About

The City of Surrey and our communities believe in good watershed management, and that everybody has a part to play. If each property owner implements some of the simple steps in this Water Balance Tool to help steward the natural and limited resources that our environment provides us with, our watersheds will regain some of their lost balance and our region will be more resilient to weather and other climatic extremes. In other words, when you do your part to manage average rainfall, our region is better able to manage extreme weather and storm water.

The City of Surrey’s Water Balance Tool has been developed with The Partnership for Water Sustainability and other local governments throughout BC. Want to learn more? Check out waterbucket.ca

How did our water get so out of balance?

Over time people in this region have settled around, enjoyed and been supported by the majesty of our areas bountiful rivers and bays, and some of the best drinking water anywhere.

As we have developed communities and created jobs, we have altered the watersheds that have supported us by:

• Removing the ancient absorptive landscapes and altering streams and wetlands systems that act as hydrological buffers (slow water down)
• Replacing them with hard surfaces and diverting natural drainage patterns by building roads and buildings, filling creeks and wetlands and straitening rivers (speed water up).

While nature and our watersheds are incredibly resilient, we are reaching a point where we can no longer continue to upset their balance without impacting what makes them so effective at efficiently managing our water resources and providing us with their FREE green infrastructure services.