The basics
Do you need an abstraction licence?
If you take more than 20 cubic metres of water a day from a river, reservoir, canal or aquifer in England, you almost certainly need a licence from the Environment Agency. That is roughly 4,400 gallons, which is less than many people expect.
The forms themselves are not the hard part. What decides an application is the evidence behind them: whether you can show the abstraction will not harm the river, other water users or protected sites and that the volume you are asking for is justified.
This page sets out the process as it works in practice. It draws on the Environment Agency guidance and on hands-on experience of licensing and permitting for water companies and reservoir owners, including Strategic Resource Option (SRO) schemes.
Licence types
Which licence do you need?
The type of licence decides which application forms you complete. Almost every application starts with Part A, which covers who you are, and most include Part E, which works out the charge.
Full abstraction
Taking more than 20 m³ a day for 28 days or more, from surface water or groundwater.
Parts A, B, C and ETransfer
Moving water from one source to another without using it in between, for example from one reservoir to another.
Parts A, B, C and ETemporary
A one off abstraction of less than 28 days that is not part of a repeating activity.
Parts A, B, C and EImpoundment
Building or altering a dam, weir or sluice that holds back the flow of inland water.
Parts A, D and EVariation
Changing an existing licence: a new abstraction point, a new purpose, different timing or more water.
Parts A, B, C and ERenewal
Replacing a licence that expires within the next 12 months. Apply at least three months before it ends.
WR327, or A, B, C and E with changesThe process
How an abstraction licence application works
Most of the effort goes in before anything is formally submitted. The pre-application response tells you what evidence the Environment Agency wants to see, and the rest of the programme is built around answering it.
Scope the proposal
Pin down the source, volumes, use and timing. Check water availability at the abstraction point and work out which other permissions the scheme will need.
Pre-application
Send Parts A and B to the Environment Agency. You can choose basic or enhanced pre-application. The enhanced service is charged, with the cost agreed before work starts, and gives you the chance to discuss the proposal and find out what other permissions and evidence are needed.
Build the evidence
Work through every point in the pre-application response: hydrology and modelling, the Environmental Assessment Report, WFD and habitats screening, water need and efficiency.
Put the pack together
Complete Parts A, B, C and E, write the cover letter, prepare the maps and collect proof of access rights.
Check and sign off
Make sure names, grid references and volumes are identical across every form and map. The declaration must be signed by someone authorised, such as a company director.
Submit and pay
Send the forms with the application charge and a correctly formatted payment reference. Any claim for commercial confidentiality goes in at this point.
Environment Agency determination
The application is checked for completeness, may be advertised and is sent to consultees such as Natural England before a decision is made.
Yes
The licence is issued with conditions, for example hands-off flows, metering, annual returns and an end date. Compliance starts here.No, or unworkable conditions
Talk it through with the Environment Agency first. A formal appeal goes to the Planning Inspectorate within 28 days.Timelines
How long does it take?
Longer than most people plan for. The four month decision period only applies once the application has been submitted, and the work to get there is usually the bigger part of the programme.
A straightforward licence with a clear case and few environmental sensitivities can be done in under a year. Transfers, public water supply schemes and anything near a protected site are a different matter. Two to three years from first contact to decision is common, and larger schemes can take longer still.
The things that usually stretch the programme are:
- Survey seasons. Ecology and fish surveys can only be done at certain times of year, so missing a window can cost twelve months.
- Agreeing the data. Flow records, modelling assumptions and baselines often need several rounds with the Environment Agency before they are accepted.
- Consultees. Natural England, Habitats Regulations assessments and advertising all add time during determination.
- Other permits. A discharge permit, impoundment licence or planning consent can hold up the whole scheme.
- Information requests. Each request after submission means updating the evidence, and decisions on complex cases often take longer than four months.
A complex scheme
Indicative, in monthsThe application pack
What goes in an abstraction licence application
The forms ask the questions and the supporting documents answer them. These are the pieces that make the difference between an application that goes straight through and one that comes back with questions.
The cover letter
The first thing the assessor reads and their guide to everything else+
The cover letter
The first thing the assessor reads and their guide to everything elseThe forms are rigid. The cover letter is where you explain the context, set the scope and deal with any grey areas before the assessor finds them. On a well run application it is built directly from the register of pre-application responses.
What it covers
- What is being applied for and why it is needed
- The pre-application reference and anything that has changed since
- A response to every point raised at pre-application, with a pointer to the evidence
- What is in scope and what is not, with the reason
- A list of every enclosed document
Where it earns its keep
- Explaining why a hands-off flow should or should not apply
- Clarifying form answers that do not fit the tick boxes
- Justifying a licence period outside the normal range
- Flagging other permits being applied for in parallel
Environmental Assessment Report (EAR)
The main evidence that the abstraction will not cause environmental harm+
Environmental Assessment Report (EAR)
The main evidence that the abstraction will not cause environmental harmPart B asks whether you need a full Environmental Impact Assessment or an environmental appraisal. Where a full EIA is not required, the appraisal normally takes the form of an Environmental Assessment Report: one document that brings together the baseline, the predicted effects and the mitigation.
