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  • Water Act 2003: Sustainability Through Licensing of Dewatering Operations
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3rd February 2004

Water Act 2003: Sustainability Through Licensing of Dewatering Operations

A key aim of the Water Act 2003, passed last November, is to allow a more sustainable management of our water resources, helping to protect supplies and the environment for future generations. One outcome of this is to bring dewatering operations for mines, quarries and engineering works into the licensing net

Dewatering operations (pumping groundwater out of mines, quarries and engineering excavations) have until now been exempt from abstraction licensing. This was primarily because these operations are temporary and do not remove water from the environment, but generally return it locally to surface watercourses.

High water tables, however, are essential to the survival of some sensitive water features, such as wetlands and peat bogs. Lowering the water table by dewatering, even on a temporary basis, can potentially impact on these. Abstraction licensing puts a system in place that ensures potential impacts are identified and mitigation measures agreed if necessary.

While licensing will not be introduced immediately, operators of long-term dewatering schemes should plan ahead to ensure they have good baseline knowledge. Application of the precautionary principle means that without this, operators risk potentially onerous and expensive mitigation. “The most favourable result” says Peter Easton, Water & Environment Director of consultants Zenith International, “is to ensure environmental protection without imposing over-precautionary restrictions on legitimate development activities.”

Zenith International offers a comprehensive groundwater consultancy service, advising on the safe development and protection of groundwater resources throughout the UK, Europe and beyond.

Anyone wishing to discuss Environmental Impact Assessment, Abstraction Licensing or other water resource issues should contact Peter Easton or Zeb Etheridge at Zenith International on tel +44 (0)1225 327900, fax +44 (0)1225 327901 or e-mail gw@zenithinternational.com


Note for Editors - For further information, please contact:

Peter Easton or Zeb Etheridge, Zenith International Ltd
7 Kingsmead Square, Bath BA1 2AB, United Kingdom
t +44 (0)1225 327900, f +44 (0)1225 327901
zenithinternational.com
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