Water Utilities
Under the Water Utility Act and the Utilities Commission Act the Comptroller of Water Rights, assisted by staff in the Utility Regulation Section, are responsible for the regulation of 178 privately owned water utilities serving approximately 20,000 households in the Province of British Columbia.
What is a Private Water Utility?
A private water utility under the Water Utility Act is a person/business who owns or operates equipment or facilities for the delivery of domestic water service to five (5) or more persons or to a corporation for compensation. Private water utilities are usually created by developers to serve rural land development where community water service is required for subdivision approval and where there is no other water purveyor in the area that can provide service. A private water utility is not a local authority such as a municipality, regional district, or improvement district and therefore is not eligible for government funding such as infrastructure grants.
Why are Private Water Utilities regulated?
Private water utilities are regulated to protect the public interest. They are responsible to ensure that adequate and safe water service is provided at a fair and reasonable price. Water rates are approved on the basis of collecting sufficient revenues to pay for operating costs, including a provision for management fees and a contribution for future replacement of infrastructure.
What are the Water Stewardship's Utility Regulation Section Responsibilities?
The responsibilities of the Utility Regulation Section falls into two major categories: To assure that water systems installed by land developers are properly designed and constructed prior to the sale of lots.: To assure that the customers of the utility receive acceptable water service at reasonable rates.
The Utility Regulation Section staff will assess each application for new systems, as well extensions to existing water systems by evaluating the design and financial viability. The developer will be required to construct the water system to approve design standards and establish certain contingency funds as part of the approval process. Upon satisfying these requirements a recommendation is made to the Comptroller of Water Rights to issue a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN).
These requirements are in addition to: Approvals required by regional health authorities under the Drinking Water Protection Act and Drinking Water Protection Regulation or licensing of surface water sources under the Water Act and/or any other legislation.
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