Protecting Our Groundwater
Protecting the safety and security of groundwater is essential for communities, as many of us drink water from underground aquifers, and for the environment. Groundwater is important to our economy because it is extracted for commercial, industrial and irrigation uses. Groundwater also sustains stream flow during dry periods and is critical to the function of streams, wetlands and other aquatic environments, and salmon habitat.
For too long we’ve taken our groundwater for granted. The use of groundwater in B.C. is currently unregulated and uncontrolled. This cannot continue, particularly in areas where there is pressure on limited water resources or where particular activities have potentially large impacts.
Okanagan Basin Waterscape – Our water cycle
Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2007 and Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada
What is the B.C. government doing?
Through Living Water Smart, the B.C. government has committed to protect the quality and quantity of groundwater. Regulating groundwater extraction may be an appropriate tool in priority areas and in wells that could negatively impact other water bodies like springs streams, or other wells.
Developing the Groundwater Protection Regulation
The Ground Water Protection Regulation is being developed in three phases by the Ministry of Environment, and sets standards and requirements for:
- Qualifications of well drillers and pump installers who drill wells and install well pumps (phase 1).
- Location, construction, identification, maintenance and closure of wells (phases 1, 2).
- Stopping and controlling flow from artesian wells (phase 2).
- Well testing and reporting requirements (phase 2).
- Storage of hazardous or toxic materials near wells (phase 2).
- Address standards for well operation (phase 3).
- Implementation of water management plans in designated areas (phase 3).
- Requirements relating to aquifer protection, ground water quantity and use (phase 3).
The B.C. government is also working with other agencies and the B.C. Ground Water Association to promote compliance of phase 1 of the Ground Water Protection Regulation by drillers, pump installers and the public.
Regulating Groundwater Use
Through Living Water Smart the provincial government has committed to regulate groundwater use in priority areas and large groundwater withdrawals by 2012, and this is being addressed through the Water Act Modernization project.
B.C.’s government will not regulate groundwater use for single, private domestic wells except in priority areas where there is a Water Management Plan in place. Instead the focus will be on larger wells, wells for commercial water bottling operations, open-loop water supply wells for geo-exchange purposes, irrigation wells, wells for fish hatcheries, coal-bed methane extraction wells, or larger wells in priority areas.
Priority areas for regulating groundwater removal, because of intensive extraction and water conflicts and shortages, include the Okanagan Basin, Lower Fraser Valley, east coast of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, Nicola Basin, and the Williams Lake area.
The B.C. government also passed legislation establishing a statutory process for community-based, legally binding water management plans to address groundwater extraction, impacts on groundwater quality from land-use activities and water conservation. Lessons learned through the development of the first Water Management Plan by the Township of Langley will to ensure local groundwater resources will be protected and sustainable into the future.
Additional non-regulatory efforts such as technical studies, are vital to give us a better understanding of the groundwater resource to manage and protect it better.
What can you do?
- Drink tap water unless there is a water quality advisory in effect.
- If you own a well, be responsible for your well.
- Be aware of your responsibilities under the Ground Water Protection Regulation [PDF 221KB] including having your well permanently closed if it is no longer in use.
- Ensure your well has a secure cap if it is not already capped.
- Do not store hazardous or toxic substances such as fertilizers, solvents or fuels near wells.
- Test your water quality regularly and when necessary seek advice from the local Drinking Water Officer.
These informative fact sheets will help you understand groundwater quality and on how to keep your well water supply safe.
- How to find a septic tank [PDF 1.37MB]
- Water well disinfection [PDF 3.27MB]
- Conserve water – for ideas see easy actions to do page or visit www.waterbucket.ca.
Did you know?
- Groundwater in B.C. is generally of a high quality and constant temperature as it has spent time being naturally filtered and insulated by the earth.
- Groundwater is generally less expensive to develop and treat because you don’t have to pipe water into an area.
- Groundwater occurs in sand and gravel as well as fractured bedrock (see image below for an example).
- More than 750,000 British Columbians use groundwater as their main drinking water source and there are more than 900 developed aquifers in B.C.
- B.C. uses more groundwater than any other province except Ontario. Much of it is actually used for sustaining the province’s economy (e.g., commercial, industrial irrigation and aquaculture uses).
Find more information on groundwater here.
Canada-wide information on groundwater regulations and pricing can be found in the report Buried Treasure – Groundwater Pricing and Permitting in Canada [PDF 818KB].
A large well may have different cut-off points depending on the water supply, connections to surface waters and demands. For example in the Gulf Islands a large well would have more than five connections.
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