Peeling back the Pavement - POLIS Water Sustainability Project

Photo: R. J. Frith
Integrate Land and Water Decisions within Local Government
In addition to making decisions on a watershed scale (and, where appropriate,
across municipalities) with the support of a coordinating body, the Rainwater
City integrates land-use decisions so the ecosystem impacts of new projects
are assessed at every stage of the planning process. To start, water services are
integrated to align more closely with stages in the natural water cycle. In this way,
drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater are managed as a single system from
“source to source.” Both the Halifax Regional Municipality and City of Toronto
have merged their respective water services departments along these lines and
the Capital Regional District in British Columbia also appears to be considering
this approach. This streamlining enables utilities to deliver water and wastewater
services cost effectively and with a commitment to long-term water sustainability. 45
The Rainwater City ensures rainwater planning is coordinated with the activities of
other departments in the region’s local government. This can be achieved through
something as simple as water departments putting together specific rainwater
guidelines for planning, parks, and transportation departments, or by requiring all
departments involved in land management to work with the water department
to develop green development standards for the entire region. Comprehensive
integration of land-use and ecosystem objectives may require fundamentally
restructuring local government departments to align with the steps in the
planning and redevelopment process. For example, the City of Brisbane, Australia
reorganized the structure of its water branch from a division of labour along
technical specialties (for example, stormwater engineers, wastewater engineers,
etc.) to one based on a process that integrates the technical groupings across each
phase of the planning cycle: strategy, planning, and implementation. 46 Importantly,
integration must be formalized in order to be timely, effective, and lasting.
While voluntary “advisory groups” or ad hoc “inter-departmental committees”
can be helpful, they generally have limited capacity. Regardless of the extent of
organizational restructuring, integration results in a greater understanding of
the full suite of programs being delivered and thus enhances the opportunity to
combine complementary projects and resolve conflicts between priorities, projects,
and programs for more efficient delivery of community services.
49