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# Missed the 2022 BC Groundwater Licence Deadline? What It Really Means Now.
- URL: https://bcgroundwaterwire.ca/missed-the-2022-deadline-what-it-really-means-now/
- Published: 2026-10-03T13:04:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-09T03:52:10.000Z
- Description: If your farm or business used groundwater when the Act took effect in 2016 and never applied by March 1, 2022, here’s where you stand.
- Author: Colleen Roberts
- Tags: Licensing, #question, #who-farm, #who-business, #who-lender

When the BC Water Sustainability Act took effect on February 29, 2016, anyone already using groundwater for a non-domestic purpose had six years to apply for a licence. The window closed on March 1, 2022.

**If you applied in time,** your licence carries a priority date based on when you started using the water, your application fees were waived, and you can continue using the water while you wait for a decision.

**If you didn’t,** you’re treated as a new applicant. You pay the application fees. Your priority date is the day you apply, which puts you behind every licence on the same source that has an earlier date. You can’t lawfully use the water until a licence is issued, and a new application can be refused where there isn’t enough water.

That last point is the one people miss. Late applicants get no grace period. Until the licence is issued, the use is unauthorized, and unauthorized use can bring an administrative penalty of up to $100,000.

**The Note:** Your previous priority date is no longer valid, and no application can restore it**.** What you still control is where you stand from here: every month you wait is another month of unauthorized use, and more licences ahead of you in line.

**Who should pay attention:** Farms, ranches, and rural businesses that were using a well or dugout for a non-domestic purpose on or before February 29, 2016, and never applied.

**What to do next:** Apply now. Gather what you have on the well and the use, and get a licence estimate. If you’re purchasing a property in British Columbia with this history, please ask about it before you remove your subjects.