Surveys Act (2000)
The Surveys Act states that a surveyor shall determine where the bank of a body of water is located. A surveyor is required when a wetland is subject to the Public Lands Act, meaning all permanent and naturally occurring bodies of water; Stewart and Kantrud wetlands that are Class III or higher are subject to the Public Lands Act. The crown is entitled to the beds and shorelines of permanent and naturally occurring bodies of water and the surveyor is required to determine the bank of the body of water thus determining what is public land and what is privately owned.
“17(2): When surveying a natural boundary that is a body of water, the surveyor shall determine the position of the line where the bed and shore of the body of water cease and the line is to be referred to as the bank of the body of water.
17(3): For the purposes of this section, the bed and shore of a body of water shall be the land covered so long by water as to wrest it from vegetation or as to mark a distinct character on the vegetation where it extends into the water or on the soil itself.”
