Water Act and Water Rights in Alberta - YouTube

Hi. This is Raman from Alberta Real Estate School. Today we'll take a look at water rights and as  

they apply to Alberta real estate exam we'll also  look at some of the examples of questions you may  

see in regards to this topic on the real estate  exam so let's get started let's take a look at  

the Water Act the Water Act regulates management  of water supplies and water quality the purpose  

of the Water Act is to support and promote  conservation and management of water as well  

as wise allocation and use of water the Water  Act is based on the belief that water resources  

need to be conserved and properly managed in  order to ensure a healthy environment and a  

high quality of life both in the present as well  as the future water rights water rights are also  

called riparian rights riparian rights give a land  owner whose property is adjacent to or crossed by  

a natural water resource the right to access and  make reasonable use of the water water rights  

are legislated under the Water Act in Alberta all  the water is owned by Alberta government however  

individuals can get the right to use divert or  disturb water however this has to be done through  

an exception or n however this has to be done  through an exception or a license a water right  

is the maximum amount of water that is licensed  for use a water license identifies the water  

source location of the diversion site volume and  rate timing of the water to be diverted priority  

of the water right established by the license as  well as any conditions the diversion must or two  

however there are certain uses that are exempt  from these licensing requirements so you do not  

need a water license for this and these include  domestic household use traditional agricultural  

use firefighting wells equivalent hand pumps and  wells corporate hand pumps diverting water without  

a license is a crime and the person may face  enforcement action as well as a fine which could  

be up to 50,000 for an individual or 500,000 for a  company and water license runs with the land which  

means when the property owner sells the property  the water license will get transferred to the new  

owner now let's take a look at some examples  that we may get on this topic first question  

Mary Ann is helping her clients by rural property  during her research Maryann finds out that the  

owner of the property has diverted groundwater  without having received authority from Alberta  

government according to the Water Act what does  the property owner need in order to be able to  

divert water and the options are a water permit  be a water agreement see a water license or D a  

water easement the correct answer is C in order  to divert water the property owner will need a  

water license next question sue Hill is helping  her clients John and Mary Jones purchase a small  

agricultural farm they want to ensure they are  able to use the water diversion the previous  

owner has in place what should sue tell them about  the water license and the options are a they'll  

have to purchase the water license separately  from their previous owners they'll need to apply  

for the water license from Alberta government  or they'll need to buy the water license from  

someone who's selling it or D water license runs  with the land and the correct answer is d water  

license runs with the land so when a one property  owner sells their property the new owners will get  

the water license with that property next exam  question which of the following uses are exempt  

under Alberta Water Act and the options are a  domestic household use B traditional agricultural  

use C firefighting or D Wells equipped with hand  pumps or e all of the above the correct answer  

is e all of these users are actually exempt under  the Alberta Water Act which means you do not need  

a water license for any of these uses thanks for  joining me today I hope you enjoyed this video  

if you have any questions about the Alberta real  estate exam or need help preparing for the exam  

please feel free to call me using the number - 587-936-7779. see you next time with another example