Apply for a water abstraction or impounding licence

Before you apply

First, check if you need an abstraction licence or impounding licence.

Check your local abstraction licensing strategy to find out:

• what the water availability status is in your catchment
• if you are likely to get a licence

Check if you must provide safe passage for eels as part of your activity. If you do not do this, you may have to redesign your scheme later.

Abstract from a borehole or well

If you want to abstract groundwater from a borehole or well,well contactyou theshould Environmentcheck Agencywhether you need to apply for consent to investigate a groundwater source before you apply for a licence. You may need to apply for a separate consent to construct the borehole or well and complete a test pumping of it.

Source owners and their contractors are responsible for ensuring boreholes or wells are designed, constructed and decommissioned without polluting groundwater.

Types of licence

The different types of water resources licence you can apply for are:

• full licence – for most types of water abstraction over 20 cubic metres a day
• transfer licence – to move over 20 cubic metres of water a day from one source to another without intervening use
• temporary licence – to abstract more than 20 cubic metres of water a day over a period of less than 28 days
• impounding licence – to create an impoundment structure such as a sluice, weir or dam

How long a licence lasts

Abstraction licences may have a time limit linked to a common end date. You can find this in the abstraction licensing strategy for your area.

When the Environment Agency grants a licence for the first time, it’s likely to be for between 6 and 18 years. When they renew a licence it will normally be for another 12 years.

They may also grant short duration licences where they think there may be issues with the licence or water availability in the longer term, or if you only need it for a short time.

In certain circumstances, they will consider granting licences for up to 24 years.

Long duration licence

If you need to abstract water for a period of up to 24 years, when you apply you will have to demonstrate (through a business case) that:

• the lifetime of the infrastructure (for example, pumps, pipework, reservoirs) inseparably associated with the licence will extend over the desired duration of the licence
• you continuously need the service or product the infrastructure supplies throughout the duration of the licence
• you have assessed the likely environmental and economic changes that may affect the abstraction over the duration of the licence and the assessment shows no significant concerns (if an environmental impact assessment is required under planning law, this may suffice – alternatively you will need to provide an environmental assessment)
• the infrastructure contributes to sustainable development

Charges

You must pay a charge to apply for a new licence, or to change (vary) an existing licence.

You will also usually need to pay an annual charge (also called a ‘subsistence’ charge) once you hold a full licence.

Use the guidance on the charges for water resources licences to work out what you’ll need to pay. This explains when you do not need to pay an annual charge.

Get help with your application

If you think you need a licence you can ask the Environment Agency’s pre-application advice service for help.

Application forms

You’ll need to fill in the relevant application forms to apply for a water resources licence.

Use part E to tell us what application charge you will pay when you want to:

• apply for a new full or temporary licence to abstract water
• vary (change) an existing licence
• apply for an impounding licence
• apply to licence an existing impoundment

Use part A to tell us who you are when you want to:

• apply for a new full or temporary licence to abstract water
• vary (change) an existing licence
• apply for an impounding licence
• apply to licence an existing impoundment (if you’re using the form for this purpose please contact the Environment Agency before you fill in the form)

Use part B to tell us what you want the water for when you:

• apply for a new full or temporary licence to abstract water
• apply to vary an existing licence

Use part C to give us additional information such as the duration of the licence, water use and how it will be measured when you:

• apply for a new full or temporary licence to abstract water
• apply to vary an existing licence

Use part D to tell us about your impounding proposal when you:

• apply for a new licence to impound inland water
• apply to licence an existing impoundment – if you’re using the form for this purpose, please contact the Environment Agency before you fill in the form

You may have to give hydrological information when you apply for a licence. You can check the important hydrological information to give.

To renew a licence on the same terms, use the application form for licence renewals.

To apply for permission for a hydropower scheme, see new hydropower scheme: apply to build one.

After you apply

The Environment Agency will make a decision on:

• temporary licence applications within 28 days – they may extend this by up to 56 days to consult with third parties if it’s near a designated site
• all other licence applications within 4 months

If your application is complex or it needs to be advertised, it may take longer. If this applies to you, the Environment Agency will tell you and may ask you to agree an extension of time for their decision.

Once they have made a decision, the Environment Agency will tell you if they can grant you a licence and explain why.

If you’re granted a licence, you’ll receive it as a PDF by email. You can also manage your licences online.

The licence will contain the conditions you must follow to legally abstract or impound water.

Compliance

The Environment Agency will carry out site inspections to:

• check compliance with licence conditions
• check abstraction returns
• to give advice and guidance on complying with a licence

They take a risk-based approach to inspections based on the sensitivity of a water source and the potential for damage. In particular, they visit where there is a high potential for damage to the environment or where there is a poor compliance history.

Typically, reasons for inspecting include:

• where hands off flow condition limits or section 57 irrigation bans have been imposed – the drought plans contain more information about how they will increase compliance checks during a drought
• in response to incidents, such as reports of low flows
• if returns suggest over-abstraction or other non-compliance

Enforcement

Enforcement options include:

• criminal sanctions – warnings, formal cautions and prosecution, with fines up to £20,000
• civil sanctions

The options available for each offence are set out in the water resources offence response options.

Their priority is to help you comply with your licence. For example, if you get close to your annual authorised volume, they will discuss how you can adjust your usage to save water or apply to increase your licence quantities.

They can use enforcement options to achieve environmental outcomes, to stop offending, to correct damage, or bring abstraction under regulatory control. Any response is specific to the individual circumstances of each case and is based on the public interest factors set out in the enforcement and sanctions policy.

They usually take enforcement action against the licence holder, so you must check on anyone you allow to use an abstraction in your name.

Trading abstraction rights

If you do not have your own abstraction licence, you may be able to enter into an agreement with an existing licence holder. You can agree for them to give you part or all of their abstraction right permanently or temporarily. This is called the trading of water rights.

If you already have an abstraction licence, you can agree to give the rights to some or all of that water to someone else.

The trading of water rights will usually require the parties involved to apply to the Environment Agency for a new licence and to change or cancel (revoke) any existing licence.

The Environment Agency will:

• provide information about abstractions, water availability and its approach to licensing
• advise before an application about whether proposed trading is likely to be licensed

The Environment Agency does not act as a broker or negotiate the trading of licences.

Types of trade

There are 4 different trading scenarios. These are:

• whole, permanent – the whole of the trader’s abstraction right is transferred to the recipient on a permanent basis
• whole, temporary – the whole of the trader’s abstraction right is transferred to the recipient on a temporary basis
• part, permanent – part of the trader’s abstraction right is transferred to the recipient on a permanent basis
• part, temporary – part of the trader’s abstraction right is transferred to the recipient on a temporary basis

Find a trading partner

You need to find your own trading partner.

Contact the Environment Agency to get abstraction licence details. They will give you information from the water resources public register, for free.

The Environment Agency’s abstraction licensing strategies give more information on any local constraints on water rights trades. For example, if trading water rights would damage the environment.

Contact the Environment Agency