Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts

WATER RESOURCES ACT 1998 (NO. 63 OF 1998) - SECT 35

(1)     Subject to this section, the Authority may, on application, grant to a person a licence to take water from a specified waterway or location.

(2)     An application for a licence to take water shall—

        (a)     be in a form approved by the Authority; and

        (b)     be accompanied by the determined fee.

(3)     A licence to take water may be granted subject to such conditions as are specified in the licence.

(4)     For the purposes of subsection (3), the Authority may fix a different rate for different days of the year.

(5)     Without limiting the generality of subsection (3), the conditions to which a licence to take water may be subject may include a condition—

        (a)     to keep and maintain records;

        (b)     to install, operate and maintain equipment, including a water meter;

        (c)     to provide information in relation to compliance with the licence or the conditions (if any) to which it is subject;

        (d)     to conduct specified monitoring and testing consequent on the taking of the water;

        (e)     to mark, in a specified manner, places from which water is taken under the licence; or

        (f)     specifying the rate at which, or the maximum amount of, water that may be taken, or both.

(6)     A person shall not, without reasonable excuse, contravene a condition of a licence to take water.

Penalty:

        (a)     if the offender is a natural person—50 penalty units;

        (b)     if the offender is a body corporate—250 penalty units.

(7)     A licence to take water shall be in a form approved by the Authority.

(8)     A licence to take water remains in force for such period as is specified in the licence unless it is sooner surrendered or cancelled.

(9)     In deciding whether or not to grant a licence to take water, the Authority shall take into account—

        (a)     the applicant's environmental record both in the Territory and elsewhere so far as it relates to water;

        (b)     whether to grant the licence—

              (i)     would have an adverse effect on the environment; or

              (ii)     would adversely affect environmental flows of a particular waterway or aquifer or the rights of other water users;

        (c)     whether the applicant has been convicted of an offence against this Act or a corresponding law of a State or another Territory; and

        (d)     in the case of an application for a licence to take ground water—

              (i)     whether the quantity of water available can meet the demand or there is a risk that the available water will not be sufficient to meet future demand; and

              (ii)     whether the taking of the water will or is likely to affect the quality of the water in the place to which the application relates.

(10)     The Authority shall not grant a licence to take water—

        (a)     subject to subsection (11), if a water allocation or interstate water allocation on which to base the taking of water from the place to which the application relates does not exist;

        (b)     unless satisfied that the applicant has lawful authority to obtain access to the place from which the water is to be taken under the licence or to divert the water from that place to where it is to be used, or both, as the case requires; or

        (c)     in respect of a development before an application to conduct the development has been approved under Part VI of the Land Act.

(11)     Paragraph (10) (a) applies to—

        (a)     ground water under land the subject of a lease of Territory Land granted after the commencement of section 13;

        (b)     ground water under unleased Territory Land; and

        (c)     surface water.

(12)     In this section—