An environmental law professor’s take on B.C.’s pricing of groundwater – The Globe and Mail

Jul. 16, 2015

The B.C. government announced plans this week to re-examine new legislation that would, for the first time, regulate groundwater use in the province. Under the Water Sustainability Act, slated to take effect next spring, industrial bottlers would pay $2.25 per million litres of water.

Environment Minister Mary Polak said a government analysis determined the rate would recover the costs of the new licensing system – about $11-million a year. However, critics note it is one of the lowest water-rental rates in Canada. And an online petition calling for B.C. to charge “fair rates” has collected more than 225,000 signatures to date.

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