WHEREAS the Corporation of the Township of Spallumcheen is a community located largely in the Agricultural Land Reserve, where many properties benefit from having secondary dwellings and where it is unreasonable to require property owners to provide for a community water system to accommodate a second residence; AND WHEREAS the provision for requiring a community water system will have a direct negative impact on the Townships rural community and other rural communities deeming the legislation unreasonable in these cases: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government, under the Ministry of Health, reconsider the Drinking Water Protection Act and Drinking Water Protection Regulation to allow the legislation to change to permit one 1 well to service two 2 residences on one 1 parcel of land without establishing a community water system in areas where there is no existing community water system to ensure that rural communities are not negatively impacted by requiring a community water system to provide a water source for a secondary residence provided that the well meets water quantity and quality requirements.
Ministry of Health The Health Protection Branch, Ministry of Health Ministry, has heard similar concerns from health authorities, other local governments and the public regarding the Drinking Water Protection Act and Regulation. In response to this, the Ministry presented a discussion paper at the 2012 UBCM convention, outlining proposed amendments to the Drinking Water Protection Regulation. These proposed amendments would allow more than one residence on a single property to be considered a single family dwelling for the purposes of the interpretation of the regulation. This would ensure that in such situations, a water supply, which serves only this property, would not be required to be a permitted drinking water system under the Drinking Water Protection Act. This discussion paper was distributed at UBCM and to other interested stakeholders in the summer of 2012 and feedback to the proposal was requested.