| Summary: | This thesis examines municipal water conservation activities in the Greater Vancouver
area. First, I conducted a literature review to provide context for water management
within the region, build a case for water conservation, and provide examples of barriers to
and drivers of water conservation. Because limited studies exist that have sought to elicit
the perceptions of water conservation administrators, I interviewed personnel involved
with planning and implementing water conservation activities at the Greater Vancouver
Regional District and in the region's municipalities. The results provide an indication of
the current circumstances and potential for water conservation in the region.
Interviewees identified perceived reasons for water conservation generally, and in
relation to specific water conservation initiatives. They also identified positive drivers of
change, and a number of obstacles that hinder the advancement of initiatives. In
evaluating the potential for water conservation, I infer that there is room for improvement
if a change to the status quo is desired.
Although interviewees identified a comprehensive array of reasons that necessitate
water conservation, when it comes to reasons for specific initiatives, interviewees were
principally motivated by practical, political, and financial benefits; environmental and
associated social benefits were largely unmentioned, and in some cases, dismissed as
insignificant. Only a few interviewees spoke of more holistic reasons. Based on these
results, there is an apparent discrepancy between what interviewees think (and practise)
and what is declared by literature as the full case for water conservation. Furthermore,
interviewees did not live up to the expectations set by the local literature that
environmental and social considerations have significance to decision-making when it
comes to water conservation. Although interviewees placed much accountability to the
public and politicians, overall, the full case for water conservation has not been
articulated by water conservation administrators themselves; I infer this to be a
shortcoming of the current circumstances. Furthermore, there is a lack of water
conservation advocates who view water management from a more holistic perspective;
the results indicate the prevalence of perspectives more associated with supply and
demand management. In turning the given barriers into drivers, positive opportunities for
change can be found. === Forestry, Faculty of === Graduate
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