Water Stewardship

Water Protection Act Information

Preserving and Protecting the Water Resources in British Columbia

The Water Protection Act protects British Columbia's water resources by:

1. Re-confirms the ownership of surface water and groundwater in the Province

   The Province owns the water in British Columbia and has the proprietary right to ensure its protection and sustainable use. The Water Protection Act reconfirms that surface water and groundwater are, and always have been, vested in the Crown, except in so far as private rights have been established.

2. Maintains existing bulk water removal rights, within clearly defined limits

   A comprehensive registration system (180kb) is established under the legislation to define and limit the quantity of bulk water being removed from British Columbia.

   • Surface water licensees and groundwater users, who have removed water in bulk prior to June 1, 1995, will be permitted to continue, provided they have registered with the Province.
   • Registered surface water licensees will be permitted to remove water to the extent of their existing licences.
   • In the case of groundwater, registered users will be permitted to remove water up to the maximum volume they have removed in any 12 consecutive months over the 3 years preceding June 1, 1995.

   Applications for registration (169kb) closed September 1, 1996 and are under review by the Comptroller of Water Rights.

3. Prohibits bulk removal of British Columbia's water to locations outside the Province

The legislation protects the Province's water supplies by prohibiting persons from removing water from the Province unless they:

• are registered with the Comptroller of Water Rights; or
• are removing water in containers of 20 litres or less; or
• obtained the water outside the Province; or
• carry the water in vehicles, vessels or aircraft for the use of persons and animals while in transit across British Columbia's borders.

4. Prohibits large-scale diversion between major watersheds of the Province

   The Water Protection Act defines the nine major watersheds of British Columbia and prohibits the construction and operation of large-scale projects capable of diverting or transferring water from one major watershed to another.

   • A large-scale project is a project that diverts or extracts 10 cubic metres per second of water or more, excluding projects that were already built or were under construction when the Act was proclaimed.
   • 10 cubic metres per second of water is approximately 190,000,000 gallons of water a day. This amount is approximately equivalent to the amount of water that Greater Vancouver uses in one day.
   • Projects such as the proposal to divert large volumes of water from the North Thompson River into the Columbia River are now prohibited.

   The prohibition does not apply to small scale projects or to the transfer of water by large scale projects within major watersheds. It is the intention that both of these categories be covered by the Environmental Assessment Act.