Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment has released Guide to Surface Water Withdrawal Approvals July 2015. Under the provincial Environment Act, the Activities Designation Regulations (Division 1) requires parties to obtain a water withdrawal approval if a surface water withdrawal exceeds 23,000 litres per day for a period of more than two weeks.

To obtain a water withdrawal approval, the Approval and Notification Procedures Regulations require a completed application form and supporting documents to be submitted to Nova Scotia Environment (NSE).

 

The guide describes submission requirements for each of the three categories of water withdrawal applications, along with supporting documentation, and the criteria used by NSE to evaluate surface water withdrawal applications.