Section 6: General provisions with respect to water., Environment Act 1995

It shall be the duty of an appropriate agency, to such extent as it considers desirable, generally to promote—

the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty and amenity of inland and coastal waters and of land associated with such waters;

the conservation of flora and fauna which are dependent on an aquatic environment; and

the use of such waters and land for recreational purposes;

and it shall be the duty of an appropriate agency, in determining what steps to take in performance of the duty imposed by virtue of paragraph (c) above, to take into account the needs of persons who are chronically sick or disabled. This subsection is without prejudice to the duties of the Agency under section 7 below.

It shall be the duty of the Agency to take all such action as it may from time to time consider, in accordance with any directions given under section 40 below, to be necessary or expedient for the purpose—

of conserving, redistributing or otherwise augmenting water resources in England ...; and

of securing the proper use of water resources in England ...(including the efficient use of those resources);

but nothing in this subsection shall be construed as relieving any water undertaker of the obligation to develop water resources for the purpose of performing any duty imposed on it by virtue of section 37 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (general duty to maintain water supply system).

The Natural Resources Body for Wales must take all such action as it may from time to time consider, in accordance with any directions given under article 11 of the Natural Resources Body for Wales (Establishment) Order 2012 (S.I.2012/1903), to be necessary or expedient for the purpose—

of conserving, redistributing or otherwise augmenting water resources in Wales; and

of securing the proper use of water resources in Wales (including the efficient use of those resources);

The provisions of the 1991 Act relating to the functions of the Agency under Chapter II of Part II of that Act and the related water resources provisions so far as they relate to other functions of the Agency shall not apply to so much of any inland waters as—

are part of the River Tweed;

are part of the River Esk or River Sark at a point where either of the banks of the river is in Scotland; or

are part of any tributary stream of the River Esk or the River Sark at a point where either of the banks of the tributary stream is in Scotland

except so much of those inland waters as are in England.

Subsection (3) above shall apply to—

sections 3 and 4 of the Water Act 2003; and

such of the related water resources provisions as apply in relation to those sections by virtue of section 33(2) of the Water Act 2003,

as it applies to the provisions referred to in that subsection.

The Agency shall in relation to England and the Natural Resources Body for Wales shall in relation to Wales exercise a general supervision over all matters relating to flood and coastal erosion risk management, in accordance with Part 1 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

The Agency's flood defence functions shall extend to the territorial sea adjacent to England ... in so far as—

the region of any Regional Flood and Coastal Committee includes any area of that territorial sea; or

section 165(2) or (3) of the 1991 Act (drainage works for the purpose of defence against sea water or tidal water, and works etc to secure an adequate outfall for a main river) provides for the exercise of any power in the territorial sea.

The flood defence functions of the Natural Resources Body for Wales extend to the territorial sea adjacent to Wales.

It shall be the duty of an appropriate agency to maintain, improve and develop fisheries of—

The area in respect of which the Agency shall carry out its functions relating to fisheries shall be the whole of England ..., together with—

such part of the territorial sea adjacent to England ... as extends for six miles from the baselines from which the breadth of that sea is measured,

in the case of—

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975,

Part V of the 1991 Act (general control of fisheries), and

subsection (6) above,

so much of the River Esk, with its banks and tributary streams up to their source, as is situated in Scotland, and

in the case of sections 31 to 34 and 36(2) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 as applied by section 39(1B) of that Act, so much of the catchment area of the River Esk as is situated in Scotland,

but, in the case of the enactments specified in paragraph (b) above, excluding the River Tweed.

The area in respect of which the Natural Resources Body for Wales shall carry out its functions relating to fisheries shall be the whole of Wales, together with such part of the territorial sea adjacent to Wales as extends for six miles from the baselines from which the breadth of that sea is measured.

In this section—

For the purposes of this section, the parts of the territorial sea which are adjacent to Wales, and which are therefore not adjacent to England, are the parts of the sea which are treated as adjacent to Wales for the purposes of section 158 of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

Section 6: General provisions with respect to water.

Discussed in

About this text