The Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit, is an appendix to the Green Bylaws Toolkit (www.greenbylaws.ca), and was developed by the OBWB and partners to help local governments protect the quality and quantity of groundwater within their own geographic and legislative jurisdictions. This includes monitoring groundwater quality and quantity, protecting aquifers, and maximizing water recharge instead of surface runoff.
The Toolkit presents the basic principles of groundwater science, outlines the jurisdiction for managing groundwater, and provides practical land use management tools for local government to protect groundwater. It clearly explains each tool, and provides sample policy and bylaw language that can be tailored to each unique area. It also provides case studies that highlight the best practices in groundwater protection already in use by local governments in BC.
The Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit received financial support from the Gas Tax Innovation Fund and the BC Government Infrastructure Planning Grant program. A technical advisory committee of twenty groundwater and policy experts from senior and local government, non-profit organizations, and consulting firms provided direction and reviewed drafts of the Toolkit.
Bylaw documents in Word format:
- 4.2 Groundwater Data Collection and Mapping
- 4.3 Provincially Legislated Water Management Planning
- 4.4 Regional Growth Strategies
- 4.5 Official Community Planning
- 4.6 Zoning for Groundwater Protection
- 4.7 Aquifer Protection Development Permit Areas
- 4.8 Aquifer Protection Develolopment Approval Information Areas
- 4.9 Subdivision Servicing Bylaws
- References and Resources
Funding provided by the Okanagan Basin Water Board and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities.