The Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit
Why a Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit
Groundwater is an important and valuable resource in British Columbia. B.C. residents rely on groundwater for private domestic water use, municipal water, irrigation, agriculture and food production, recreation, industry, and ecosystem health. As surface waters become fully allocated and/or require costly treatment, groundwater has increasingly become the water source of choice.
Local governments play an important role in testing groundwater quality and quantity, protecting aquifers, and maximizing the recharge of water into watersheds.
The Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit, an appendix to the Green Bylaws Toolkit, was developed by the Okanagan Basin Water Board and partners to help local governments fulfill this role.
Toolkit Objectives & Scope
The Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit outlines actions that local governments can take to protect groundwater centred on five common objectives:
- Minimize impacts on water sources
- Sustain aquifers at healthy levels
- Maximize infiltration
- Reduce groundwater use
- Protect groundwater quality
The Toolkit presents the basic principles of groundwater science, outlines the jurisdiction for managing groundwater, and provides practical land use management tools that can be used by local government to support the protection of groundwater resources.
It clearly explains each tool, and provides sample policy and bylaw language that can be tailored to each unique area. It also provides case studies that highlight the best practices in groundwater protection already in use by local governments in B.C.
Toolkit Development
The Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit received financial support from the Gas Tax Innovation Fund and the B.C. Government Infrastructure Planning Grant program. A technical advisory committee of twenty groundwater and policy experts from senior and local government, non-profit organizations, and consulting firms provided direction and reviewed drafts of the Toolkit.
The Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit is available online at: www.obwb.ca/okanagan_groundwater/.
Acknowledgment:
Reproduced from the Your Stories section of the Living Water Smart website.
Posted January 2010