Buried Treasure: Groundwater Permitting and Pricing in
Canada
Linda Nowlan
for the
Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation
Water–Rich, Knowledge-Poor?
Despite Canada being a comparatively water-rich country, groundwater “hot spots” are starting to emerge, knowledge is limited
Groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin- Signs of Stress
• US Geological Survey (USGS) 2004 study
• For the first time groundwater pumping
reversed the direction of flow away from Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes that
represents the largest concentration of
unfrozen fresh surface water in the western hemisphere.
• Groundwater pumping is affecting an entire water basin, one of the largest in the world and one that lies at the centre of Canada’s two most populous provinces, Ontario and
Great Lakes
• International Joint Commission 2000
report says Canada lags behind US in gw data collection and monitoring.
• Groundwater key part of Annex 2001 to
Buried Treasure Contents
5 chapters
1. Groundwater science 2. Groundwater allocation
law
3. A comparison of
provincial and territorial groundwater permitting requirements
4. A comparison of public
participation opportunities in groundwater permitting, and 5. A comparison of groundwater
pricing requirements
3 case studies:
1. How Well Do We
Understand Groundwater in Canada? A Science
Case Study,
2. Groundwater Use in Canada, and
3. Groundwater Pricing Policies in Canada
Case Study #1 - How Well Do We Understand Groundwater in Canada? A Science Case Study, by
Alfonso Rivera
• Overview of groundwater quantity in Canada, 2004, based on 12 completed regional aquifers assessments of of Natural Resources Canada
• Summarizes state of scientific knowledge about the country’s aquifers
• No evidence to date of decreasing volumes or declining supplies
• But Canada does not yet have complete knowledge of its groundwater resources
Data on Groundwater Remain Scarce In Canada
• Groundwater resources of Canada may be larger than all surface waters (rivers, lakes) combined
• Nature, extent, sustainability, and vulnerability of these resources virtually unknown on a national scale
• Groundwater estimated to supply:
982% of the country’s rural population 943% of agricultural needs
914% of industry needs
Groundwater Use in Canada
• 8.9 million Canadians, or 30.3% of the population, rely on groundwater for
domestic use.
• Approx. 2/3 of these users live in rural areas.
• Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia are
the biggest users of municipal groundwater.
Groundwater Use in Canada
• Quebec has the greatest number of
municipal systems reliant on groundwater (142)
• Ontario has the highest population
dependent on groundwater (1.3 million)
• PEI has greatest level of dependence
(100%)
Reliance on Groundwater
Groundwater Allocation Law
• Developed from English common law.
• Groundwater and surface water management separated due to judges’ lack of understanding of the hydrologic cycle.
• Provincial licensing provisions used for surface water extended to groundwater in Ontario only in 1961, and to prairie provinces in the 1970s.
• Regulators now recognize that all waters should be treated as interconnected system, difficult due to multiple
ministries and numerous laws.
Groundwater Permitting – Multiple Jurisdictions
• Provinces have the primary role
• Federal government
also has legislative and proprietary powers, eg important where
aquifers cross provincial or international
• Local governments require a permit from the province for water takings to supply their own systems. Local land use decisions affect groundwater
• Evolving Aboriginal water rights will affect
groundwater management
Criteria for Issuing Groundwater Permits Varies Across Canada
• Most striking variables :
o Existence of permitting system (BC still lacks any general licensing requirement for groundwater).
o Source protection plans: no jurisdiction has adopted source protection plans as recommended by Justice O’Connor in the Walkerton Inquiry.
o Environmental impacts of groundwater withdrawals addressed to varying degrees : cumulative impacts and protection of the natural ecosystem during licensing decisions, conservation requirements, and instream or environmental flow protection.
