Water Management/Governance
Governance: the process through which decision-makers are chosen, stakeholders (including citizens and interest groups) articulate their interests, decisions are made and decision-makers are held accountable.
Governance is distinct from management.
'Water Governance' is highly complex and convoluted. The term refers to the political, social, economic and administrative systems in place that influence water's use and management. Essentially, who gets what water, when and how, and who has the right to water and related services, and their benefits. Water governance is one of the most critical areas through which to improve the sustainable development of water resources and services.
How societies choose to govern their water resources and services have profound impacts on people’s livelihood, health, wellbeing, the environment and ecosystems. The regional management of water also has a significant effect on the regional climate.
Here we have basically five levels of water governance with Federal, Provincial, Regional, Municipal and the Health Authority. Each level of governance brings something new to the table. Is it time to start singing from the same song-sheet?
Watershed Governance. Who is Responsible?
Click the drip to learn more.
Moving Towards "Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management"
This November 2015 publication is full of useful information related to sustainable watershed management practices: https://waterbucket.ca/viw/files/2015/11/Beyond-Guidebook-2015_final_Nov.pdf
Water resource management is essential, especially in areas impacted by development, resource extraction, agriculture and other land uses. When more than ten percent of a natural ecosystem is modified by unnatural land uses, many aspects of hydrology are impacted.
Compounding effects within the hydrologic cycle can cause changes to local and regional climate patterns
The Polis Institute based in Victoria is very active with water governance issues.
http://www.poliswaterproject.org/
Federal Government
When it comes to water governance in Canada, the federal government has jurisdiction related to fisheries, navigation, federal lands, and international relations, including responsibilities related to the management of boundary waters shared with the United States, including relations with the International Joint Commission. It also has significant responsibilities for agriculture, health and the environment, and plays a significant role supporting aquatic research and technology, and ensuring national policies and standards are in place on environmental and health-related issues.
If you have some time to untangle an intriguing web of water governance, click the link to help dissolve some of the water based glue.
//www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=E05A7F81-1
BC Government (Extracted from the Living Water Smart Website)
One of the clearest messages we heard during our first round of engagement was that one approach to water governance will not work for all regions of BC. Our province is too large, too geographically and hydrologically diverse, and the needs of each community and region too varied to apply a ‘one size fits all.
The BC Government has been working to update the Drinking Water Protection Act for many years. There have been some changes made to the Act/s relating to drinking water, ground-water, surface water and sustainability. Click the drips to link to some of the aspects of provincial laws and regualtions
DRINKING WATER PROTECTION ACT http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/01009_01
British Columbia’s new Water Sustainability Act received Royal Assent on May 29, 2014,
http://engage.gov.bc.ca/watersustainabilityact/
The New Groundwater Protection Regulation Under B.C.’s Water Sustainability Act
https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/71/2016/02/GroundwaterProtectionRegulation-Web-Copy.pdf
BC Government
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wsd/
This website has a lot of information about protecting safe and reliable community water supplies, ensuring dike and dam safety, and reducing impacts of floods and droughts.
Encouraging sustainable use of water resources to ensure human and ecosystem needs are met.
Raising awareness of the value of water, and encouraging water smart activities and actions across jurisdictions and agencies.
Water Management BC Government Water licences
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-licensing-rights/water-licences-approvals
Water allocation plans and licences are developed by the Ministry of the Environment with a lot of information about our local rivers and creeks