The importance of groundwater is not restricted to the quantities in which it is used, or to the steady growth in its use, but also to the particular people it serves and the areas where it is used.The close relationship between groundwater and surface water, for example the fact that a decline in groundwater will reduce surface flows, is not universally understood or appreciated. Moreover, the importance of groundwater protection is not adequately taken into account in water management.

There is a need for greater public awareness of the value of groundwater and an understanding of how it is regulated.This report was written to help fill this need.The primary focus is on provincial and territorial permitting and licensing requirements for groundwater, and how these requirements address the environmental consequences of withdrawals.

The scope of this report is to:

1. Compare existing provincial regulatory policies on groundwater quantity,
2. Describe how allocation and permitting/licensing decisions are made in each province and territory, and
3. Describe how pricing of groundwater extraction, if it exists at all, is done in each province and territory.