26th August 2008
The journey towards the creation of this website began almost three years ago, when I became involved in the Greater Victoria Water Watch Coalition. Until then I had – like most Canadians – taken water for granted, assuming that it would always be cheap and plentiful. Through my work with the coalition, though, I’ve learned that we all need to pay much closer attention to local, national and international water issues.
Over the past several years I’ve been exposed to the knowledge of water experts and have experienced the passion of local watershed stewards, all of whom have inspired me to keep learning. Of the many books that I’ve read, Fred Pearce’s “When the Rivers Run Dry” held the key to what would later become “the URG.” In the final chapter, Pearce wrote of Los Angeles where “…they talk of turning the most paved urban area on the planet into a ‘porous city’ that can catch the rain, banish floods and become self-sufficient in water.” As I finished the book, a summer drought in Tofino - which averages about 10 feet of rain per year - made the national news. Tofino resort owners (whose customers use most of the water) were not happy. With all the money invested in their world-class resorts, why, I wondered, had the owners not thought to build some world-class rainwater harvesting systems?
In September 2006, the coalition arranged for several of us to attend Victoria’s “Water in the City Conference.” I was impressed at how Portland, Oregon was using “bioswales” and other “green infrastructure” to manage stormwater. There was also much talk at the conference about the “three waters” approach, how joint planning and implementation of integrated solutions for water supply, stormwater and sewage could create efficiencies and savings. (To me, it seemed logical that for citizens to benefit from such savings the “three waters” should remain “public.”) .
That November, our annual winter rains began, saturating the ground and causing all sorts of problems in the capital city, but nothing compared to what was happening up island in Port Alberni, where stormwater was spurting out of manholes and flooding businesses in the beleaguered town.
That’s when the penny dropped for me. All of that rain flowing off the steep, asphalt-encrusted hills of Port Alberni was (obviously!) just too much for the pipes, but the water had nowhere else to go.
I remembered what author Fred Pearce had said about Los Angeles, began a search for the source of his information, and found the NGO “TreePeople.”
Back in the 1990s, after a long period of drought ended in a series of storms that brought flash floods and landslides to Los Angeles, TreePeople’s Andy Lipkis wondered whether underground cisterns could be used to mimic the water-retention capacity of a mature oak tree. Lipkis thought that such a system - implemented on a large enough scale - might not just stop the floods but could capture and reuse the stormwater during dry summer months. He figured that for every half inch of rain that falls in Los Angeles, 3 billion gallons of water could be reclaimed, and he proposed slowing and sinking the excess water along the river, spreading it across green swales and collecting it in cisterns. TreePeople did the research and then chose a house in an older, established neighbourhood to demonstrate the principles of on-site stormwater management. The media was then alerted that two tons of water would be dumped on the house in 10 minutes. Of course, the media showed up, as did public works officials. Amazingly, not a drop of water reached the street, causing Carl Blum (an engineer in the Los Angeles Public Works Department) to have “an epiphany.”
Suddenly the public agencies seemed supportive of TreePeople’s storm-drain alternatives. Months later, when Sun Valley was about to build their first storm drain system, it was Carl Blum, that same public works engineer, who helped convince residents that their flooding problems might best be solved with a subsurface detention system. Residents agreed to a pilot project that would drain a 25-acre watershed into a series of cisterns beneath a school playground where it would be cleaned and then percolate into the aquifer below.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works has now embraced the “watershed-based approach” to stormwater in Sun Valley as part of a comprehensive Watershed Management Plan in collaboration with community stakeholders and is currently developing guidelines for the whole of Los Angeles.
Why the website?
Over the past two years I’ve been collecting information about Los Angeles and other cities that are starting to use green infrastructure to protect urban waterways, prevent floods and reduce sewer overflows. In particular, I've studied how other cities have engaged citizens to become part of the solution to stormwater problems.
In creating “the URG,” my hope is that others will be inspired – as I have been – to pay more attention to what happens to water as it passes through our cities. It is a fascinating subject that will continue to be influenced by politics and by a “paradigm shift” that has begun in the engineering community. At the local level, change will occur based on the willingness of citizens to educate themselves and on their political will to support leaders who advocate for green infrastructure. We need to pay close attention during this “shift” to ensure that community members are part of the process and that they are consulted before decisions occur. As the Sun Valley experience has shown, if citizens can envision a clear, long-term benefit to their community, they will support a radical change in policy.
