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More than 82,000 people have signed a petition against the government’s plans to sell B.C.’s water for $2.25 per million litres.

“It is outrageous,” says the online petition from SumOfUs.org, that corporations can buy water “for next to nothing.”

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B.C.’s Water Sustainability Act (WSA), which comes into effect next January and replaces the province’s century-old water legislation, has been heralded as a major step forward. But politicians and experts are raising doubts over whether the newly announced water fees may be too low to cover the cost of the program, asking if the act simply won’t be implemented properly, or if taxpayers could end up picking up the bill.

Last month, the government unveiled the new water pricing structure, which will include, for the first time in B.C.’s history, groundwater being regulated and subject to fees and rentals.

Critics said that, while it’s a step in the right direction, the prices are still not close to capturing the resource’s value.