Water

The Water Strategy is concerned with providing a dependable supply of high quality water for appropriate uses. It focuses on the entire water system, including sourcing, distribution, use and disposal, and addresses both physical infrastructure and management practices. The scope of this strategy also extends to flood control and watershed management approaches.

Introduction

Water is essential to human survival as well as to the survival of other species. A successful destination resort with approximately two million annual visitors and 10,000 residents, Whistler requires reliable delivery of water and wastewater services to meet basic needs such as domestic household uses, commercial uses, fire and flood control, as well as maintenance of public spaces. While it appears that the region is surrounded by unlimited amounts of fresh water, the vast majority of the planet’s freshwater resources are in stored the form of glaciers and snow, and worldwide consumption of freshwater has doubled in the last 40 years*. The perception of local abundance is a primary contributor to the fact that throughout the community, water resources are often neither being used efficiently, nor for appropriate end-uses. Both improved ecosystem management and increased awareness of the value of freshwater resources must be achieved for Whistler to move towards its sustainability objectives.

* Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005, “Living Beyond our Means: Natural Assets and Human Well-Being – Statement from the Board”

Description of Success

In 2020, Whistler’s water resources provide a dependable supply of healthy water to meet the long-term needs of people, other species, and nature. In the future:

Whistler’s potable water supply system delivers water of excellent quality, which meets or exceeds all relevant health standards, and meets benchmark aesthetic standards whenever possible
Water supply is distributed reliably, equitably and affordably – and is managed proactively within the context of effective and efficient emergency preparedness
Residents and visitors are educated about, and encouraged to protect and conserve natural water resources
All potable water is used sparingly and only used to meet appropriate needs
Wastewater and bio-solids are readily assimilated in nature
Water supply, wastewater management and flood control infrastructure minimize energy requirements, and favour sustainably managed materials and resources
Watershed-based management approaches and policies guide and integrate overlapping land and resource values including (but not limited to) development, infrastructure, forests, habitat, recreation, fisheries and aquifers
Effective stormwater management and flood control measures are in place, and replicate natural hydrological systems and functions as much as possible
Flood control systems are maintained at a high level of emergency preparedness, where risks are managed proactively, effectively, and efficiently
With respect to water resources, capital and long-term costs are managed in a financially prudent and fiscally responsible manner
Potable water supply source protection is optimized within a multi-barrier approach
Healthy streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands support thriving populations of fish, wildlife and aquatic invertebrate