Typical contents
- Description of the scheme and its zone of influence
- Hydrology: flows, levels and water balance with and without the abstraction
- Water quality, ecology, fish and geomorphology baseline
- Water Framework Directive compliance assessment
- Habitats Regulations screening for designated sites
Often asked for as well
- Effects on other abstractors and protected rights
- Invasive non native species risk, particularly for transfers
- Climate change and resilience in a severe drought
- Mitigation, monitoring and how uncertainty is dealt with
Emergency and contingency planning
How the abstraction will be run when things do not go to plan+
Emergency and contingency planning
How the abstraction will be run when things do not go to planThis is not a named section of the application forms, but it is good practice. Showing how the environment is protected in a drought, a pollution incident or an equipment failure strengthens the case for the conditions you are asking for.
- Drought operation: triggers, control curves and when abstraction is reduced or stopped
- Low flow protection: hands-off flows or compensation releases that must be kept up
- Pollution incidents: who shuts the intake and how quickly
- Equipment failure: pumps, screens and meters, with backup and repair arrangements
- Biosecurity: stopping invasive species spreading through a transfer
- Communication: named contacts and how the Environment Agency is told
Maps and plans
The Environment Agency guidance stresses supplying a map to avoid delays+
Maps and plans
The Environment Agency guidance stresses supplying a map to avoid delays- Every abstraction point, reach or area, using the same names as the forms
- A full 12 character national grid reference for each point
- The land where the water will be used
- Any proposed reservoir or storage
- Every discharge point
- The boundary of the land you own or have access rights over
Justifying the volume
Showing the amount asked for is reasonable+
Justifying the volume
Showing the amount asked for is reasonable- How the annual, daily, hourly and peak rates were worked out
- Why the daily maximum may be more than the annual total divided by 365
- How much water, if any, is reused
- Water efficiency measures and water saving equipment
- For water companies, the link to the Water Resources Management Plan and the benefit to deployable output
Access rights and other evidence
Proof you can lawfully reach the water and records of who you have spoken to+
Access rights and other evidence
Proof you can lawfully reach the water and records of who you have spoken to- Proof of ownership, a lease, deed of grant or tenancy or the negotiations so far
- Planning permission status and expected date
- Evidence of discussions with the local fisheries team on eel screening
- Correspondence with Natural England and any management agreement
- Details of any licence aggregation or water rights trade
Keeping it organised
How we structure an application
On larger schemes the answers sit with several people: the applicant, the operator, engineers, ecologists and landowners. Two simple registers keep track of who owns what and make sure nothing goes to the Environment Agency unanswered.
| Form | Ref | Question | Status | Answer or source | Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | A3.2 | Company registration number | Answered | Companies House | None | n/a |
| B | B10.1 | Abstraction location and grid reference | Open | Engineering drawing | Confirm 12 character NGR | Engineer |
| B | B13.1f | Maximum daily amount (m³) | Open | Operational modelling | Confirm peak daily rate | Operator |
| C | C4.1c | Measurement method | Answered | Outline design report | Check design is current | Operator |
| E | E2.2 | Water availability status | To check | Gov.uk mapping tool | Check status at the NGR | FWC |
| # | Topic | Environment Agency request | Response | Evidence | Owner | In cover letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downstream water availability | Assess the effect on downstream catchments | Covered in the hydrology chapter | EAR | FWC | Yes |
| 2 | Compensation flows | Review the current compensation regime | Hydraulic assessment completed | Technical note | FWC | Yes |
| 3 | Invasive species | Assess transfer risk and mitigation | Risk assessment in progress | INNS report | Ecologist | Pending |
| 4 | Drought resilience | Show resilience to a severe drought | Modelled under design drought | Modelling report | Operator | Yes |
Alongside these sits a short permitting engagement strategy: the overall approach, the key people and their roles, the programme of Environment Agency reviews and meetings and a live log of risks and issues. It keeps everyone working to the same dates.
Checklist
Abstraction licence application checklist
Work through each part of the application form. Ticks are not saved, so print the list if you want a copy to work from.
Planning an abstraction or transfer licence?
FWC can help at any stage, from early scoping and pre-application through to the evidence, the forms and the cover letter.
Discuss your applicationFWC services
Where FWC fits in
Licence applications draw on hydrology, ecology, engineering and regulatory knowledge, and they need someone to hold it all together. That is the role FWC usually plays.
FWC has worked on the permitting of Strategic Resource Option (SRO) schemes, the large water company projects that move through the RAPID gated process. That work covered permitting engagement strategies, pre-application evidence, form and response tracking and coordination between water companies, consultants and the Environment Agency to get schemes regulator ready.
- Licensing strategy and early engagement with the Environment Agency
- Permitting support for SRO and other large water resources schemes
- Hydrological modelling, water balances and drought resilience
- WFD assessment and input to the Environmental Assessment Report
- Question trackers, response registers and coordinating all parties
- Completing the forms and drafting the cover letter
This guide is based on Environment Agency guidance notes WR329, WR331, WR333 and WR391 and the gov.uk guidance on applying for a water abstraction or impoundment licence. Forms and charges are updated regularly, so always check the current versions on gov.uk. It is general guidance, not legal advice.