Licence

Controlled water activities (CAR) consents (Scotland)

You must be authorised by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to carry out any controlled water activity eg abstraction or construction work

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You must be authorised by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) if you carry out any controlled water activity.

A controlled activity is any activity which directly or indirectly has, or is likely to have, a significant adverse impact on the water environment. This includes:

  • any activity liable to cause pollution of the water environment, such as the discharge of a pollutant into water
  • abstraction of water
  • construction, alteration or operation of impounding works in surface water or wetlands
  • carrying out building or engineering in or near to inland water or wetlands
  • artificial recharge or augmentation of groundwater