Comment needed: new Water Sustainability Act

Water is a necessity of life and the engine of our economy.  In a changing climate, water protection is more important than ever.

The Ministry of Environment is inviting public comment on the policy proposal on British Columbia’s Water Sustainability Act.  This new water act is meant to modernize the century-old Water Act, a necessary policy move to steward water wisely for future generations.

There are some positive initiatives in the proposed Water Sustainability Act, such as regulation of groundwater, improved conservation and efficiency requirements and protection of stream health and aquatic ecosystems.

However, there are some gaps in the policy proposal that must be addressed if we are going to balance competing demands for water, ensure watersheds are healthy, and best serve the public interest through good decision-making and public participation.

Water Allocations: The current water allocation regime, “first-in-time, first-in-right” (FITFIR), is not working. This system gives preferential treatment to the oldest water licence holders, and does not ensure that aquatic environments are protected against depletion in time of water scarcity. FITFIR also does not place drinking water users or environmental needs ahead of other water users such as oil and gas projects, independent power producers (IPPs), agriculture or industrial needs.

The Water Sustainability Act policy proposal does not tackle the FITFIR regime. Instead, the policy proposal includes “economic instruments” such as water licence trading and water markets to encourage a new system of water sharing.  This is problematic and could open the door to the privatization of water. Instead of moving BC towards water markets, the proposed legislation should consider:

• A watershed based decision making process that allows water users within a basin to determine an equitable allocation in times of drought.
• Government regulation of the ways in which licensees can exercise water entitlement ensuring efficient and sustainable use of resources.

In-Stream Flows: The policy proposal recognizes the need to balance the needs of water for people and water for nature. However, the in-stream flow requirements put forward in this proposal are only for new water users, and does not apply to the 44,000 current water licence holders. This is a significant weakness, especially as in-stream flow requirements, as proposed, are only a “guideline” and not legislated with a robust regulatory framework. Strong regulations for stream flows are our best insurance against degradation of our natural world and a new water law must have strong, legislated flows to meet the needs for human needs and the environment. A new Water Sustainability Act should :

• Ensure better transparency of hydrological/water licensing data to allow in-stream flow needs to be understood
• Set Environmental flow standards
• Develop “precautionary flow numbers” for rivers and streams where incomplete data exists, until more site-specific determinations can be made.

Water Governance: How decisions are made about water will define our future as a province. The new policy proposal does attempt to enable a variety of governance approaches, but are vague and lacking in vision. A better system of water governance would recognize that citizen engagement, watershed management groups with multiple sectors represented, and empowered local governments is a better model to decide how we make decisions about water.  

As part of the BC Government’s Water Act modernization initiative, the proposed Water Sustainability Act will update and build on the current Water Act and has the potential to position BC as a leader in water stewardship.

Update: The deadline for consultations has been extended to March 14^th. Go here to make your voice heard!

By Susan Howatt, Sierra Club BC