Regulation respecting the Declaration of Water Withdrawals

In force on September 9, 2009

The Regulation respecting the Declaration of Water Withdrawals was the subject of public hearings held from November 5, 2008 to January 3, 2009. During this period, the Ministère du Développement Durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs received some thirty briefs, a sign that the regulation was seen favourably. These briefs were taken into consideration in the final version of the Regulation.

The goal of the Regulation respecting the Declaration of Water Withdrawals is to gather information from all major water withdrawers required to perfect our knowledge of the resource and improve our management of it.

This regulation also makes it possible to meet certain requirements of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement, which was signed in December 2005 by the premiers of Québec and Ontario and the governors of states fronting on the Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin).

The regulation requires all major withdrawers (those that directly withdraw the resource), such as municipalities, industries, businesses and institutions not connected to a municipal aqueduct network, to submit a declaration of withdrawal. This clientele must transmit all required identification information to the Ministère, as well as all information related to their water withdrawals: number of withdrawal sites, type of water withdrawn (surface or underground), exact location of each withdrawal, estimate of volumes of water withdrawn, etc.

Declaration of water withdrawals

Beginning in February 2010, withdrawers will be able to access their file on-line, using a logon and password, as well as a declaration form for their water withdrawal activities. A user guide will also be available to assist withdrawers in the declaration process.