Team WaterSmart
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Welcome to the Team WaterSmart Get Involved RDN page!
Check out all of the great upcoming initiatives being offered throughout the Regional District of Nanaimo. We will keep our community calendar up-to-date with where to find Team WaterSmart - whether it's fun community events, educational workshops, or adventurous outdoor activities.
Water conservation and environmental protection are values shared by all of us so come get involved and help to appreciate our water...because every drop counts!
Summer 2024:
Thank you for a great spring!
- Team WaterSmart in your community - Check out our events calendar to see when Team WaterSmart will be in your community with our interactive booth. Our travels start on July 21 at QB Beach Day! Ask us for information and resources on water stewardship rebates, irrigation advice, water saving techniques, water restrictions, and more!
- Free irrigation check-up service - High water bill? Check your mail for a potential free irrigation check-up offer! Since 2010, hundreds of residential irrigation check-ups have been performed by Team WaterSmart staff. The program has effectively caught leaks, lowered excessive watering times & advised on water-saving techniques.
- Summer Outdoor Water Conservation - Ensure you are aware of watering restrictions in your area. Every drop counts! Click here to learn more.
Spring 2024:
- Water Stewardship Rebates- 2024 rebate programs are now open!
For all RDN residents (electoral area and municipal residents)
- Irrigation Upgrades and Soil Improvements - up to $675
- Rainwater Harvesting - up to $1,000
- Wellhead Upgrades - up to $650
- Well Water Testing - up to $300 (coming soon)
- Students! Do you have water-friendly landscape design ideas to share? Check out our ideas board.
- Grade 4 and 5 teachers in SD 68&69- Watershed Field Trips were back this year with great success! Also, check out Freshwater Connections- Water Where We Live school modules for Grades K-7.
- WellSmart Workshop - An in person WellSMART workshop was held on March 20, 2024. Check out the recording from our last WellSmart session. Check out rdn.bc.ca/wellsmart and submit any questions to watersmart@rdn.bc.ca.
- Water to Earth Month 2024 - Thank you all for another successful year! See you all next year.
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Share Freshwater Connections- Student Ideas Board on Facebook Share Freshwater Connections- Student Ideas Board on Twitter Share Freshwater Connections- Student Ideas Board on Linkedin Email Freshwater Connections- Student Ideas Board linkStart by submitting an idea
Do you have ideas on how to make your school, neighbourhood or community more water friendly? We would like to hear about your water friendly landscape design ideas! You can share them with Team WaterSmart as well as see what other classes have come up with and have a chance to comment on other ideas.
What is your water friendly design?
Page last updated: 30 May 2024, 03:19 PM
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Drinking Water & Watershed Protection Educational Video Series
Document Library
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Team WaterSmart Outdoor Brochures
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TWS Outdoor Brochure - Alternatives to Pesticides (3.29 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Outdoor Brochure - Healthy Lawn Care (3.29 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Outdoor Brochure - Top 10 Irrigation Tips (2.33 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Outdoor Brochure - Utilizing Rain Barrels (2.59 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Outdoor Brochure - Water Wise Gardening (1.24 MB) (pdf)
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Team WaterSmart Handouts
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Groundwater Factsheet - Know the Climate Reality.pdf (904 KB) (pdf)
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Groundwater Factsheet - Know your Well.pdf (624 KB) (pdf)
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Community Watershed Monitoring Network fact sheet (705 KB) (pdf)
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TWS FAQ Handout - May 2018 (1.06 MB) (pdf)
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Toilet Leaks - Identification and Repair Guide (840 KB) (pdf)
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TWS How To Check For A Leak - May 2018 (136 KB) (pdf)
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TWS Irrigation Scheduling Guidelines - May 2018 (579 KB) (pdf)
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TWS Landscape Guide to Water Efficiency - May 2018 (5.4 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Pesticide Recipe Cards - Updated May 2018 (978 KB) (pdf)
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TWS Handout Native Plants - May 2018 (590 KB) (pdf)
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TWS Handout Rain Gardens - May 2018 (777 KB) (pdf)
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TWS Handout Xeriscaping - June 2019 (1.49 MB) (pdf)
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Climate Change in our Region - Impacts and Response (317 KB) (pdf)
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Team WaterSmart Indoor Brochures
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Information on Groundwater
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Arsenic in Groundwater (1000 KB) (pdf)
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Bacteria in Groundwater (179 KB) (pdf)
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Best Practices for Dug Wells (1.24 MB) (pdf)
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Flowing Artesian Wells (2.04 MB) (pdf)
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Fluoride in Groundwater (959 KB) (pdf)
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Guide to Conducting Pumping Tests (1.13 MB) (pdf)
