Is your municipality doing enough to prevent downstream impacts from stormwater while maintaining healthy aquatic habitat?
Wetland Workshop for Municipalities
Purpose: This one-day workshop will include presentations and discussions on ways to integrate wetland conservation at a municipal and regional level with a variety of tools from policy to built-infrastructure. As a group, participants will share experiences and explore challenges and opportunities facing future wetland conservation. Brought to you by BC Wildlife Federation Wetlands Program. Make sure your municipality is represented as this workshop that aims to strengthen the regions capacity to secure green infrastructure – promoting human health and nature.
When: Tuesday November 19th, 8:45am – 4:30pm. Lunch will be provided, if possible please bring your own coffee cup.
Where: Stanley Park Ecology Society (Stanley Park Pavillion, 610 Pipeline Road, Stanley Park, Vancouver, V6B 4B2)
Who Should Attend: Planners, engineers and other municipal/regional district staff involved in urban development policy and permitting, Integrated Stormwater Management Plans, wetland mapping projects and/or watershed planning.
Link to Register (space is limited): http://www.eventbrite.com/event/8174418907
Speakers include:
- Kim Stephens (Partnership for Water Sustainability) – A local expert in watershed and stormwater management, Kim will address wetland conservation through the lens of integrated stormwater management, nuts and bolts of the Water Balance Model and how this translates to Metro Vancouver.
- Elke Wind (E. Wind Consulting) – Risks, benefits and design considerations of stormwater ponds and ditches for amphibian species and other wildlife. Elke will focus on a Seattle case study, which investigates amphibians as bioindicators of wetland health through the extent of use by amphibian species in stormwater ponds.
- Robyn Worcester (Stanley Park Ecology Society); Alan Duncan (City of Vancouver) – Beaver Lake in Stanley Park is a high profile wetland in Metro Vancouver, rife with invasive species, diverse public expectations and water quality concerns. Consultants will present current restoration proposals to open up the discussion on the issues and controversy facing urban wetlands. Participants will have the opportunity for a guided tour of Beaver Lake.
- Deborah Carlson (West Coast Environmental Law) – The Green Bylaws Toolkit is a resource that provides local governments (municipal and regional) and the public with practical tools for protecting green infrastructure. It includes exemplary bylaws that local governments in BC are using to protect sensitive ecosystems and explains the various legal approaches to protection, their benefits and drawbacks. Deborah will also share current policy and legal tools to address climate change, green infrastructure and stormwater management work.
