Water Utility Act

The Water Utility Act regulates any individual that owns or operates a water utility. 

A “Water Utility” is generally any person who owns or operates the equipment or facilities for delivering water to 5 or more people or to a corporation.  However, the Act then provides a number of exceptions – people that will not be regulated by the Act – including:

·         A local government, improvement district or water-users community providing the water as part of a service;

·         A person who is providing water for his/her self, tenants and employees; and

·         A person who sells bottled water or supplies water by tanker truck.

Powers of the Comptroller

The Water Utilities Act itself is relatively simple.  Having defined what “water utility” means, it states that the Comptroller of Water Rights (an employee of Land and Water B.C., a branch of the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, appointed under the Water Act) has the same powers in respect of Water Utilities as the Utilities Commission has in respect of Public Utilities. 

The B.C. Utilities Commission is a tribunal created under the Utilities Commission Act.  It purpose is to oversee the construction and operation of public utilities (e.g. power projects, pipelines, etc.) 

Consequently, the Comptroller of Water Rights has a series of powers related to the construction and operations of Water Utilities, including (but not limited to):

·         Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity – Any person seeking to build a water utility must obtain a “certificate of public convenience and necessity” – a document from the Comptroller confirming that he or she feels that the construction of the water utility is consistent with the public interest and convenience.  These vague terms are not defined, but the Comptroller may refuse to issue a certificate or may attach conditions to the certificate.

·         Stop Work Orders – The Comptroller may order any person who is building a water utility without a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to stop work.

·         Rates – The Comptroller may oversee the setting of water rates, determining what rates are “just and reasonable”.

The most significant of these powers are those related to the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.  However, the environmental community has often been critical of the failure of the Comptroller to consider environmental matters as part of this decision-making. 

Related Guide Pages:

·         Water Act.

·         Utilities Commission Act.

For more information about the Water Utility Act:

·         An electronic copy of the Water Utility Act.

·         Water Utilities page of the Land and Water B.C. website.