VICTORIA - The water tragedy in an Ontario town prompted the B.C. government to introduce clean water legislation Thursday, Environment Minister Ian Waddell said. Seven people died and thousands became horribly ill last May after the worst E. coli outbreak in Canadian history contaminated Walkerton's water system.

The B.C. legislation, which is not guaranteed to pass before the next election, is designed to control water quality throughout the province, Waddell said.

This will cover the whole province and will make sure we don't have a Walkerton in British Columbia, I hope, he said.

It's a huge act. It's because we have such varied water systems all over B.C. We have ground water, we have wells, we have aquifers, so it makes it pretty complicated.

Waddell said he is committed to passing the clean-water legislation, but a fast approaching election may put the bill on hold.

The NDP government is in the final weeks of its second term and is widely expected to lose the election that must be called by the end of June.

Waddell said the goal of the Drinking Water Protection Act is to ensure B.C.'s water is protected and safe from the source to the tap.

The legislation will establish two drinking water co-ordinators to lead a provincial office that monitors and controls drinking water issues, he said.

Eighteen drinking water officers working throughout the province will have the power to issue water hazard and prevention orders, Waddell said.

Penalties for contravention of the legislation, including tampering with water systems or reservoirs, may result in fines of up to $200,000 a day and up to 12 months in jail.

The legislation includes $11 million in new funding this year to help protect water supplies, Waddell said.

Premier Ujjal Dosanjh said B.C. needs the water legislation.

The fact is that B.C. is not very well regulated in terms of water protection, he said.

We've been just fairly lucky that we haven't had serious problems and it's important for us to act to ensure that water quality is assessed and tested on a regular basis.

British Columbia's current water law is more than 100 years old.

There are no minimum standards for the design, construction, maintenance and closure of groundwater wells.

There are more than 3,500 water distribution systems that provide water to two or more customers in the province.

In February, residents of the Vancouver suburbs of Langley and Maple Ridge were issued advisories after break-ins at their water reservoirs.

In January, the province took over management of the water supply in the southeastern B.C. town of Erickson after the local district board of trustees refused to chlorinate the water.

Shaun Peck, B.C. deputy health officer, said there are currently 200 boil-water advisories in effect in B.C. and there have been 29 outbreaks of water illness in the last 20 years.

He said the legislation was an important step toward improving B.C. water.

A 1999 report by the B.C. auditor general found about 100 municipalities outside Vancouver and Victoria use unfiltered surface water for drinking water.

It estimated it would cost about $30 million a year to build, finance, operate and maintain all the water treatment plants needed in the province.

In Ontario, the government last month paid the town of Walkerton $15 million to cover the cost of cleaning its water.

The bulk of the money - $10.4 million - will cover the cost of restoring the water supply tainted by the deadly bacteria.

The clean-up involved replacing water mains and disinfecting every pipe and tap in the town. An interim filtration plant was also put in place.

A judicial inquiry following the tragedy heard the town's water manager falsified records showing water quality was poor, while the Environment Ministry failed to act even though officials knew the water was contaminated.

Peck said B.C. is less likely to have a Walkerton-type outbreak because there are fewer concentrations of cattle near water sources. Public health officers are also required to immediately report changes to water systems, he said.