Series GR-0953 - Lower Mainland water rights correspondence

The Ministry of Environment was renamed in 1976 from the Dept. of Environment (OIC: 3199/76). Its original organizational structure was based on that of the Dept. of Environment which was created in 1975. The original functions of the Dept. of Environment were transferred from the Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources, whose functions had been split between the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Forests. The department was responsible for the management and protection of land, air and water resources including Crown lands (except for matters under the jurisdiction of the Dept. of Forests), water rights and pollution control. The department was divided into three branches: land and water management, environmental and engineering services, and environmental protection.

In 1978, a major government reorganization transferred functions relating to lands and parks from the Ministry of the Environment to the newly established Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing. At the same time, the functions of marine resources, fish and wildlife were acquired from the disestablished Ministry of Recreation and Conservation. Environmental health engineering were also acquired from the reorganized Ministry of Health and emergency programming from the reorganized Ministry of Provincial Secretary and Travel Industry. The reorganized Ministry of the Environment was divided into four branches: Land and Water Management, Environmental and Engineering Services, Environmental Protection, and Environment and Land Use Secretariat. In 1978 the Ministry of the Environment was renamed the Ministry of Environment (OIC 3018/78, see also RSBC 1979, c. 271).