One Water Guidelines Receive Water Canada Award
The award specifically notes the organization’s innovative approach to water management in its interim professional practice guideline called Guidelines for the Preparation of One Water System Risk Management in BC, published in April.
Work done by water industry associations, research organizations, academia, and leading local governments has provided support for the One Water concept, which promotes an integrated planning and implementation approach to managing finite water resources for long-term resilience and reliability, meeting community and ecosystem needs.
The approach considers the watershed, drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and water reuse systems as a single resource and presents a holistic approach to governance, operations, and financing by responding to the fundamental need for a collaborative risk-informed approach to water management.
Guideline Development
Engineers and Geoscientists BC actively involved various partners, including provincial ministries, municipalities, health authorities, Indigenous organizations, and non-profits, to ensure alignment with diverse water supply systems and provincial water management. Its benefits in tackling water system risks and prioritizing critical infrastructure have been demonstrated in two pilot projects in BC communities.
In the absence of regulatory levers or relevant demand-side legislation, these guidelines have been developed as interim professional practice guidelines to promote the One Water approach and provide guidance to registrants of Engineers and Geoscientists BC in this space, while allowing the water sector to build capacity before finalization.
While these guidelines provide a model for registrants to apply holistic risk management with local governments and Indigenous communities, they are not intended to speak to the water sector at large. To support broader adoption, a complementary planning guide has also been developed to support communities in adopting a One Water approach by providing strategies for consistent application in water system risk management.
Sign Up for One Water Guidelines Webinar
To learn more about applying these guidelines to professional practice and to understand opportunities to integrate the One Water approach when addressing water management issues, sign up for the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Continuing Education webinar: Professional Practice Guidelines: Preparation of One Water System Risk Management Plans in BC, January 21, 2025, from 12-1:30 PM.