On October 17, 2026, voters in Electoral Areas C, D, and E of the Peace River Regional District in northeastern British Columbia decide whether the district may establish a water service for their area. Bylaws No. 2602, 2603, and 2604 of 2026, one for each area, and put to the same question but for the figures, would let the district secure access to water and potable water by investigating water sources, building works to supply, treat, convey, store, and distribute it, or partnering for supply; each synopsis adds applying for water licences.
The yearly requisition limit is the greater of $500,000 or $0.26665 per $1,000 of net taxable land and improvements in Area C, $1,000,000 or $0.3348 in Area D, and $500,000 or $0.2104 in Area E, and is imposed only on improvements. The district’s 2027 residential estimates are $0.2460, $0.1433, and $0.0783 per $1,000 of improvements: $61.50, $35.83, and $19.57 a year on buildings assessed at $250,000. No service carries authority to borrow.
For Areas C and D it is the second try: a November 2015 referendum for Areas B, C and D was narrowly defeated, the district says, after a 2012 feasibility study “confirmed that local aquifers could provide a sustainable water supply” around Tomslake and Farmington, and Area C’s Charlie Lake studies of 2022 and 2023 ended without a provincial licence “due to land and ownership challenges.” The district reports no immediate gap in Area E. The district’s five bulk water stations are all in Area B, three on wells; Rose Prairie, shut in 2021 over gases in its well, was decommissioned on September 3, 2026, after four test wells.
Who it affects: Residents of Areas C, D, and E, and owners there living elsewhere in BC, who vote on October 17, 2026 (a mail ballot can be requested until 4 pm on October 16, 2026), and whose improvements of every class would carry the tax. Drillers, pump installers, and hydrogeologists in the Peace: investigating water sources is each bylaw’s first purpose.
What hasn’t changed: A yes vote establishes nothing by itself: the board must still adopt the bylaw, the first budget comes in 2027, and the district says a yes vote chooses no option and commits to no new station. A household well needs no BC groundwater licence; supplying water to the public is a non-domestic use needing a licence or use approval, which the district’s Buick Creek and Prespatou stations hold.
Source: Peace River Regional District, Notice of Assent Voting – Area C Water Service, Notice of Assent Voting – Area D Water Service and Notice of Assent Voting – Area E Water Service (September 23, 2026); Area C Water Service Establishment Bylaw, Area D Water Service Establishment Bylaw and Area E Water Service Establishment Bylaw; Water and Sewer Services; the Rose Prairie Water Station Plan; Energeticcity.ca, PRRD Explores Potable Water Accessibility in Electoral Areas (December 10, 2025) · checked October 15, 2026
Updates: None yet.
Related on the Wire: RDCK Commissions Groundwater Connectivity Study in BC’s Goat River Watershed
Where it stands
- November 2015: a referendum on water services for Areas B, C and D is narrowly defeated.
- December 5, 2025: the board approves investigating a water service for Area C and researching similar bylaws for Areas D and E, Energeticcity.ca reports.
- September 23, 2026 (key): notices of assent voting for all three areas; advance voting October 7 and 14, 2026.
- October 17, 2026 (next): general voting day, 8 am to 8 pm in Dawson Creek, Fort St. John and Chetwynd and 10 am to 6 pm at the area halls and schools; a majority yes sends that area’s bylaw to the board for adoption, with a first budget in 2027.
