Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003

20 Regulation of controlled activities

(1) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations make such provision for or in connection with regulating any activity (a “controlled activity”) as they consider necessary or expedient for the purposes of protection of the water environment.

(2) Such regulations may, in particular—

(a) make provision for or in connection with regulating the activities specified in subsection (3),

(b) otherwise make such provision for or in connection with the basic measures and supplementary measures mentioned in paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the Directive as the Scottish Ministers consider necessary or expedient for the purpose of facilitating the achievement of the environmental objectives set out in river basin management plans.

(3) The activities referred to in subsection (2)(a) are—

(a) activities liable to cause pollution of the water environment,

(b) abstraction of water from bodies of surface water or groundwater,

(c) the construction, alteration or operation of impounding works in bodies of surface water,

(d) building, engineering or other works in, or in the vicinity of, any body of inland surface water,

(e) activities connected with any of the activities specified in paragraphs (a) to (d).

(4) The provision which may be made in regulations under this section includes provision for any of the purposes specified in Part 1 of schedule 2.

(5) Part 2 of that schedule has effect for supplementing Part 1.

(6) In subsection (3)—

• “abstraction”, in relation to a body of surface water or groundwater, means the doing of anything whereby any water is removed by mechanical means from that body of water, whether temporarily or permanently, including anything whereby the water is so removed for the purpose of being transferred to another body of water within the water environment,

• “impounding works”, in relation to a body of surface water, means—

  (a)

  any dam, weir or other works in the body of water by which water may be impounded,

  (b)

  any works diverting the flow of water in the body of water in connection with the construction or alteration of any dam, weir or other works falling within paragraph (a),

• “pollution”, in relation to the water environment, means the direct or indirect introduction, as a result of human activity, of substances or heat into the water environment, or any part of it, which may give rise to any harm; and “harm” means—

  (a)

  harm to the health of human beings or other living organisms,

  (b)

  harm to the quality of the water environment, including—

  (i)

  harm to the quality of the water environment taken as a whole,

  (ii)

  other impairment of, or interference with, the quality of aquatic ecosystems or terrestrial ecosystems directly depending on aquatic ecosystems,

  (c)

  offence to the senses of human beings,

  (d)

  damage to property, or

  (e)

  impairment of, or interference with, amenities or other legitimate uses of the water environment.

(7) This section is without prejudice to section 22.