Blue, green and hints of brown: campus water use in a dry season

The balancing act of water stewardship

Hazy skies, brown grass, forest fires across the province—it’s hard to miss the signs of an unusually dry spring and summer on Vancouver Island and across western Canada.

Such dry conditions raise questions: should we conserve water at the expense of UVic’s renowned gardens? Should we water selectively to avoid tinder-dry conditions that could create a fire hazard? And what about the bigger picture of reducing water consumption throughout the year? At UVic, this is the balancing act of water stewardship.

On campus, responsibility for water stewardship lies principally in the coordinated efforts of Campus Planning and Sustainability, and Facilities Management. The overall goal is to reduce water consumption at UVic by 25 per cent by 2019 (compared to 2010) while at the same time ensuring the natural waterways on campus are protected. This is being tackled through creative projects and innovations in water use reduction, recovery, reuse, stormwater management and planning practices.

A number of innovative projects have been implemented to reduce the amount of water used on campus, including:

• The computer-controlled, sensored irrigation system ensures UVic’s gardens get only the water they need, at the optimum times, while staying in compliance with any CRD water restrictions.
• Many outdoor areas on campus have been restored to a natural habitat with native plantings and no irrigation.
• Sensor faucets and low-flow toilets have been installed in many buildings, including recent upgrades to the Business and Economics Building and the David Strong Building.
• The new Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities (CARSA) uses water-efficient systems that save 7.5 million litres of water each year.
• New water-cooling condensing units for walk-in freezers and coolers have been installed in the Student Union Building, saving about 7.2 million litres of water each year.

Those are some of the initiatives that help UVic reduce the amount of water that is piped in from the CRD’s water system, but we also utilize—and protect—the water that comes to us naturally in the form of rain.

The role of campus in protecting water is sometimes overlooked. But UVic sits at the headwaters of four stream systems: Bowker Creek to the west, Finnerty Creek to the north, Sinclair drainage system to the north-east and Hobbs Creek to the east. As such, UVic has a responsibility to the greater Victoria community of ensuring those water systems are protected so that flow volumes are maintained and pollutants from runoff do not enter the creeks.

UVic’s Integrated Stormwater Management Plan, in place since 2004, outlines the many ways in which UVic ensures the protection of those creek systems. From green roofs and catchment basins to more permeable surfaces and natural drainage systems that filter out pollutants, UVic strives to restore and maintain the natural processes that feed these important watersheds.

So as we bask in the warmth of this record-breaking summer, and the challenges that come with it, we can be confident that the many folks who work in sustainability and grounds are ensuring that UVic’s water management and protection efforts are keeping UVic green—in more ways than one.