Events | WATER SUMMIT - March 2006 |
 With rapid population growth on the Sunshine Coast, issues related to water consumption, drinking water quality, human effects on aquifers, and protection of aquatic species and habitat are becoming increasingly important. At the same time, provincial legislation governing source protection and drinking water quality continues to evolve with potentially serious financial implications for water governance, particularly for small Water Improvement Districts. Locally, the water issue is widely recognized as one of the most pressing environmental concerns. To provide impetus on this critical issue, the Lagoon Society organized and facilitated the first Sunshine Coast Water Summit. The Summit brought together scientists and water management professionals to exchange knowledge with local stakeholders and to foster the development of a shared understanding on water issues. The overall purpose of the Summit was to identify specific aims, objectives and actions required to develop a draft Water Management Framework for the entire Lower Sunshine Coast.
This summer a public Water Fair event will be held to disseminate the results of the stakeholder sessions. The Fair will be widely publicized and is expected to attract in excess of 400 people. This event will feature workshops aimed toward encouraging individual water conservation measures, as well as a panel discussion on water issues. A major draw to this event will be an address centering on climate change from a keynote Canadian speaker. The Draft Water Management Framework will be publicly released at this time and community members will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. Keynote speakers at this event were Stewart Cohen, Ph.d. Adjunct Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia Other Speakers Included: • Steve Lee, General Manager Infrastructure Services, Sunshine Coast Regional District Speaker Presentations Click on the presentation titles to view each presentation. Since the presentations are available in PDF, you will need a PDF reader. You may download and install a free version of Adobe Reader version 5.0 or higher to view the PDF files, if you do not have it on your computer. Stewart Cohen - Moving Beyond the Damage Report: An integrative approach to climate change adaptation in water resources management in the Okanagan (1.2M) Brian Carson - Watershed Management and Water Quality on the Sunshine Coast (1.7M) Steve Lee - The Development of the Chapman Creek Water Facility (0.9M) Bob Weston - Sunshine Coast Drinking Water: The Health Issues (0.5M) Paul Whitfield - The Climate System and Water in Georgia Basin (1.6M)
The Water Summit resulted in many positive tangible benefits, including:
Sponsors This Water Summit project was a partnership between the Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society and the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation (SCCF). The purpose of the Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society is to preserve and enhance the natural habitat and wildlife of the Ruby Lake Lagoon and to facilitate local environmental education. The SCCF provides stable, sustainable support to charitable organizations on the Sunshine Coast. This partnership developed as a result of a grant to the SCCF by the McConnell Foundation / Community Foundations of Canada. The Sunshine Coast Regional District generously provided matching funding for this project. Watershed Watch Salmon Society also kindly offered financial support for the Summit. The Lagoon Society is very grateful to the generous contributions of the many private individuals, businesses, foundations, community groups, corporations, and government agencies that make up our many sponsors. We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Province of British Columbia.  RR#1 Site 20 C16 Madeira Park, BC, V0N 2H0 Phone/Fax: 604-883-9893 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Iris Griffith Interpretive Centre 15386 Sunshine Coast Highway 101 North (1KM south of Ruby Lake) Phone: 604-883-9201 Open Thursday-Sunday 10AM to 4PM
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Download Water Summit Report Executive Summary
The 2-day Water Summit took place on March 22 to 23, 2006 to coincide with World Water Day (March 22). Scientists, industry professionals and representatives from local government addressed scientific and policy issues, and presented case studies in water management. Over 80 stakeholders from the local community participated in discussions, analysis and forward planning to establish how lessons learnt from case studies in other regions could be applied to the Sunshine Coast. Participants included representatives of the Sechelt Nation, local, regional, provincial and federal government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other interested parties. 
Drinking water issues were addressed from a variety of perspectives. Best practice case studies from other regions of Canada were presented by specialists who had participated in these initiatives elsewhere to show how the collection of quality scientific information links with the decision-making and policy-forming processes. Experts from the Sunshine Coast outlined the state of knowledge of the water sources currently known to be available and provided background information on the current governance and policy environment on the Sunshine Coast. Breakout sessions allowed each participant to explore two out of four crucial areas in drinking water management and, with the help of specialist facilitators, to consider these specifically in relation to the Sunshine Coast. Breakout topics included: Hydrology and Scientific Data Collection; Governance, Health and Safety; Development and Demographics; and Natural Resource Management. Breakout sessions were discussion-oriented and the main discussion points and conclusions from each breakout session were reported back to the whole group at the concluding plenary session of the day. 
Day Two focused on the collaborative development of a draft Water Management Framework for the Sunshine Coast and opened with a presentation centered on groundwater in the Gulf Islands. Breakout sessions allowed for an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, with participants identifying gaps in existing data and policy, and then submitting key questions to specialists. With input from both local and provincial experts, the afternoon sessions supported identification of, and agreement upon, the next steps to be taken. The ultimate goal was to agree upon a draft Sunshine Coast Water Management Framework to guide scientific studies and actions to be carried out during next phase of the project. 
Dr. Allen is a hydrogeologist with research interests in groundwater resource evaluation and hydrogeological modeling. She also has related interests in climate change impacts on groundwater resources, groundwater recharge, aquifer architecture modeling, saltwater intrusion modeling, fracture/fault controlled groundwater movement, and low temperature geothermal systems and thermal modeling. Dr. Allen's research is multi-disciplinary in that she uses a range of techniques, spanning geological and hydrogeological field methods, the use of environmental isotopes and geochemistry, geophysics, and numerical modeling. The application of GIS methods and computational hydrogeology to analyzing field data is emphasized. In addition to her reseach on groundwater in the Gulf Islands and the Abbotsford Aquifer, she is currently a project leader for a large Canadian Water Network funded interdisciplinary research team aimed at studying recharge in the Okanagan.
Dr. Cohen's research interests are on climate change impacts and regional adaptive response. He has organized case studies throughout Canada, including the Great Lakes, Saskatchewan River, and the 1990-1997 Mackenzie Basin Impact Study, published by Environment Canada (1997). He is presently leading a case study on climate change and water management in the Okanagan Region, and is a senior researcher with the Adaptation and Impacts Research Division of Environment Canada. He was a coordinating lead author of the chapter on North America in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report volume Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (2001), and is a Lead Author in the ongoing 4th Assessment. He is an adviser for the British Columbia region of the Canadian-Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network (C-CIARN B.C.), and the Northern Climate Exchange at Yukon College. He has also served as an adviser and lecturer for various research and training programs in China, Norway, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the United Nations Environment Programme, and the European North impacts research course (IRISEN) in Sweden.
