The Water Act 2003

New regulations concerning the abstraction and movement of water come into force next year. Stewart Lenton, principal, and David Morgan, associate hydrogeologist, SLR Consulting Ltd, outline the changes and explain how they could impact on the mineral extraction industry.

The introduction of the Water Act 2003 in 2005 will bring about a substantial change in the way the abstraction and movement of water is regulated in relation to mineral extraction operations. Currently, the dewatering of mineral and landfill voids, where groundwater is not used in any form of process, is exempt from licensing requirements (Section 29(2) of the Water Resources Act 2001).

Under the new legislation, however, the Environment Agency is planning to implement a licensing scheme from 1 April 2005.

This change has resulted from a review of the abstraction licensing system in 1998, which brought about the introduction of time limits for all abstraction licensing and the formulation of catchment abstraction management strategies (CAMS).

The first CAMS documents were published in 2003 and there are now around 129 throughout England and Wales. They will be reviewed on a six-year cycle, the first round of reviews being in 2009. 

One of the primary objectives of CAMS is to provide a consistent approach to local water resources management, while recognizing the reasonable needs of all water users and the environment. New licences that are required by the implementation of the Water Act will therefore be closely linked to CAMS and the review cycle.

Under the new regime, three types of licence will be available (see table).

Existing mineral extraction operations will have two years during which to make an application for a licence. The Water Act removes all exemptions (including most of Wales). The Act also deregulates small abstractions (less than 20m3/day).

The Water Act also has longer-term implications: the right to compensation will be removed in 2012 for all holders of existing permanent licences where revocation or variation of licence conditions is necessary to prevent serious damage to the environment. Holders of time-limited licences will, however, retain the right to compensation if their licence is varied or revoked prior to its expiry date.

The introduction of the Water Act will impact on a significant number of UK quarry operators, who will need to make a formal application for a licence where workings are dewatered to allow dry extraction. This process is likely to have the following implications for all quarry-related activities involving water abstraction and transfer.

• Obtaining a licence in some areas may become difficult if the Environment Agency decides that water resources cannot sustain further abstraction unless the water can be returned to the aquifer.    
• Existing sites are likely to be required to assess formally the suitability and impacts of the dewatering operations carried out at a site and, at the very least, will have to calculate and justify the volume of water to be abstracted.
• Licence applications may add a significant delay to project progress and will typically involve carrying out detailed hydrogeological investigative works, requiring third party expertise.  

• Water features survey: This is a door-to-door survey identifying all significant surface-water and groundwater features within the vicinity of the site, including existing abstractions. The locations to be surveyed will normally be stipulated by the Environment Agency and will be based on its licensed-abstractions database. Details of unlicensed abstractions will also need to be included within the survey.
• Pumping-test programme: This involves pumping of the operator’s well, borehole or surface-water source, under test conditions and for an extended period of time (typically more than eight hours). A requirement for the monitoring of water levels and flows in adjacent surface-water features, groundwater wells and boreholes can be expected. It may also be necessary to install additional groundwater monitoring locations between water features that are considered to be at risk from interference owing to the operator’s existing or proposed abstraction activities.
• Pumping-test report: This is a technical report, typically providing details of: the water features survey; the hydrogeological and hydrological setting of the operator’s abstraction, eg type and extent; and pumping-test data and analytical results. The report should also include an assessment as to whether the operator’s abstraction is having, or is likely to have, a significant impact on the identified surface-water and groundwater features, including ecological areas that are water-dependent. This report forms the basis for the successful determination of the abstraction licence and is reviewed by the Environment Agency and other consultees.
• Close liaison with the Environment Agency and other relevant parties: This is necessary to ensure that all the concerns regarding interference of existing groundwater and surface-water features are properly assessed and addressed by the pumping-test programme and report.

• Advertisement of the licence application: It will be necessary to advertise the details of the proposed abstraction within the press.

The impact of the Water Act could be significant in certain areas and this process may lead to some operators being unable to obtain a licence, particularly in highly sensitive hydrogeological, hydrological and/or ecological settings.

Under these circumstances it may be necessary to use appropriate, cost-effective mitigation measures in order to prevent significant impacts. The most appropriate mitigation measure would be dependent on the site setting and would require site-specific investigation.

Such measures could include the installation of a low-permeability barrier, for example a cut-off wall between the abstraction and the identified feature requiring protection from interference. SLR have successfully used this approach for a large-scale mineral-extraction project near Peterborough, operated by Hanson.

Another potential mitigation measure, that may be suitable for deeper sand and gravel extraction operations, could be to recharge water back into the groundwater source (aquifer) at a suitable point located between the abstraction and the sensitive receptor, thereby cancelling out any significant interference.

Additional licence requirements may be necessary, depending on the nature of the mitigation measures to be employed, for example, discharge consent to allow pumped water to be discharged to surface water. The potential impacts associated with these mitigation measures will therefore need to be assessed, prior to acceptance by the regulatory authorities such as the Environment Agency.

For more information contact Stewart Lenton on tel: (01773) 766020; David Morgan on tel: (01225) 309400; or visit: www.slrconsulting.co.uk