Saskatchewan auditor flags water licensees’ overuse
REGINA — Saskatchewan’s provincial auditor says the Water Security Agency has to better monitor water use after finding some licensees are using more than they are allowed.
Guidance that came into effect in April is expected to help.
Tara Clemett said the WSA hasn’t fully addressed five recommendations her office made in 2020, and a follow-up audit found more overuse than before. The first audit found seven licensees had exceeded their allocation by more than 100 cubic decametres at least once between 2014 and 2018.
The follow-up, released as part of the Volume 1 report for 2026, said that number grew to 12.
One cubic decametre is one million litres and about 2.5 dam3 will fill an Olympic-size swimming pool.
“We found just over 100 water users exceeded their water use allocation in 2023 or 2024 by enough water to fill 3,600 Olympic-sized swimming pools,” Clemett said.
Clemett said her office is satisfied with how WSA handles applications for licences and determines the allocations, but she is concerned the limit is ignored by some and then not handled properly by the agency.
“Are you reporting that to senior management and in certain cases, how does that eventually escalate so somebody who keeps doing it on a regular basis knows they need to stop?” she said.
In 2020, the auditor recommended the WSA actively monitor compliance and follow its enforcement procedures when more water is used than allowed by the licence. That recommendation is not fully implemented, she said.
“Effectively monitoring and taking enforcement action on water use non-compliance, as well as reporting to senior management, is key to insuring a sustainable water supply for Saskatchewan’s current and future generations,” Clemett said.
Her report noted the WSA-approved guidance on monitoring and enforcement was to take effect April 1, 2026.
The 105 users who took too much water in 2023 or 2024 exceeded their allocations by between one and 2,411 dam3.
There were also 34 users who had a cancelled or expired licence who took 6,699 dam3 anyway.
‘Compliance pathways’
“As the agency had not yet implemented its guidance, management has not yet taken appropriate actions to address identified non-compliance with licence requirements,” said the auditor’s report.
This limits the WSA’s ability to make informed allocation decisions, ensure all users have enough water and protect sustainability of water bodies.
In an emailed statement, WSA said it has implemented two of the seven recommendations from 2020 and continues to work on fully implementing the other five.
“The impacts of overuse of water are managed through WSA’s Outcome-Based Compliance Framework. The framework guides the type of enforcement and includes stepped compliance pathways that are proportionate to risk that the non-compliance poses,” it said.
The agency also said it is focusing on education, and while it can restrict or cancel water use and issue fines, those are a last resort.
Meanwhile, the auditor also followed up on two recommendations from 2020 on how the agriculture ministry mitigated regulated pests in crops and pastures. A third was deemed no longer relevant after the ministry deregulated the Richardson’s ground squirrel.
In December 2025, the ministry implemented the recommendations to prepare guidance for producers to detect, report and respond to late blight, bacterial ring rot and Norway or brown rats. The guidance is posted on the ministry’s website.
