Does a water licence transfer automatically when I buy the farm?

Not automatically, and this is where a lot of buyers get caught. A water licence under the BC Water Sustainability Act is generally 'appurtenant to' — attached to — the land, which means it usually transfers with the property on sale. But 'usually' isn't 'always', and even when it does transfer, it has to be in good standing and properly registered.

What I tell every client: verify the licence status, the annual allocation volume, the authorised purpose (irrigation, livestock, domestic), and the priority date before you remove subjects. A licence with a newer priority date is much less secure in a dry year than an older one — and in the Okanagan, that priority date can directly affect what the property is worth.

Wells are a separate matter from surface-water licences, and groundwater above a threshold now also needs licensing. I treat a full water-rights review as its own due-diligence step on any irrigation-dependent parcel. Read our Water Rights guide for the framework, and confirm the specifics with the BC Water Rights database before you commit.