Renewing a Permit to Take Water

Is it a Category 1 renewal?

The PTTW application requirements sort applications into three categories, and the category sets both the fee and how much technical work goes with the application. For a groundwater taking, a renewal is Category 1 when all of these are true:

• the same or a lesser amount of water;
• the same purpose;
• the same location and the same source;
• no past interference or impacts; and
• no scientific study is required as part of the renewal, such as a report prepared by a qualified person.

Surface water renewals use the same test. Where an application covers several sources, it takes the highest category of any of them, so one changed well can move the whole renewal out of Category 1. A Category 1 renewal costs $750.

If the permit has already expired

The answer depends on how long ago it expired:

The interim and reinstatement routes have conditions: the taking must have been happening under a ministry permit, the application must go in within one year of the expiry, cancellation or revocation, and the taking must be from the same location, for the same purpose and for the same amount or less. A new permit is assessed like any other new application, so for most groundwater takings it is Category 3, with a study.

The reporting record

Under section 9 of O. Reg. 387/04, every permit holder collects and records the volume of water taken each day, measured by a flow meter or by a method a Director accepts, and submits the previous year's data on or before March 31. The ministry's guidance adds that a "no taking" must be reported for a year in which no water was taken, through the Regulatory Self-Reporting System or, for older paper permits, the Water Taking Reporting System.

That record is the evidence a renewal rests on. Gaps in the annual reports, takings above the permitted amount or complaints from neighbours can prompt a reviewer to ask for more, and "no past interference" is one of the Category 1 conditions. Many permits also carry their own monitoring conditions; see groundwater monitoring and annual reporting for what those programs involve.

When a renewal needs a new study

A renewal falls outside Category 1 when the amount goes up, the purpose, location or source changes, there has been interference or another impact, or the ministry needs a study to assess the taking. Every groundwater taking that does not meet the Category 1 or Category 2 criteria is Category 3, which means a hydrogeological study by a qualified person and a $3,000 fee unless the taking is for agriculture or aquaculture. The guidance also notes that an amendment needing technical review may carry the Category 3 fee.

What that study covers is set out in the ministry's technical guidance for Category 3 applications: pumping tests, the effect on nearby wells and surface water, and a monitoring plan. The pumping test and well assessment page explains the field work. Places where water takings get extra scrutiny include Centre Wellington, where Elora and Fergus draw on bedrock wells in an area with a significant water quantity risk, and Guelph, which relies on groundwater for its own supply.

Fees

No fee applies to takings for agricultural irrigation and frost protection or for aquaculture, to administrative amendments such as a name or address change, to amendments the Director deems necessary, or to a revocation. The fee is the ministry's; the cost of compiling records or a study is separate.

A renewal checklist

• The permit number, expiry date and every condition on the permit
• Daily volumes and the annual reports for the life of the permit, including any "no taking" years
• Monitoring reports required by the permit conditions
• A record of any complaints or interference, and how each was resolved
• Any planned change to the amount, purpose, location or source, which decides the category