(from Prov BC Improvement district history and powers).
“Improvement districts vary considerably in size, from small subdivisions to larger communities and are usually located in rural areas of B.C. Some improvement districts service less than 10 landowners and the largest serves thousands of landowners.
The first improvement districts were created in the 1920s to publicly manage several large irrigation systems in the Okanagan Valley. Improvement districts were created through a provincial Order in Council that issued a legal instrument known as letters patent.
At that time, improvement districts filled a service gap by providing some basic local services in areas outside municipalities. When landowners required only one or two services, improvement districts were often the most practical service delivery option.
Each improvement district was created through when the majority of landowners in a community petitioned the B.C. government to incorporate a public local body to deliver one or more services, for example water, to the community.
Improvement districts were gradually given responsibility for services other than water. For example, fire protection began to be managed by some improvement districts in 1945.
In the 1960’s, regional districts were created and provided another more flexible option for service delivery in rural areas. By that time there were more than 300 improvement districts providing a variety of services (e.g. sidewalks, streetlights) to landowners across the province.
The last improvement district was incorporated in 1995. Over the years, many improvement districts have either incorporated as municipalities (some larger improvement districts) or have transferred provision of their services to municipalities or regional districts. This process is called “conversion”.
As local governments, regional districts are now the most effective way of providing broad expanded rural area services.
Regional districts are not limited to specific services in their letters patent; provide both land use and service decision-making under one body; have broader administrative and financial tools for service management; are governed by officials elected directly or indirectly by electors, not just landowners; can borrow at lower interest through the Municipal Finance Authority; and are eligible for provincial and federal grants.
The B.C. government does not generally create new improvement districts, add new service responsibilities to existing improvement districts, or consider a major boundary extension to an existing improvement district where there is a local government willing and able to provide the required service.”
in 2023, there are still 190 improvement districts in existence, of which about 150 are drinking water providers, despite the push for conversion. Reasons for not converting include cost effectiveness – several IDs in the Province have rejected conversion in part due to results of cost benefit analysis, and loss of autonomy – Regional District staff often do not understand the needs and priorities of their smaller communities.
Regional districts are rarely the most effective way of providing water.
Many people in rural communities do not want the increased governance of a Municipality, nor do they want the increased costs and delayed response that occur when local services are run from a distance.
In some cases, there is no local government willing to provide the service.