Langley Township council unanimously endorsed the latest draft of the water management plan at Monday night’s meeting, with some exceptions.

The revised plan includes more than 30 recommendations that came out of the Council Priorities Committee’s last meeting.

The Township is looking at how to ticket offences and require wells to be closed where municipal water supply connections are installed. The Township will mandate municipal connections to all new developments where services exist nearby.

But as Councillor Mel Kositsky pointed out, the Township has no authority to mandate anything when it comes to water management, and if it does, it will ‘be an exhaustive financial burden’ to enforce.

“Mandating anything is premature. The Township has no authority until the provincial government adopts this plan,” he said.

Mayor Rick Green said the province is not yet ready to adopt the plan.

Councillor Charlie Fox said 30 per cent of Township residents rely on groundwater for their main source of water.

“We are seeing serious issues. I don’t want to rely on other agency’s timelines.

“Water is critically important and this [plan] is groundbreaking stuff,” Fox said.

Other recommendations include identifying flowing artesian wells and ensuring they are stopped or brought under control; prohibiting new groundwater bottling operations; limiting the amount of water extracted by municipal wells; and placing peak flow restrictions on new water supplies.

Councillor Kim Richter asked to look at the cost of three of the recommendations that require hiring new staff, including establishing a community stakeholder advisory committee, hiring a local (environmental) protection officer and instigating more rigorous inspection and enforcement of existing regulations affecting groundwater quality.

Several of the recommendations are being referred to a future meeting between council and ministry of agriculture staff.

These include the peak flow restrictions for new wells and limit on the amount of water extracted by municipal wells.