Other Permitting Variables
• Duration of extraction permits ranges from 1 to 25 years or even in perpetuity
• Domestic use usually exempt but definition
of domestic use varies, e.g.,:
9Saskatchewan allows watering 300 head of livestock
Quantity Exemptions for Water Licensing
YK , NUN, NWT Less than 100 m3 NL No quantitative
threshold for any
PEI Less than 4 litres per second
NS Less than 23,000 litres/day
NB Less than 50 cubic metres/day.
QC Less than 75 cubic metres/day.
ON Less than 50,000 litres/day
MB Less than 25,000 litres/day
SK Less than 5,000 cubic metres/year AB Domestic uses-
1,250 cubic metres/year BC No GW permits
ON/BC Comparison Reliance and Use
Date licensing applied to g/w BC no
BC no reqtreqt for g/w license, ON 1961for g/w license Population reliant on groundwater (Number) [1996 data]
BC 1 105 803
BC 1 105 803 ON 3 166 662 (Percent)
BC 28.5%
BC 28.5% ON 28.5%
Groundwater use as % of total water use
ON/BC Comparison -Numbers
Number of wells
•• BC 100,000+, ON approx. 500,000BC 100,000+,
Total number of g/w permits
•• BC BC -- 0, ON - 2,8000
Threshold for permit
•• BC BC –– EA Act applies if EA Act applies if one or more wells are designed to be one or more wells are designed to be operated to extract groundwater at the rate of 75
operated to extract groundwater at the rate of 75 litreslitres or more or more per second.
per second. ON - Permit required for gw extraction of more than
ON/BC Comparison - Public Notice and Participation
Reporting requirements
•• BC BC -- N/A ( no licensing) N/A ( no licensing)
• ON - now discretionary, soon will be mandatory
Participation opportunities in permit decision making process
•• BC BC -- no, except when EA procedures applyno, except when EA procedures apply
ON/BC Comparison –Environmental Impacts of Groundwater Extraction
• Ontario’s criteria for issuing a water-taking permit are the most detailed.
• Recent amendments address protection of the natural functions of the ecosystem, water
availability, and water use (including the impact on water balance and sustainable aquifer yield).
• A permit application may also be refused if the proposed water taking is in a high-use watershed.
Groundwater Pricing - $$$
• Pricing may encourage conservation, yet Canadian jurisdictions remain reluctant to charge for water use, or to charge enough to even cover the costs of infrastructure.
• Six of the 13 provinces and territories charge for groundwater extraction: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
Public Participation in
Groundwater Decision Making
• Public participation opportunities included in the permit decision-making process in only 6 of the 13 Canadian jurisdictions.
• However, many provinces require
environmental assessment of projects with significant groundwater impacts, which
allow public participation
Access to Information
• USGS first conducted water-use
compilations in 1950, published every 5 years
• In US fresh groundwater withdrawals during 2000 were 14% more than during 1985
• No comparable country-wide data compilations exist for Canada
• No province in Canada has a central user- friendly database with all data on water
Water Bottling
• Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec,
New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador all track allocations for bottled water operations.
• Though water bottling is not a high-volume use, unlike some other uses it is 100%
consumptive – a factor to be considered
when evaluating use and impacts.
Prohibiting Extraction
• 3 provinces have issued moratoria for some or all of their groundwater withdrawals
• Ontario imposed a moratorium on new water bottling operations in the southern part of the province
• Applied not only to water bottling but also other takings that removed water from a watershed
Opposition to Water Bottling in Ontario - Case Study
Residents opposed water bottling plant concerned about impacts of the proposed taking of 500,000 litres of water/day on a wetland and a fish stream Citizens had to:
• Challenge a water-taking permit
• Appeal to an administrative tribunal
• Amend plans and zoning bylaws to prohibit commercial water taking as a land use
Artemisia Case Study , Cont.
• Seek judicial review of the Municipal Board’s finding in favour of the company
Artemesia Waters Ltd denied permission to build its water storage plant on agricultural land near Owen Sound, Ontario
Case shows importance of local land use plans - even where a provincial permit exists, a municipality may still turn down commercial water taking
