Rivers
- Coastal
Shore Stewardship: A Guide for Planners, Builders and Developers
- The
Streamkeepers Handbook: A Practical Guide to Stream and Wetland
Care
- Watershed
Stewardship: A Guide for Agriculture
The Living by Water
Project
Best
Management Practices for Soft Engineering of Shorelines (Greater
Detroit American Heritage River Initiative)
Thanks to Kirsty MacKenzie who prepared the Table of
Watercourse Protection Bylaws and Regulations.
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