The Challenge
Without an adequate supply of clean, safe water, human health, the BC economy, and the environment are threatened. The failure to fundamentally reform BC water laws will put these important interests at risk.
Many of BC’s water bodies experience water shortages during certain seasons/years. Addressing the unprecedented challenges brought about by changing climate necessitates a fundamental re-thinking of how we store and deliver water, generate power, protect ecosystems and ecosystem resilience, ensure food security, and provide people with access to adequate, clean water.
In BC, many land use practices such as forestry, mining, agriculture, oil and gas extraction and increasing urbanization can affect water quality and quantity, both inside the province and outside our borders. The scale and intensity of many practices and industries continues to grow, as does the demand for water. For example, the recent development of river-based independent power projects (which require water licenses issued under the BC Water Act) currently proceeds in an inadequate regulatory environment to protect watershed health and function.
BC’s water governance regime evolved at a time when there was little recognition of the need to legally allocate water for environmental needs, guarantee an equitable distribution of water, provide credible public oversight and accountability, or to resolve issues of water scarcity and conflict.
BC is one of only a few jurisdictions in North America that fails to issue groundwater extraction licenses.
BC provides limited independent oversight, accountability and opportunity for public input on water licencing decisions, even though it is well recognized that public input increases the quality of environmental decision-making, and water is a resource that supports public and environmental values, in addition to private needs.
Jurisdictions worldwide are reforming governance and developing allocation systems that recognize rivers, lakes, wetlands and groundwater as priority water users based on the principle of seasonal sharing of an available consumptive pool among all identified water users, and based on the value of ecosystem services.
Water in all its forms is owned as a public resource. Private rights to use water are limited, temporary, and must therefore be subject to conditions that protect the public interest.
