Environment Commission

• About
• Membership
• How to get involved

Read Our Plan

• Our 12 big ideas
  1. Get real about climate change
  2. Eat locally
  3. Be energy smart
  4. Do business smarter
  5. Clear the air
  6. Don't hog the water
  7. Grow up, not out
  8. Restore & protect valuable resources
  9. Get serious about zero waste
  10. Be carbon neutral
  11. Audit our assets
  12. Lead the way
• Background information
• Interesting and fun tidbits

Tell Us What You Think

• What you told us
• Give us feedback
• Thanks
• CVRD Response

• NEW! State of Environment Report

Our background information sources

Here are some of the hundreds of research papers, studies, projections and maps that we reviewed as we developed our 12 big ideas.

• Land Use
• Our Natural Resources
• Our Footprint
• Maps

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Land Use

• Urban Design Web Resources
• Imagine BC
• Smart Growth on the Ground
• Strategies for Smart Growth in coastal settings
• Planning Departments
  • CVRD
  • Town of Ladysmith
  • North Cowichan
  • City of Duncan
  • Town of Lake Cowichan
• The Natural Step

Water centric planning

• Waterbucket - Water Centric Planning
• Waterbucket - Sustainable approaches to water resources
• Water Balance Model

Developing around watercourses

• Riparian Areas Legislation
• Riparian Areas Legislation implementation guidebook
• Section 9 – for works in or about a watercourse

Agricultural protection - see also Food Security

• Environmental Agricultural Planning Program
• Agricultural Strategy for Cowichan Region
• Farm Folk City Folk

Transportation

• Jack Bell Foundation
• CVRD Transit Services
• Trails - Municipality of North Cowichan
• Trails - Cowichan Valley Regional District

Recreation

• Parks & Recreation

Economic vitality

• Cowichan Economic Development Commission

Biodiversity/habitat

• Developing with Nature in Mind - The Stewardship Series
• Developing with Care - BC Environmental Guidelines for Urban and Rural Land Development
• Ecologically Sensitive Areas
• Invasive Species
  • Report a Weed

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Our Natural Resources

Terrestrial habitat and biodiversity

• Protecting our Aquatic Systems
• Coastal Systems
• Water Quality
• Water Quantity
  • Cowichan Basin Study Materials
• The water beneath us
  • Aquifer Vulnerability
  • Cowichan Lake Storage Levels
  • Shawnigan Lake Storage Levels
  • Snow Pack Information

Fisheries

• Fisheries Production Plan

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Our Footprint

• Green Building- Canada Green Building Council
• Green Building - Build Green TM Canada
• Urban and Ecological Footprints
• Energy - Natural Resources Canada
• Energy -BC Hydro Power Smart
• Food Security
  • Cowichan Green Community Society
• Education/Outreach
• Vibrant Economy
• Environmental Guide and Recycling Directory
• Zero Waste
• Air Quality - Burning fact sheets
• Climate Change - Canadian Institute for Climate Studies - University of Victoria
• Climate Change - Impact and Adaptation Directorate, Natural Resources Canada
• State of Forests
• State of Environment Reporting
• Resources for Indicator and Reporting Practitioners

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Maps

• CVRD Habitat Atlas
• Cowichan Valley Environmental Planning Atlas (Community Mapping Network)
• iMapBC - map your own natural resource map using this service provided by the BC government’s
• Integrated Land Management Map
• BC Ministry of Environment Internet Mapping Sites
• Cowichan Valley Regional District Area Maps