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The Irrigation Act, 2019, SS 2019, c I-14.2, is proclaimed into force March 20, 2020, replacing The Irrigation Act, 1996. According to the government’s Justice Update:
The revised Act includes four areas of amendment. First, the new Act sets clearer terms and conditions around the transfer of government owned irrigation assets to irrigation districts. Second, the provisions around the responsibility of irrigation districts to maintain, replace, and decommission their irrigation works are updated, including the ability to enter into agreements with other persons for nonirrigation purposes. Irrigation works will remain tax exempt. Third, the new provisions update and clarify the respective roles of government ministries and agencies in the Act and increase the fines for contravention of the Act. Finally, the new Act simplifies procedure under the Act including by removing the legal district boundaries, eliminating the requirement for district members to pay fees for district reports, allowing the districts to set their own fiscal year, providing more flexibility in districts’ audit schedules, providing more time for districts to complete their annual reports, allowing districts to post reports to websites, and allowing districts to amend their bylaws without government consent.
Comments on the new act appeared in the January 3, 2019 edition of the Western Producer.