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# RDCK Commissions Groundwater Connectivity Study in BC’s Goat River Watershed
- URL: https://bcgroundwaterwire.ca/changelog/bc-goat-river-groundwater-connectivity-study/
- Published: 2026-10-05T19:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-16T21:59:29.000Z
- Description: The Regional District of Central Kootenay has hired Western Water Associates to assess how a deeper bedrock aquifer connects to surface water in the Goat River watershed near Creston, where allocation notations already sit on several streams and two shallow aquifers.
- Author: Colleen Roberts
- Tags: Active, Changelog, Aquifers and Science, Drought and Scarcity, Kootenays, #who-home, #who-farm, #who-business, #who-trades

On October 5, 2026, the Regional District of Central Kootenay [announced](https://www.rdck.ca/rdck-awards-contract-for-goat-river-watershed-hydraulic-connectivity-study/?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca) that Western Water Associates will carry out a preliminary assessment of hydraulic connectivity in the Goat River watershed near Creston, British Columbia, running from August 21, 2026 to March 31, 2028.  
  
The $90,000 project is funded through a shared-cost agreement with the Province and covers the consultant, community outreach, and RDCK administration; the board approved the consulting agreement, valued at $79,851, [in August](https://www.rdck.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-08-BRD%5FHighlights.pdf?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca). The work will include a three-dimensional groundwater model, two seasons of field sampling, and a final report with a plain-language summary to go to the Creston Valley Services Committee in summer or fall 2028.

The question is underground. Water allocation notations, which the RDCK says factor into decisions on new water licence applications, are already in place on several streams and on two shallow aquifers, which the [request for proposals](https://www.rdck.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-06-16%5FRFP%5F-Hydraulic-Connectivity-in-the-Goat-River-Watershed.pdf?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca) names as the Canyon and West Arrow Creek overburden aquifers.  
  
The deeper bedrock aquifer, and how it connects to that surface water, “remains poorly understood.” The request names it the East Creston Bedrock Aquifer, aquifer 488, which GWELLS maps as fractured sedimentary rock with artesian conditions noted. A notation, in the [Province’s words](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-licensing-rights/water-allocation-notations?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), indicates “the potential lack of water availability on a source.”

The study is one part of wider work on water scarcity in the watershed. On July 10, 2026, the Province, yaqan nuʔkiy (Lower Kootenay Band), and the RDCK [announced](https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026WLRS0034-000810?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca) a joint working group, with the goal of recommendations on long-term water management in the Creston Valley by October 2026; each government keeps its own decision-making authority.  
  
The Province’s release describes recurring seasonal low flows, “with some years approaching near-zero flows in parts of the system,” affecting domestic water supplies, agriculture, and aquatic habitat, and says every water licensee in the planning area will be formally notified and engaged. The RDCK’s [planning page](https://engage.rdck.ca/projects/goatwatershed/?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca) records that in May 2024 the RDCK and yaqan nuʔkiy wrote to the Ministry expressing interest in creating a Water Sustainability Plan, and that the Ministry responded with support, “recognizing the need for a new, collaborative approach to watershed stewardship in the valley.”

## Where it stands

- **July 10, 2026**: Working group announced
- **October 5, 2026 (key):** Study announced; work runs from August 21, 2026
- **October 15, 2026:** RDCK report: working group paused during the provincial election; recommendations still in development
- **October 22, 2026 (next):** Board considers six months of engagement and a $400,000 grant application
- **2028 (next):** Final report to the Creston Valley Services Committee, summer or fall

**Who it affects:** Water licensees, and anyone planning a new licence, in the Goat River watershed; farms and businesses that draw on its streams and shallow aquifers; households on wells or community systems there; and drillers working the Canyon, West Arrow Creek, and East Creston aquifers.

**What hasn’t changed:** No new rule or restriction is in force. The study is a preliminary assessment and has not reported, and the working group recommends; it does not decide. A household well still needs no BC groundwater licence.

**Source:** [RDCK Awards Contract for Goat River Watershed Hydraulic Connectivity Study](https://www.rdck.ca/rdck-awards-contract-for-goat-river-watershed-hydraulic-connectivity-study/?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), [RDCK Board Highlights, August 2026](https://www.rdck.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-08-BRD%5FHighlights.pdf?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), [Request for Proposals: Preliminary Assessment of Hydraulic Connectivity in the Goat River Watershed](https://www.rdck.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-06-16%5FRFP%5F-Hydraulic-Connectivity-in-the-Goat-River-Watershed.pdf?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), [GWELLS Aquifer 488](https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/gwells/aquifers/488?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), [Inviting Input on Watershed Plan for Goat River](https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026WLRS0034-000810?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), [Goat River Watershed Water Sustainability Planning](https://engage.rdck.ca/projects/goatwatershed/?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), and [Water Allocation Notations](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-licensing-rights/water-allocation-notations?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca) · checked October 10, 2026

**Updates:** **October 15, 2026** · A staff report for the RDCK board’s October 22, 2026 meeting says the joint working group, the Collective Conversations Working Group, “is currently paused during the Provincial election and is expected to resume discussions” and is still developing its recommendations; the goal announced on July 10, 2026 was recommendations by October 2026\. Staff recommend about six months of public engagement, to begin after the board has considered the recommendations, and a $400,000 application to the Watershed Security Fund, with decisions in spring 2027; if awarded, the grant would pay for a one-year extension of the ground and surface water monitoring funded with this study to March 2028\. The board considers both on October 22, 2026 ([RDCK board agenda, pages 298–323](https://www.rdck.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-22-BRD%5FAgenda.pdf?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca#page=298)).

**October 16, 2026** · Corrected: yaqan nuʔkiy is again spelled as the Nation writes it; the Canyon and West Arrow Creek aquifers are again named overburden aquifers, as in the request for proposals, not “overburdened”; and the What hasn’t changed note no longer says the working group recommends this study, which none of this entry’s sources says.

**Related on the Wire:** [Aquifer Recharge in BC: A New Study Shows the Catch in Storing Water Underground](https://bcgroundwaterwire.ca/bc-aquifer-recharge-storing-water-underground/)