Vision 6. ‘We want a water-wise city.’
Our vision is of a city that takes its watercourses to its heart and uses them to enhance the life of the district and create a river system it is proud of. A water-wise city understands that water is embedded everywhere in the fabric of the city and is mindful of the value of good custodianship of this valuable resource.
Why?
All the water in Bradford’s becks comes from the same land that the city occupies, whether it is fields, gardens, houses, roofs or roads. Floods come from the land and city before they flow to the sewers and rivers (and sometimes come back out again to damage the city); likewise pollution and litter come into the rivers from the city and damage the cityscape and environment. A water sensitive city needs less water, has less flooding, causes less pollution, uses less energy and is greener and bluer than its competitors.
How?
- Adopt ‘water-wise city’ as a vision for the future and create a ‘water-wise charter’
- Make water more visible everywhere in the city, recreating streams and building wetlands and ponds
- Plan and implement a network of blue-green corridors
- Share data and information about the becks freely and intelligibly between organisations and communities
- Coordinate strategies between the agencies responsible for many aspects of city life which affect the becks
- Coordinate actions between the different agencies
- Help decision-makers recognise the value of beck-centred investments
- Help citizens and businesses understand the links between the city and its becks, develop respect and become self-policing
- Offer educational opportunities to schools on the links between city life and water
- Recognise and work with the cultural and spiritual values associated with water and waterways
bradford-beck.org 