Nova Scotia Water Authority

In 1919 the NS Legislature passed the Water Act (SNS 1919 Chapter 4), which established the Province's control over the use of water and water courses and allowed it to license uses such as diversions for irrigation, the transportation of timber and wood in log drives, dams for power and the extraction of water from streams and lakes for domestic and industrial purposes. In the same year the NS Power Commission was created to generate and distribute electrical power to municipalities, industry and individual users. The Power Commission chiefly generated electrical energy from a number of hydro-electric facilities, but had administrative capacity and engineering expertise which allowed it to advise the Minister in Charge of the Water Act regarding water use applications. In essence the Minister delegated much of his power under the Act to the Power Commission. In 1963 chapter 42 of the Statutes of Nova Scotia transferred active responsibility for the Water Act to a board of commissioners constituted as the Nova Scotia Water Authority and expanded their powers to include the regulation of water and sewage systems and the ability to protect bodies of water and water courses from pollution. The original Water Act had less scope to regulate pollution and was limited to the regulation of obstructions to the flow of water such as the deposition of sawdust and waste wood. In 1973 the Water Authority was folded into the newly created Department of the Environment, with an Environmental Control Council created as an advisory body on applications and other matters submitted to it by the Minister.