On August 4, the City of Vancouver announced the start of Stage 2 water restrictions.
Per the regulations, watering lawns and grass boulevards, flushing water mains, and filling aesthetic water features are no longer permitted on UBC’s campus. In addition, trees and shrubs can only be watered with sprinklers between 4 and 9 a.m. daily.
Previously, water conservation has been identified as a priority for UBC, with the university beginning the consultation for a Water Action Plan in 2017 and then releasing the completed plan in 2019.
Senior planning and sustainability engineer Bud Fraser led the development of the plan.
In a statement shared with The Ubyssey, Fraser said UBC must create more resilient landscapes in the future to adapt to climate change.
"The campus is expected to continue to grow, which will tend to drive increased water usage. However, through the actions in the plan, the target is to keep water consumption from increasing further despite growth.”
According to Fraser, there will need to be a “substantial shift” in UBC’s landscape to accommodate more people while reducing overall water use.
“This need is often in tension with the aesthetic and other benefits of a lush, green landscape that we have traditionally enjoyed,” said Fraser. “This shift will take time to achieve, however UBC continues to review and update policies, procedures and processes to facilitate this transition.”
UBC’s Water Action Plan is a key component of the university’s strategy to address water conservation. The plan aims to achieve a 16 per cent decrease in water use intensity by 2025.
Fraser noted UBC has been making progress as the “total water use for the academic campus decreased by 8% between 2018… [and] 2022” and “water consumption decreased 15% when calculated on a per-full time student basis.”
With its sights set on sustainable water management, the university has various ongoing projects to reach the goals outlined in the plan.
Fraser wrote the university has overseen several projects since 2019 to reduce water usage, which include introducing “high performance new green buildings and building renewals … [that] conform to LEED standards, which require much higher water efficiency relative to existing buildings.” UBC has also been auditing “high water-consuming buildings to identify potential conservation strategies.”
According to Fraser, laboratories on campus are responsible for the most water usage. The new Green Lab project aims to reduce water consumption in labs by substituting water-intensive equipment with new technology that uses less or no water.
In light of the changing climate, building resilience is a focal point of UBC’s plans for water sustainability. Fraser noted the possibility of “alternative water systems including water storage” as “longer term strategies” in building up UBC’s water resilience. He added that “UBC has also just completed scoping a new Integrated Rainwater Management Plan, which identifies areas where climate change resiliency can be increased.”
Although water consumption on campus has decreased by more than 50 per cent over the past twenty years, Fraser wrote the university will continue to push forward with its sustainability agenda.
“The [Water Action] Plan is … needed to ensure we continue to use our valuable water resources wisely and responsibly,” wrote Fraser. “We have made significant progress on water conservation but there is still much more work to do!”
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