Community Watersheds and Water Quality Objectives

Section 8 of the Government Actions Regulation enables the minister responsible for the Land Act to designate as a community watershed, all or part of the drainage area that is upslope of the lowest point from which water is diverted for human consumption by a licensed waterworks. This can occur if the minister is satisfied that to protect the water that is diverted for human consumption the area requires special management in order to:

a) conserve the quality, quantity and timing of water flow, or
b) to prevent cumulative hydrological effects that would have a material adverse effect on the water.

The authority to establish Community Watersheds has been delegated to the Deputy Minister of Environment.

Section 8 of the Government Actions Regulation also enables the minister responsible for the Wildlife Act to establish water quality objectives for a community watershed.

There are currently 461 approved Community Watersheds. Of the approved Community Watersheds 429 were grandparented under the Forest Practices Code of BC Act. These watersheds met the following criteria on or before June 15, 1995 :

• water use for human consumption is licensed under the Water Act for a waterworks or domestic water user s’ community purpose
• the water intake is on a stream
• the drainage area of the entire watershed upstream of the water intake does not exceed 500 square kilometers