In 2013, studies by the PEI Department of Environment, Labour and Justice showed that the annual recharge rate for groundwater amounted to 2 km3 per year and that only 0.14 km3 (7% of recharge) were abstracted. This was accompanied by a change in the calculation of impact on water resource, from a ratio relative to recharge, to a maximum rate of 35% of baseflow (minimum stream coming out of aquifers). The Potato Board was supported by the PEI Federation of Agriculture under the objective that it would be needed to ensure that the potato processing industry remain “economically viable” in the future.