Permit issued under the Water Act

The Waters Act makes its own demands on building from the waters’ and groundwater’s point of view. A water resources management project means measures carried out in water or ground area or such use of a building that can affect open-surface water or groundwater, water environment, water resources engineering or usability of a water area. A permit from a permit authority is required inter alia for a water resources management project, which

1. Causes a flood risk or general shortage of water;

2. Causes detrimental change in nature and its functions or deterioration of water body or groundwater area;

3. Markedly reduces natural beauty, environmental amenity or cultural values or water body’s use for recreational activities;

4. Causes a health hazard;

5. Significantly reduces productivity of an important or other groundwater body that is suitable for water supply purposes or in other way causes damage or harm to water intake or using water as household water;

6. Causes damage or harm to fishing or fish stock;

7. Causes damage or harm to water traffic or log-floating;

8. Endangers a streamlet’s channel remaining in its natural state; or

9. Infringes the public interest in some other way comparable to those mentioned above.

A water resources management project shall have a permit of permit authority if alterations cause loss of a benefit to someone else’s water area, fishing, water supply, ground area, property or other estate. A permit will not be required where loss of benefit is caused only to a private interest if the party interested has given his/her written consent to such measure.

Water resources management projects that require permits are projects which take place on ground or waters and which may cause alteration of the water environment of infringement of an important public or private interest. Some measures do always require a permit from a permit authority regardless of the nature of consequences that those measures have or may have. Such undertakings include closing or reducing a main channel or a public channel for transport or floating, building a bridge or vehicle of transportation over a public channel for transport or main channel and extracting land resources from the bottom of a water area for a other use than usual household use.

The competent permit authority is the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI). The operator must apply for the permit before commencing the activity. The permit shall be granted, if the project does not notably infringe public of private interests or if the possible benefits gained from the project are more substantial than the disadvantages. The permit is admitted for the time being, but when special reasons so require, it can be admitted for a fixed period. The permit shall not be admitted if the project endangers public state of health or security, causes substantial harmful changes to the environment or waters, or widely deteriorates the living and industrial conditions in the area.