ID:
policies-65
Name:
Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003
Issuing organisation:
Scottish Parliament
Geographical Scope:
Scotland
Type:
Legislative
Scientific domain:
physical states, chemistry, geology, and biology
Type of water:
surface and groundwater, drinking water, wastewater and treated water
Water management focus:
monitoring, management
Parameter change rate assumption:
Water Quality, Quanity
Description:
This Act provides for the protection of Scotland’s water environment, implements EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, and amends existing water and sewerage legislation. It aims to prevent deterioration of aquatic, terrestrial, and wetland ecosystems; promote sustainable long-term water use; reduce and phase out harmful discharges and hazardous substances; reduce and prevent groundwater pollution; and mitigate floods and droughts. The Act seeks to ensure sufficient high-quality surface and groundwater, significantly reduce pollution, protect marine waters, and fulfil relevant international environmental obligations
Status:
effective
Effect Date:
5th March 2003 Modified 14th September 2015
Resource:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2003/3/contents
Recommendations:
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.
