Cori L. Barraclough

As a Freshwater Ecologist, Project Manager and Co-Founder at Aqua-Tex Scientific Consulting Ltd., Cori helps local governments in British Columbia to manage and protect their communities’ water resources in a cost-effective, feasible and responsible way.

For more than 20 years, Cori has earned the trust of busy operations managers, superintendents, and provincial regulators by delivering recommendations derived from the intersection of ecology and science, urban management and regulation. Over that time, she has helped municipalities and developers to navigate provincial law, protect water quality, educate, secure grant funding, and prevent waste.

From the development and implementation of practical watercourse maintenance manuals for municipal road crews, to assisting with the design of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Village’s water and ecology elements, Cori enjoys the challenge of meeting her clients’ needs while balancing the constraints of their watersheds, budgets, and political mandates.

Though she’s professionally grounded in the research, behavior, and impact of water ecology, Cori understands that viable scientific recommendations must account for the real-world, political influences her clients confront in their decision-making processes, including issues such as social palatability, timing, and funding.

Regardless of the project’s budget, Cori prefers to work in tandem with nature; over the long term, leveraging ecosystem services is more cost-effective and financially sustainable than technological fixes. Furthermore, faced with a changing climate, Cori maintains that we must begin to build resilience into our urban ecology now.

On a personal level, her advocacy for responsible management of water and landscape is rooted in a childhood spent visiting and exploring her family’s ranch bordered by the beautiful Kootenay River.