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DATE ISSUED: July 14, 2021

EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately

The BC Energy Regulator (Regulator) has launched an update to the Northeast Water Tool (NEWT), as part of its ongoing efforts to support and improve water management decisions. NEWT is now comprised of three modules:

  • The Watershed Reporting Module (formerly called NEWT).
  • The Groundwater Review Assistant (GWRA) Module (formerly a stand-alone tool).
  • The new Cumulative Diversion Analysis Module.

NEWT is a point-and-click, map-based tool that helps scientists, industry, explorers, communities, and government decision-makers to understand accurate information about water resources in British Columbia.

The Watershed Reporting Module allows users to click on a stream, lake, or river to see the watershed associated with that water feature and to generate a detailed report about it, describing water supply, demand, environmental flow needs, and other watershed characteristics. Upgrades to this module include:

  • Improved information sharing through report presentation and interactivity.
  • Ability to enter specific latitude/longitude or universal transverse mercator (UTM) location details and toggle base map/satellite imagery.
  • Integrated water allocations search tool with filters.
  • Hydrologic variability to provide a range of monthly flows to assess new water applications.

The Groundwater Review Assistant Module retrieves publicly available groundwater-related data for an area of interest and can be used to support a variety of decisions or assessments. Upgrades to this module include:

  • Improved report presentation and interactivity.
  • Increased geospatial search capabilities, map toggle, map drawing, and data upload tools.
  • Interpolated water table surface raster for queried areas.
  • New data retrieval for agricultural land reserve (ALR) land, new geological information, and water license and short-term use approval details.

The new Cumulative Diversion Analysis Module allows for a new proposed diversion of water to be evaluated at any location on a stream or river, placing both the total and instantaneous demand over a given time period, in the context of natural variability and existing senior water rights. Users can generate flow frequency estimates and cumulative runoff volumes to connect flow variability with existing allocation volumes for user defined time periods.

For information on how water use is regulated in B.C.’s oil and gas industry visit our Water Information page. The Northeast Water Tool can be found here water.bcogc.ca.

If you have any questions regarding this Industry Bulletin, please contact:

Suzan Lapp
Hydrologist
BC Energy Regulator
Suzan.Lapp@bcogc.ca
250-794-5316