Water Abstraction

In England and Wales, if you abstract water from the ground or surface, you must have a water abstraction licence from the Environment Agency.

There are exceptions to this rule including:

• A one-off abstraction less than 5 cubic meters.
• A one-off abstraction with Environment Agency's written permission for any amount up to 20 cubic meters.

If you intend to impound a watercourse then you must have an impounding licence from the Environment Agency.

You must also check whether your project requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as well as a licence or consent before any abstraction goes ahead.

This applies if the extraction will exceed 20 cubic meters in 24 hours or the project will have significant impacts on the environment due to its size, nature and location.

If you take over an existing licence for water extraction then you must notify the Environment Agency within 15 months of the transfer.

You will be charged an annual fee by the Environment Agency for any water abstraction licence regardless of whether you abstract that amount of water. This is to cover the administration costs of issuing licences. The Environment Agency publishes the costs of licences annually on their website (www.environment-agency.gov.uk) and in a leaflet.

CAMS In April 2001 the Environment Agency started a Catchment Abstraction Management System (CAMS) to analyse abstraction across the country.