BRITISH COLUMBIA’S WATER SUSTAINABILITY ACT, UNIQUE AND INNOVATIVE: “Challenges enforcing the 1909 Water Act during times of water shortage informed development of the Water Sustainability Act,” stated Valerie Cameron, a former Deputy Comptroller of Water Rights and regional water manager in the BC provincial government
Note to Reader:
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNewscelebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story.
The edition published on November 12, 2025 featured Valerie Cameron and Mike Wei in a 2-part story. They were members of the compact team that drafted the legislation for British Columbia’s Water Sustainability Act, 2014. In their stories behind the story, they reveal what it was like to be in the room when the future direction of water management in British Columbia was on the table. It was their generational opportunity. They helped to create the foundation for future generations to build upon.
ONE MINUTE TAKEAWAY for the extremely busy reader
The Water Sustainability Act, 2014is a transformational piece of legislation but its full potential is yet to be realized. In their shared story behind the story, Valerie Cameron and Mike Wei reveal what makes the WSA special. They were in the room during drafting of the legislation. They lived and breathed it.
Images are mostly from the Partnership’s library. Some are from the public domain and Creative Commons.
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER
“When the BC Legislature passed the Water Sustainability Act in April 2014, there was no fanfare, not even an announcement or media splash. When Ted van der Gulik and I asked why not, we were informed that the personal priority of one premier is just a box to be ticked by his successor,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.
Water Sustainability Act – a decade in the making; an historic achievement
“Perplexed, we asked those who had developed the WSA legislation what message would they like us to convey to our audience. And so it was that Ted made this announcement in his role as Partnership President.”
“Developing and crafting the WSA was a difficult and challenging job, as there are many views on water,” continued Ted van der Gulik; “Provincial staff consulted far and wide to ensure a diversity of input. The end result is legislation that had broad-based support.”
“There are many water management issues that need to be resolved and the WSA established a process that can address many of them.”
“A decade later, some people have qualms and issues with the WSA. Quite often they are minor things. It is easy to throw darts when you don’t know what you don’t know. That is what I see happening,” Ted van der Gulik commented recently.
Water Sustainability Act – a generational opportunity to create a lasting legacy
“A compact, experienced team developed the WSA: right people, right place, right moment. Lynn Kriwoken was the leader, the Living Water Smart visionary and WSA legislative champion. With her unwavering vision and courage, she pushed the process over the finish line,” explained Kim Stephens.
“Lynn Kriwoken exerted extraordinary influence and leadership with successive governments. She brought water management in British Columbia from a jurisdictional backwater to the most progressive in Canada,” added Mike Wei.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: BC’s Water Sustainability Act, unique and innovative – a conversation with Valerie Cameron and Mike Wei
Valerie Cameron and Mike Wei were Deputy Comptrollers of Water Rights for surface and groundwater, respectively.
“I became Deputy Controller in 2004 when the Groundwater Regulation came into effect,” clarifies Mike Wei. “I had a similar role to Valerie but had a different operational perspective given my groundwater history.”
In Part One, Valerie Cameron reveals her lived experience as it relates to provincial water management. She does this through a series of vignettes that reveal her story behind the story. These are presented under five topic headings. Her context is how the WSA process brought flexibility and finessed the hard edges off the 100-year-old Water Act.
In Part Two, Mike Wei reveals moments in the WSA process that changed everything. He is candid in sharing the personal side of what those moments meant to him. His part of the story behind the story unfolds under four topic headings. One statement by Mike Wei captures the essence of his experience: “if you fall down, somebody is there to lift you up.”
PART ONE: Valerie Cameron shares her memories of challenging situations that drove the need for Water Act modernization after 100 years
“I was a statutory decisionmaker with FLNRO, which is the acronym for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Operations, and had been so for many years,” is how Valerie Cameron opened with her story.
“I was the Deputy Comptroller of Water Rights. It was our ministry that was responsible for implementing the Water Act. And then, after we created the WSA, implementing it.”
TOPIC 1: Challenges enforcing Water Act during times of water shortages informed the Water Sustainability Act
“I had a fair bit of experience in implementing the old Water Act and with the various changes in government that took place around then. I was assigned to represent FLNRO in working alongside Ministry of Environment staff on the development of the new WSA.”
