In its March 2026 groundwater update, the BC government reported that during the 2025 drought season its South Coast team sent 813 advisory letters to likely unauthorized water users in four Fraser Valley watersheds in Langley, Abbotsford, and South Surrey: Bertrand Creek, Little Campbell River, Pepin Brook, and Nathan Creek.
In the Little Campbell River watershed, staff also visited the properties of 18 likely unauthorized users to explain licensing requirements and encourage voluntary compliance. In the Fishtrap Creek watershed, warning letters were followed by statutory orders for water users who didn’t meet requirements, and Natural Resource Officers followed up with inspections in July and August. The update reports this under the Province’s Unauthorized Use Project and drought response.
Who it affects: Water users in these watersheds who don’t hold the authorization their use requires.
What hasn’t changed: These were compliance activities under existing rules. The report announces no new licensing requirement, and it doesn’t say every recipient was in contravention. Domestic groundwater use, as the Act defines it, still needs no licence.
Source: Update on groundwater, March 2026 (PDF) · checked October 2, 2026
Updates: None yet.
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