Updated Water Act remains a mystery
Posted December 9, 2013 3:39 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Two-million litres of water for 85 cents. Sounds like a deal, but that rate is what companies are currently paying to use our water under the century old Water Act.
It’s now been nearly two months since the BC Government promised changes to prevent companies from tapping into our water supply for pocket change, but what those changes look like remain a mystery.
NDP Environment Critic Spencer Chandra Herbert says we won’t know what the updated Water act will look like until the new year: “We’re waiting to go back to the legislature so we can actually see it. The Government has refused to say if they will increase the amount of money they will charge.”
The proposed legislation states there’s no current approach to revamp how much companies shell out for using mass amounts of BC water. Options could include simply raising rates, or a complete overhaul of pricing.
Chandra Herbert warns whatever happens, there needs to be accountability for the amount of water used. “We don’t have enforcement capacity to deal with people pollute the water today, and that’s because the government refuses to pay for it. So let’s get money from those who benefit from our water so we can protect it.”
Under the current act, companies like Nestle benefited from the pricing structure, bottling water practically for free. Even Nestle has called for changes over worries about preserving the precious resource.
Advocacy groups are also concerned without increased water rates, fracking practices associated with proposed liquefied natural gas projects in our province could cause water use to skyrocket.
