H" CHAPTER 61. An Act to amend the "Water Act." [Assented to 19th December, 1925.] IS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows: R.S.B.C. 1924, c. 271. 1. This Act may be cited as the "Water Act Amendment Act, Short title. 1925." 2. Section 2 of the "Water Act," being chapter 271 of the Amends s. 2. "Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1924," is amended as follows: (1.) By inserting after the word "corporation," in the first line of the definition of "company," the words "other than a municipality or improvement district." (2.) By striking out of the definition of "conditional licence " the words "issued under section 48." (3.) By adding to the definition of "conveying purpose" the words "municipality or improvement district." (4.) By inserting after the word "power," in the seventh line of the definition of "schedule," the words "carried, supplied, or." (5.) By striking out of the definition of "tolls" all the words after the word "Crown," and substituting therefor the following: "for the carriage, supply, or use of water or power generated from flowing or falling water or for the use of works or for any service rendered in respect of such power or water or works." 3. Section 4 of said chapter 271 is repealed, and the following is Re-enacts s. 4. substituted therefor : "4. The property in and the right to the use of all the water at any time in any stream in the Province is for all purposes vested in the Crown in the right of the Province, except only in so far as Amends s. 6. Amends s. 11. Amends s. 13. Re-enacts ss. 16 to 20. private rights therein have been established under special Acts or under licences issued in pursuance of this or some former Act relating to the use of water. It shall not, however, be an offence for any person to use for domestic purpose any unrecorded water to which there is lawful public or private access." 4. Section 6 of said chapter 271 is amended by striking out all the words after the word "land" in the fourth line thereof. 5. Section 11 of said chapter 271 is amended as follows:— (1.) By striking out of subsection (5) all the words after the word “undertaking" in the fourth line. (2.) By adding the following subsection :-- "(6.) Licences may be issued to any Minister of the Crown, either Dominion or Provincial, and to any board or corporation holding or having charge of the administration of any land on behalf of the Crown either in the right of the Dominion or of the Province." 6. Section 13 of said chapter 271 is amended by striking out subsections (2), (3), and (4), and substituting therefor the following:"(2.) Any owner of land may apply to the Comptroller for a transfer in whole or in part of the rights and obligations conferred and imposed by any licence for domestic purpose, irrigation purpose, or storage purpose from the land to which the licence is appurtenant to the land of the applicant. He shall file with the Comptroller the licence and the written consent of the registered owner of the land to which the licence is appurtenant and of every registered holder of a charge thereon, and shall, if there are other licences or applications for licences upon the same stream, give notice of his application to all persons affected in the manner prescribed in Part II. respecting the acquisition of licences. "(3.) The Comptroller may refuse the application or may grant it in whole or in part either upon terms or otherwise. If in his opinion the circumstances warrant such action, he may, with the consent of the applicant, issue the new licence or licences with a later priority than that of the former licence. He shall not, however, grant any such transfer if it is shown to him that it would prejudice any licensee or that it would be against the public interest. "(4.) When a transfer is granted under this section the former licence shall be surrendered and cancelled and a new licence or licences issued in substitution therefor. The new licence or licences may authorize the use of the water for the purpose specified in the former licence or for any purpose of a higher standard according to the provisions of section 7." 7. Sections 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 of said chapter 271 are repealed, and the following sections are substituted therefor: "16. When any pre-emption record or homestead entry of land, lease of Crown land, application to purchase Crown land, or agree ment respecting the purchase of land from the Crown, or the right or title to any mine held other than by virtue of a Crown grant is forfeited or cancelled, any licence authorizing the use of water in respect of the land or mine shall ipso facto be void and shall without notice to any person be cancelled in the register of licences. "17. (1.) Every licence shall be subject to cancellation in whole or in part by the Board of Investigation upon any of the following grounds: "(a.) Failure by the licensee for three successive years to make "(c.) Failure by the licensee for six months or more to pay any "(d.) Waste of water: "(e.) Wilful disobedience of any order of the Comptroller, the Board, or the District Engineer: “(f.) Wilful diversion or use of more water than the licensee is at the time entitled to divert or use: "(g.) Wilful violation of any provision of this Act or of the rules: "(h.) Non-compliance with any term or condition contained in the licence or the certificate of approval of undertaking issued in connection therewith, including in respect of a conditional licence failure to commence or resume the construction of the works by the date fixed in the licence for such commencement or resumption. "A notice stating that it is proposed to cancel the licence and giving the grounds upon which the licence is alleged to be subject to cancellation shall be sent to the licensee at his last-known address at least thirty days before the order cancelling the licence is made. If the licensee files an objection to the proposed cancellation, the Board shall, upon such hearing as it deems expedient, determine whether the alleged grounds for cancellation are substantiated, and shall make such order as to it seems just. "(2.) It shall not be necessary, in order to give the Board jurisdiction to cancel a licence, that an application for such cancellation be made, but any licensee or applicant for a licence on a stream or tributary thereof may apply for the cancellation of any other licence on the stream. "(3.) Where the land to which a licence is appurtenant is owned by more persons than one, the Board may, without apportioning it, cancel the licence in so far as it pertains to one or more parcels without cancelling the whole licence, and compliance with the provisions of this Act and the terms and conditions of the licence by the owner of any parcel to which a licence is appurtenant shall not prevent the cancellation of the licence in so far as it pertains to Amends s. 26. any other parcel the owner of which has failed to comply with the provisions of this Act or the terms and conditions of the licence. "(4.) Any mortgagee or other chargee of land to which a licence. is appurtenant who has filed with the Comptroller a copy of his mortgage or charge, or particulars thereof, shall be entitled to notice of any proposal to cancel a licence appurtenant to the encumbered land. "18. Where by reason of the non-exercise of any of the powers granted under any licence the validity of the licence has become. doubtful, the licensee may petition the Minister for a declaration of validity in respect of the licence, and the Minister may, after investigation, issue such declaration of validity if he is satisfied. that it is in the public interest to do so, and he may fix the time within which the exercise of the powers granted under the licence must be resumed. Every such declaration of validity shall be conclusive of the existence and validity of the licence in respect of which it is given, but after the expiration of the time fixed by the Minister for the resumption of the exercise of the powers granted the licence shall be subject to all the terms and provisions of this Act and the rules. "19. Any registered owner of land and any owner of a mine or undertaking to which a licence is appurtenant may, by notice in writing to the Comptroller, abandon the whole or any part of the rights held under the licence. If the land, mine, or undertaking to which the licence is appurtenant is mortgaged or otherwise charged, and a copy of the mortgage or charge, or particulars thereof, is filed with the Comptroller, the abandonment shall not be effective without the written consent of the mortgagee or chargee. "20. Abandonment or cancellation of a licence shall not have the effect of relieving the owner of the land, mine, or undertaking to which the licence is or was appurtenant of liability for any damage resulting from the works constructed, operated, or maintained by the owner, or from any defect or insufficiency in the works. The Comptroller may order any owner or person operating or who last operated any works which in the Comptroller's opinion are or may become a danger to any person or property to remove the works within a specified time, and if default is made in carrying out the order the Comptroller may authorize some other person to remove the works, and upon such other person removing the works he shall be entitled to recover the cost of removing them from the person to whom the Comptroller's order was directed as money paid for and at the request of such last-mentioned person, and the Comptroller's certificate as to the said cost shall be conclusive evidence of the amount thereof." 8. Section 26 of said chapter 271 is amended by striking out subsection (4), and substituting therefor the following subsection: |