Freya Keddie
August 25th, 2008
Over the past several years I’ve been exposed to the knowledge of water experts and have experienced the passion of local watershed stewards, all of whom have inspired me to keep learning. Of the many books that I’ve read, Fred Pearce’s “When the Rivers Run Dry” held the key to what would later become “the URG.” In the final chapter, Pearce wrote of Los Angeles where “…they talk of turning the most paved urban area on the planet into a ‘porous city’ that can catch the rain, banish floods and become self-sufficient in water.” As I finished the book, a summer drought in Tofino - which averages about 10 feet of rain per year - made the national news. Tofino resort owners (whose customers use most of the water) were not happy. With all the money invested in their world-class resorts, why, I wondered, had the owners not thought to build some world-class rainwater harvesting systems?
In September 2006, the coalition arranged for several of us to attend Victoria’s “Water in the City Conference.” I was impressed at how Portland, Oregon was using “bioswales” and other “green infrastructure” to manage stormwater. There was also much talk at the conference about the “three waters” approach, how joint planning and implementation of integrated solutions for water supply, stormwater and sewage could create efficiencies and savings. (To me, it seemed logical that for citizens to benefit from such savings the “three waters” should remain “public.”) .
That November, our annual winter rains began, saturating the ground and causing all sorts of problems in the capital city, but nothing compared to what was happening up island in Port Alberni, where stormwater was spurting out of manholes and flooding businesses in the beleaguered town.
That’s when the penny dropped for me. All of that rain flowing off the steep, asphalt-encrusted hills of Port Alberni was (obviously!) just too much for the pipes, but the water had nowhere else to go.
I remembered what author Fred Pearce had said about Los Angeles, began a search for the source of his information, and found the NGO “TreePeople.”
Back in the 1990s, after a long period of drought ended in a series of storms that brought flash floods and landslides to Los Angeles, TreePeople’s Andy Lipkis wondered whether underground cisterns could be used to mimic the water-retention capacity of a mature oak tree. Lipkis thought that such a system - implemented on a large enough scale - might not just stop the floods but could capture and reuse the stormwater during dry summer months. He figured that for every half inch of rain that falls in Los Angeles, 3 billion gallons of water could be reclaimed, and he proposed slowing and sinking the excess water along the river, spreading it across green swales and collecting it in cisterns. TreePeople did the research and then chose a house in an older, established neighbourhood to demonstrate the principles of on-site stormwater management. The media was then alerted that two tons of water would be dumped on the house in 10 minutes. Of course, the media showed up, as did public works officials. Amazingly, not a drop of water reached the street, causing Carl Blum (an engineer in the Los Angeles Public Works Department) to have “an epiphany.”
Suddenly the public agencies seemed supportive of TreePeople’s storm-drain alternatives. Months later, when Sun Valley was about to build their first storm drain system, it was Carl Blum, that same public works engineer, who helped convince residents that their flooding problems might best be solved with a subsurface detention system. Residents agreed to a pilot project that would drain a 25-acre watershed into a series of cisterns beneath a school playground where it would be cleaned and then percolate into the aquifer below.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works has now embraced the “watershed-based approach” to stormwater in Sun Valley as part of a comprehensive Watershed Management Plan in collaboration with community stakeholders and is currently developing guidelines for the whole of Los Angeles.
Why the website?
Over the past two years I’ve been collecting information about Los Angeles and other cities that are starting to use green infrastructure to protect urban waterways, prevent floods and reduce sewer overflows. In particular, I've studied how other cities have engaged citizens to become part of the solution to stormwater problems.
In creating “the URG,” my hope is that others will be inspired – as I have been – to pay more attention to what happens to water as it passes through our cities. It is a fascinating subject that will continue to be influenced by politics and by a “paradigm shift” that has begun in the engineering community. At the local level, change will occur based on the willingness of citizens to educate themselves and on their political will to support leaders who advocate for green infrastructure. We need to pay close attention during this “shift” to ensure that community members are part of the process and that they are consulted before decisions occur. As the Sun Valley experience has shown, if citizens can envision a clear, long-term benefit to their community, they will support a radical change in policy.
Freya Keddie
August 25th, 2008