“When I was regional water manager, I had to make some very difficult decisions that I did not want to make. The Water Act did not have the finesse within it to allow me some discretion on how to apply it.”
Chase Creek case study
“In one case, and it is a good story, we were having some water shortages in the Interior. On Chase Creek, staff had approached me and said we are going to have to implement priority rights because the priority water licensee is not getting all of the water that is required for a corn operation.”
Chimney Lakes case study
“A couple of years later, I did have to issue orders to suspend water use. That was in the Chimney Lakes system very close to Williams Lake. The system was a chain of lakes and connecting streams.”
TOPIC 2: Regional water managers now have flexibility to exercise discretion under the Water Sustainability Act
“When it came time to re-do the Water Act under Lynn Kriwoken’s leadership, I was asked to be part of the team…because I had direct experience with implementing the Water Act and some of the rough edges within it that really needed a little bit of finessing.”
“So, priority rights are still respected but people can still use a small amount of water to maintain their household uses to get them over the hump. That illustrates the flexibility that we did not have under the Water Act.”
Fish Protection Orders
“Another really difficult situation that I had to deal with under the Water Act was on the Nicola River at a time when Kokanee fish were migrating within the system. Fish do not have water licences.”
“But with the WSA legislation, we brought in Fish Protection Orders. If there is a situation where fish are at risk, then a Fish Protection Order can be issued to allow basic flows for fish.”
“Looking back, I wish that I had that kind of flexibility when I was a Regional Water Manager. It would have helped me deal with numerous difficult situations.”
TOPIC 3: How it felt being on the team drafting the Water Sustainability Act legislation
“When I was in the room, I certainly thought I knew the Water Act until I started working on slicing it apart as we were building the WSA. As we proceeded, I appreciated that it had been quite a feat just building the old Water Act.”
“I also had great appreciation for the Ministry of Environment policy analysts as well as the lawyers that were assigned to work on this from the Ministry of the Attorney General. They affectionately called themselves nitpickers and I can testify that they were really nitpickers on the details of the WSA!”
“I also had a lot of interaction with regional staff on their personal experiences. So it was really gratifying to be able to funnel their experiences and find solutions to some of the problems they had experienced.”
TOPIC 4: WSA process established provincial benchmark for consulting with communities to inform legislation
“There is something that I want to communicate. And that is about the consultation that took place in the lead up to the WSA. Some of the critiques of the WSA have said there was not enough consultation and government just went ahead and did this legislative overhaul.”
“And Ministry staff said, we are thinking of making some substantial changes to the Water Act. What do you want to see? They did that before a word was put on a piece of paper. Sessions were well attended.”
TOPIC 5: Reflections on seizing the moment when a generational opportunity arises
“I am honoured to have been part of the group that wrote a very complicated piece of legislation. It was a tremendous opportunity to make a contribution, especially when I reflect on the influence of the WSA going into the future. I am proud of the work that we did and cannot think of anything I would change.”
“It is remarkable how the WSA managed to maintain pre-exisitng water rights, FITFIR, yet skirt around them when needed by bringing in a hybrid system,” concludes Valerie Cameron. (Editor’s Note: Mike Wei explains this in Part Two).
PART TWO: Mike Wei shares his memories of defining moments that shaped the path forward for the Water Sustainability Act
“One of the things I contributed to the WSA legislation was the question, how do we license groundwater? There were parts of the WSA that were very surface water oriented and I had little experience in that area,” is how Mike Wei began his part of our 3-way conversation.
TOPIC 6: Unique or innovative aspects that distinguish British Columbia’s Water Sustainability Act
“BC went from a strictly FITFIR system to a hybridized system. FITFIR still works but only after essential household use, and, in the case of a population of fish, a Fish Protection Order can override the FITFIR system.”
Hydraulic connection is a foundational concept
“ Another unique point about the WSA is its recognition of hydraulic connection between water in streams and groundwater. And even between groundwater in one aquifer and groundwater in another aquifer.”
“You cannot impact a stream nor an aquifer hydraulically connected to a stream. Hydraulic connection is worked in through the whole Water Sustainability Act.”