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Hardness in Groundwater (170 KB) (pdf)
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Iron and Manganese in Groundwater (167 KB) (pdf)
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Licensing Groundwater (136 KB) (pdf)
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Nitrate in Groundwater (967 KB) (pdf)
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Sodium in Groundwater (940 KB) (pdf)
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Upgrading Wells in Pits (1.03 MB) (pdf)
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TWS What Is Saltwater Intrusion - May 2018 (376 KB) (pdf)
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Water Sustainability Act (104 KB) (pdf)
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Well Disinfection (3.42 MB) (pdf)
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Team WaterSmart Presentations
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TWS Wetland Workshop Presentation (9.63 MB) (pdf)
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TWS WellSMART Workshop Presentation (6.3 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Soil is a Sponge Presentation (3.35 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Detox Your Home Presentation (699 KB) (pdf)
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TWS Rain Garden Presentation (3.24 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Irrigation Inspection Workshop Presentation (3.79 MB) (pdf)
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TWS Rainwater Harvesting Workshop Presentation (29.1 MB) (pdf)
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Water to Earth Month 2021
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W2E Virtual Passport Checklist 2021 (1.59 MB) (pdf)
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Crossword Puzzle - Watershed Words (3.22 MB) (pdf)
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Word Search - RDN Rivers, Creeks and Streams (103 KB) (pdf)
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Scavenger Hunt - Waterway Wonders & Streamside Searchables (1.33 MB) (pdf)
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Water Sustainability Movie Marathon (7.5 MB) (pdf)
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Make Your Own Compost (90.9 KB) (pdf)
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Vocabulary List - Watershed Words (1.1 MB) (pdf)
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City of Nanaimo's Water Supply Strategy (2021) (4.31 MB) (pdf)
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TWS FireSmart and WaterSmart Brochure (1.94 MB) (pdf)
City of Nanaimo's Water Supply Strategy
*Click on document to view
Clean, safe, affordable drinking water is essential to sustain vibrant and healthy communities.
To successfully accomplish this vision requires careful watershed stewardship and planning of surface water sources upon which Nanaimo depends.
The City of Nanaimo Water Supply Strategy sets the 50-year vision for the City’s drinking water. The updated plan will provide guidance the City will follow to:
· Plan for continued population growth
· Help protect the environment
· Manage aging infrastructure
· Build resilience to climate change and emergencies
Have questions? Contact Mike Squire (City of Nanaimo) at Mike.Squire@nanaimo.ca
Videos
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Join local Landscape Architects Jamie Wallace from JAAN Designs and Chris and Kate from Kinship Designs as well as local stewardship groups as they show you some of the best rainwater management practices for your property and give you some examples from their work.
Questions? email watersmart@rdn.bc.ca
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For several years, the Regional District of Nanaimo’s Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Program, with the help of the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) and the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD), have been providing educational workshops aimed at helping private well owners protect the quality and supply of their drinking water.
As groundwater and surface water are interconnected, protecting our aquifers not only ensures the health of families and communities but protects fish and the rest of the environment too.
In the workshops, residents learn about groundwater aquifers, well maintenance and operation, drought management, water testing and treatment and RDN rebates relating to private wells.
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Water is very special. It's home to fish and animals. It nourishes plants and helps trees grow. It quenches our thirst and supports our communities. Have you ever wondered where your drinking water comes from?
Join Team WaterSmart as they take the journey of a water droplet through the Nanaimo River Watershed to the drinking water source of the City of Nanaimo and surrounding communities.
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This video was developed in 2008 as a communication tool with the original Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Action Plan.
The quality and amount of water in the ground and in our rivers is directly affected by what we do on the land. Land development, resource extraction, water consumption, and discharge of pollutants all affect water and are on the rise in the RDN. We have already seen negative changes in many areas. This not only affects the health of our local ecosystems but also the social and economic stability of the Region. Land use planning and development standards cannot be effectively modified without a clear understanding of our water resources, where they are changing, and why.
Who's listening
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Stewardship Coordinator - Drinking Water & Watershed Protection Program
Regional District of Nanaimo
Email CBrugge@rdn.bc.ca -
Outreach Coordinator- Drinking Water & Watershed Protection Program
Regional District of Nanaimo
Email mtomlinson@rdn.bc.ca