Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003

1 General purpose of Part 1

(1) The purpose of this Part is to make provision for or in connection with protection of the water environment, including making provision, and enabling provision to be made, for or in connection with implementing Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23rd October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (referred to in this Part as “the Directive”).

(2) In this Part “protection of the water environment” includes, in particular—

(a) preventing further deterioration of, and protecting and enhancing, the status of aquatic ecosystems and, with regard to their water needs, terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands directly depending on those aquatic ecosystems,

(b) promoting sustainable water use based on the long-term protection of available water resources,

(c) aiming at enhancing protection and improvement of the aquatic environment through, amongst other things, specific measures for the progressive reduction of discharges, emissions and losses of priority substances and the cessation or phasing out of discharges, emissions and losses of the priority hazardous substances,

(d) ensuring the progressive reduction of pollution of groundwater and preventing further pollution of it, and

(e) contributing to mitigating the effects of floods and droughts,

with a view to contributing to the achievement of the aims specified in subsection (3).

(3) Those aims are—

(a) the provision of a sufficient supply of good quality surface water and groundwater as needed for sustainable, balanced and equitable water use,

(b) a significant reduction in pollution of groundwater,

(c) the protection of territorial and other marine waters, and

(d) achieving the objectives of international agreements, including those which aim to prevent and eliminate pollution of the marine environment, in relation to which measures are adopted under paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the Directive in pursuance of a proposal under paragraph 3 of that Article.