Protection of critical environmental flows
“And the one that is really different about our hybridized system is that we have critical environmental flows that basically jumps ahead in priority to other licensed water uses.”
Comparison with Washington State approach
“In Washington State, if you have an instream flow requirement, my understanding is that it only has precedence over water users that were licensed subsequent to the year that the instream flow requirement was established. It does not touch anybody prior to the year the critical environmental flow was established.”
“There are differences but Washington State has worked theirs into a FITFIR system. We have taken those two essential uses as being most valued uses outside of the FITFIR system.”
TOPIC 7: Licensing of groundwater in British Columbia
“British Columbia was the last jurisdiction in Canada to license groundwater, probably by almost 50 years. I called my peers in other provinces and loved pumping them with questions. What do you do, why do you do it? And then reflect, would that work here?”
Comparison of BC to Alberta andWashington State
“When you look at Alberta, for example, you can extract saline groundwater and that is not licensable. You can go to Washington State where there are exempted wells that are not licensable.”
“The question I could never understand from the responses that I got was, are these exempt uses part of your water rights system or have you let them go altogether?”
“In BC, rights for domestic groundwater use are based on date of first use. We did not let them go. We kept those unlicensed uses within our water rights framework.”
Defining moment when BC’s path forward for groundwater licensing crystallized
“I remember Lynn Kriwoken coming into the room where we were discussing the WSA. She looked at me and said, how are we going to license groundwater? Are we going to follow Sweden, New Zealand or what?”
“Everybody is always looking for the best water rights system and the current one often is not favoured because we know all of its limitations. So, I asked her, are you revamping FITFIR for use of water from streams? She said…no.”
“The whole thing is about conflict resolution and you cannot have two conflict resolution mechanisms right at the boundary of the streambed and the aquifer. So we modified the one we knew to give us flexibility.”
A second defining moment when everybody bought into a pivotal decision
“There is another moment that I will never forget. Originally the proposal under Living Water Smart was to only license groundwater in problem areas with large wells. Donna Caddie, a policy analyst came to me and said what do you think of this. I said that if you only do it in problem areas, then all you are doing is dealing with problems, aren’t you?”
“This was an example of how if people saw the sense in an idea and supported it up the line, then something can happen. And it does not always come from the Executive. What Donna Caddie did was quite amazing. And what Lynn did too.”
TOPIC 8: Power of teamwork, leadership in the moment, and interpersonal encouragement illustrated
“When I reflect on that experience in developing the WSA legislation, it really did take a team. Not all of us know everything about everything! I knew something about groundwater. And Valerie knew about being a water manager and licensing. And it was a grind.”
Valerie Cameron rallied the WSA team in a moment of need
“We went back into the office to drop off our stuff. And Valerie says, do you guys mind if we have a bit of a debrief. I thought, what!! I just wanted to go home.”
“But Valerie took it upon herself to gather us around and said: that did not go too well; let’s take a few minutes to debrief and see what we could do better tomorrow. I remember thinking, Valerie has a lot of stamina and she is gathering us to calm us down and see what we could do tomorrow.”
“We went back into the conference room. We gave each other 15 minutes to calm down, think about things, and develop a bit of resolve and strategy for doing it better the next day.”
What it means to stand by each other
“I thought, if you fall down, somebody is there to lift you up. We really needed the interpersonal encouragement that we got from Valerie in the moment. That probably impacted me more than any other encouragement within the room. And I have never forgotten it.”
“This example was typical of the encouragement that we gave each other. But that one stood out for me. It was valuable to get that experience and to go through it with our colleagues. We did not know each other that well initially. But we did get to stand by each other and became close.”
TOPIC 9: Reflections on seizing the moment when a generational opportunity arises
“Looking back, I did not really appreciate the fact that there is only ONE OPPORTUNITY. You are not going to get cabinet attention that often. THIS MAY BE IT FOR THIS GENERATION.”
“At the time, it was framed as just the first phase to keep essential water licensing business going; and that there would be additional regulations to follow.”
Potential for further enhancement
“When you look at the WSA, it envisions so many things: closing specific basins, regulations for drilling permits, licensing domestic wells, measuring and reporting use.”
“All these could further enhance water management in BC. Let’s hope this generational opportunity continues!”
