Building Basin residents' understanding and awareness about water issues is an important part of CBT's water mandate. CBT has a mandate to work in the area of water as identified in the Binding Agreement with the Province of BC Columbia Basin Management Plan and direction from Columbia Basin communities and residents. CBT was created in recognition of the impacts associated with the management of water in this region.
Working on Water Issues - Five Focus Areas
Basin residents identified a broad range of concerns regarding the importance of water. CBT is working in partnership with a variety of community groups, local governments, First Nations, and provincial and federal organizations to increase Basin residents' understanding of water issues in the Columbia Basin, and to work cooperatively towards a common agreement for the future management of our shared water resources.
CBT has identified three goals that provide direction to the Water Initiatives Program:
Goal 1: Improving the overall understanding and awareness of water related issues
Goal 2: Helping build effective partnerships
Goal 3: Facilitating participation in major decisions related to water in the Columbia Basin
To achieve these goals the Water Initiatives Program works on five focus areas. Within the five focus
areas CBT is working on several projects and initiatives. Explore each of the five areas to learn more.
Vision
An active and diverse network of organizations working together to improve and protect water values in the Basin. Water quality and quantity in the Columbia Basin is managed to meet a range of social, cultural, economic and environmental values and has the support of the public. CBT is a leader in representing Basin residents' interests and values in water initiatives in the Basin.
1. Be inclusive in structure and action:
Use consultative approaches, pursue cooperative ventures and collaboration, and encourage communities in the Basin to work together in partnerships with other agencies and organizations.
2. Advocate and support the use of the best information possible:
Value technical information and ensure it is used in conjunction with local community knowledge. This is anticipated to be a combination of technical and experiential information.
3. Be prepared to take a leadership role in Basin water initiatives in the Columbia Basin Trust region:
CBT is prepared to facilitate, coordinate, convene, or be a catalyst in water initiatives in the Basin in seeking resolutions to disputes.
4. Support consensus planning while recognizing this may not always be possible:
Where it is possible, try to reach consensus among interested parties; however, recognize that situations may occur where positive action may need to be taken in the absence of consensus.
5. Support adaptive management:
Take action and move ahead while monitoring the effects using a process that allows for change if the actions do not produce the intended results.
6. Support multiple goals and values:
Take into account the social, cultural, economic and environmental values of residents in the Columbia Basin.
7. Support an ecosystem approach to water initiatives:
Recognize that water is a fundamental requirement for all life and that it supports the proper functioning of ecosystems. Recognize the interrelationships of the Columbia River and its tributaries, as well as aquatic ecosystems and associated terrestrial ecosystems.
8. Promote intergenerational principles:
Support processes and outcomes that ensure future generations have similar opportunities and benefits from the water in the Columbia Basin.
9. Focus on the Basin as a whole with an emphasis on the Columbia Basin Trust region:
Use an approach to water issues that looks at the Columbia Basin as a whole, while focusing on CBT's region and its residents. By doing so, involvement in international, national, provincial, regional and sub-regional forums will be required.
Goal 1
Work with Basin residents to build an understanding of and capacity to deal with water related issues in the Basin.
Goal 2
Support the development of a network of organizations working on water initiatives in the Basin.
Goal 3
Strengthen the participation and influence of Basin residents in water related processes in the Basin.
Water Advisory Panel
CBT’s work in the area of water is varied and complex and in order to undertake the activities identified in the strategy, CBT understands that it needs to draw upon the skills and knowledge of a variety of people and organizations in a collaborative and mutually beneficial manner.
CBT’s Water Initiatives Advisory Panel is made up of ten highly respected and internationally renowned individuals who provide advice, complete on-the-ground work in the Basin and help guide CBT’s actions.
- Nigel Bankes
Professor Bankes has taught at the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary since 1984. Prior to that he was a research associate at the Canadian Institute of Resources Law.
He maintains an active research agenda in four main areas: Oil and Gas Law, International Resources Law, Public Resources Law and Aboriginal Law.
- Chad Day
Educated in geology and geography at the University of Western Ontario, Chad received the doctoral degree in integral water and land management at the University of Chicago. He has been a faculty member at the universities of Western Ontario and Waterloo, and currently in an emeritus professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management, a graduate program at Simon Fraser University, and an environmental consultant.
- Tim Newton
Tim has engineering and economics degrees earned at Cape Town and then at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship. During his thirty-three years at BC Hydro, Tim contributed a wide range of operating and planning expertise, which included 30 years of experience working on the Columbia River Treaty.
- Richard Kyle Paisley
Richard Paisley is the Director of the GEF Global Transboundary International Waters Initiative and a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Asian Research, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His current research, teaching, legal practice and publishing interests are predominantly in the areas of international water and energy law and policy, international environmental law, negotiations and environmental conflict resolution.
- Hans Schreier
Hans Schreier is a Professor at the Institute for Resources and Environment at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on watershed management, land-water interactions, and soil and water pollution, as well as on interdisciplinary evaluations of mountain processes.
- Adéle M. Hurley
Adèle Hurley is the Director of the Program on Water Issues at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. In 1995, she served as Canadian Co-Chair of the International Joint Commission which oversees Canada/US Boundary water issues according to the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. She has won numerous awards for her work including the Conservation Council of Ontario's Lieutenant Governor's Conservation Award.
- Jim Mattison
James Stewart Mattison is a professional engineer with a Masters degree in Natural Resources Management and 30 years experience in resource management primarily related to water resources. For 10 years Jim was Comptroller of Water Rights, the senior official responsible for administering the water legislation for British Columbia. During this time, he managed the review of all of BC Hydro's water licences as part of their Water Use Planning program, including personally signing all the water licences and orders for the Columbia system. Jim also served for 10 years as alternate member of the Permanent Engineering Board, the management group overseeing the Columbia River Treaty.
- Ken Hall
Ken Hall is an environmental chemist with 30 years experience in conducting research on water quality, environmental contaminants, wastewater treatment, and environmental impact investigations. He served as assistant director of the Westwater Research Centre from 1972-1990 at UBC. He is a member of the Environmental Monitoring Committee which advises Metro Vancouver on their water quality monitoring activities as well as a member of the Integrated Stormwater Management Committee at UBC.
- Kenneth G. Peterson
Ken Peterson is a resource economist by training and started in the Electric Utility business with BC Hydro in forecasting, planning and rates. He has also consulted internationally in these and related fields. The last 10 years of his professional career were spent as CEO of Powerex, the marketing and trading subsidiary of BC Hydro. Since retirement he continues to be vitally interested in the development of the electric industry and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the North American Reliability.
- Marvin S. Wodinsky
Marvin was former Acting Consul General, Canadian Consul General, Seattle, and manager of the Consulate General’s Political, Economic Relations and Public Affairs Program. This program monitors and interprets local and regional US political and economic events and trends of interest to Canada. It ensures that Canadian interests are represented on such diverse issues as energy, forestry and softwood lumber, borders, environment and fisheries. Foreign assignments include Kiev, Moscow, New Zealand, Fiji, Western Samoa and Tonga and Korea.
- Josh Smienk
Josh Smienk is a founding Director of the Columbia Basin Trust and served as Chair of the Board of Directors from 1995-2007.Josh was instrumental in the creation and management of many successful CBT partnerships and was also a driving force in several public sector and community organizations throughout the Columbia Basin. He was a member of the Joint Venture Management Committee of CPC/CBT for over 10 years.
