Keeping water in the wells: Reviewing BC's approach to groundwater governance

Despite evidence suggesting certain aquifer levels in BC are dropping at a rate exceeding natural depletion, the use, extraction and diversion of groundwater is largely unregulated. This study argues that BC requires a province-wide groundwater policy and management strategy to effectively protect and manage the resource. Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods, this study finds, in the absence of a major environmental catastrophe, the key consideration determining the success of any groundwater management plan is its ability to address a range of needs – agricultural, industrial, and domestic. Four policy options are presented and evaluated against six criteria: administrative ease, cost (short and long term), efficiency, equity, political and public viability. The final recommendation is that a combination of increasing awareness with licensing groundwater use, then eventually introducing a system of metering will be the most effective and equitable means of governing the resource.