Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Action Plan

Action Plan

The RDN has recently updated its Drinking Water and Watershed Protection (DWWP) Action Plan for 2020-2030 and beyond. DWWP is a regional service that delivers initiatives under the themes of Water Awareness and Stewardship; Water Information and Science; Water-centric Planning and Policy Support; and Water Collaboration, in the 7 Electoral Areas and 4 Municipalities within the region. 

Please visit our Get Involved page to learn more about the update process that took place during 2019.

Origins

The Drinking Water and Watershed Protection (DWWP) service was established following expression of public support by referendum in 2008. The DWWP program launched in 2009 to address the need for better water information to inform local decisions and the need to coordinate across jurisdictions.

The DWWP service is established by RDN bylaw 1556-0. There have been four amendments since that bylaw was passed, to include participation of the member municipalities and changes to parcel tax requisition:

If you are interested in seeing the original Action Plan document for 2009-2019, click here.

Technical Advisory Committee

The Drinking Water & Watershed Protection Technical Advisory Committee advises the Board and staff on the implementation of the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Service.

The actions of the Committee members include:

  • provide recommendations to the Board regarding activities relating to the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection program;
  • participate on smaller ad-hoc committees dealing with specific issues or tasks;
  • provide advice and feedback on consultation activities with service area stakeholders;
  • provide input and feedback on technical reports, discussion papers, and other documents prepared for the committee's information;
  • identify tools and techniques to be employed in the monitoring and evaluation of the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection service and its implementation; and
  • make recommendations to increase the effectiveness of the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection service.

The committee consists of 23 members representing a broad range of interests and geographic locations in the RDN. Members will be selected by the Board either through an application process or by appointment or by the member's organization.

DWWP Members
Name Representation
Ellen Tian Committee Chair and GM of RDN Regional and Community Utilities
Bob Weir Municipal Representative, Town of Qualicum Beach
Barb Silenieks Municipal Representative, City of Parksville/ Arrowsmith Water Service
Fred Spears Municipal Representative, District of Lantzville
Mike Squire Municipal Representative, City of Nanaimo
Antonio Barosso Hydrogeologist Representative
Neil Goeller Hydrologist Representative
Rosie Barlak Registered Professional Biologist (BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy)
Stacey Sowa Vancouver Island Health Authority
Jessica Doyle BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Nikki Schneider  BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
William Shulba Islands Trust
Wilf Luedke Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Mayta Ryn Agricultural Community
Linda Brooymans Environmental Community
Peter Law Public Representative (North)
Sabine Blackburn Public Representative (South)
Pam Jorgenson Forest Industry (Mosaic Forest Management)
Leon Cake Water Purveyors (Coastal Water Suppliers)
Alan Gilchrist Vancouver Island University, Department of Geography
Chief Michael Recalma Indigenous Community Representative
Josh Wilson Indigenous Community Representative

All Committee Meetings are open to the general public. The Committee normally meets at the RDN office located at 6300 Hammond Bay Road in Nanaimo.

Meeting documents can be viewed at Agendas, Minutes, & Videos. To access meeting documents prior to October 2018, please contact waterprotection [at] rdn.bc.ca.

Presentations

 

Board Reports