Water Stewardship

Community Watershed Defintion

Development of Current Definition and Guidelines

In September 1992 a multi-agency Technical Advisory Committee comprised of British Columbia government representatives was formed to:

1. develop new guidelines for protecting drinking water in community watersheds from the impacts of multiple resource use such as logging, road building, recreation, agriculture, etc.
2. update the original list of community watersheds compiled in 1977.

However, in November 1993 the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act was proposed and in the ensuing process of developing the Act, Standards and Regulations it was decided to incorporate many of the Community Watershed Guidelines relating to forestry activities into the Forest Practices Code.

Community Watershed Definition Under the Forest Practices Code

The definition for a community watershed given in Bill 18-1995 Forest Practices Code of B.C. Amendment Act (June 1995) which amends section 41(8) of Bill 40, is:

the drainage area above the most down stream point of diversion on a stream for a water use that is for human consumption and that is licensed under the Water Act for:

(i) a waterworks purpose, or

(ii) a domestic purpose if the licence is held by or is subject to the control of a water users' community incorporated under the Water Act

if the drainage area is not more than 500 km² and the water licence was issued before June 15, 1995.

Exclusions Under the Forest Practices Code

This definition excluded communities whose source of drinking water is provided by lakes and springs, some of which had been designated as community watersheds in the 1980 Guidelines. Consideration of these is covered by Section 41(10) which allows the MoF regional manager to designate an area as a community watershed if, in the opinion of the regional manager and a designated environment official, it should be designated as a community watershed. Some of the lake sources are being reviewed and will be designated as community watersheds where appropriate. A procedure is being developed for defining the source area for springs so that these can also be considered under Section 41(10).

In addition, there are watersheds where the community water use of a stream may be somewhat less well defined than the waterworks systems defined above, but where the concept of a community using the water is still recognized. These include individual water users and/or joint works water systems (i.e., where two or more water users share a common water system) that are licensed under the Water Act for domestic purpose. The community watershed is defined as the area upstream of the most downstream water intake. These can also be considered under Section 41(10).