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Apply for consent to investigate a groundwater source

Updated 25 May 2023

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-consent-to-investigate-a-groundwater-source/apply-for-consent-to-investigate-a-groundwater-source

If you want to abstract (take) water from groundwater, you may need to investigate:

  • if enough water is available
  • if the quality of the water is suitable for your needs
  • the effects of your proposal on the environment

You need to do this before you can apply for an abstraction licence.

You must get consent to investigate the groundwater source if you will abstract 20 cubic metres or more of water a day. (1 cubic metre is 1000 litres.)

This investigation could include :

  • drilling or excavating a borehole or well
  • excavating a catchpit or a seepage-fed lagoon
  • completing pumping tests

This does not guarantee that you will find a suitable source of groundwater.

It is against the law to do these things without consent.

You do not need this consent or an abstraction licence if you will abstract less than 20 cubic metres of water a day.

1. Discuss your proposal 

First, contact the Environment Agency to discuss your proposal. This will also help you identify what other permission (such as planning permission) you may need.

Use the contact details for your local groundwater support team at the end of this guide.

You can find out how much water is available in your area through your area’s abstraction licensing strategy.

After your initial discussion you will need to apply for consent to investigate a groundwater source. You do not need to pay to apply for this consent.

Fill in the application form. The form explains where to send your information.

The Environment Agency will write back to you once they have received your application. You should get this reply within 10 working days.

3. Complete a water features survey

After you’ve applied for consent, the Environment Agency will probably ask you to carry out a survey of water features in the area of your proposed work.

Water features can include:

  • boreholes and wells, even if they are disused or filled in
  • springs
  • watercourses
  • ponds and lakes, even if filled in
  • wetland areas
  • seepage lagoons and catch-pits
  • adits (passages for drainage to or from a mine)

The Environment Agency will explain what you need to do and any conditions in the information it sends to you.

You must have landowner permission to carry out work. You may also need planning permission from your local authority.

Return your completed water features survey to the Environment Agency. They will review this and reply to you within 15 working days.

It may take longer if your proposal is:

  • close to sensitive conservation sites
  • complex and could impact others

You can use the results of your investigation to produce a groundwater impact assessment to send with any future abstraction licence application. This must provide details of the results of the pumping test and an assessment of the effect your proposed abstraction would have on the environment. The Environment Agency will tell you what to include in your report.

Once the Environment Agency has received a satisfactory report on your survey, they will normally give consent to carry out the investigation for 6 months.

You must carry out pumping tests to find out:

  • whether the source can produce a water supply that will meet your needs
  • how the water level will fall at a given rate of pumping

Major developments, and developments close to environmentally sensitive sites, will need extra testing. You will also need to produce a groundwater impact assessment report.

If you are developing the groundwater source to provide a private supply of drinking water (and you are not a public water supply company), you should tell the environmental health officer at your local council. The Private Water Supply Regulations will apply to your abstraction and an environmental health officer should be able to give you advice on this.

You may need to get an environmental permit from the Environment Agency before you are allowed to discharge water from the pumping test. They will tell you if this is necessary, and if it is, what you will need to do. It can take up to 4 months to get a permit, so contact them as early as possible.

5. Get specialist advice

A professional hydrogeological advisor can suggest where best to develop a source, or whether it is worth doing at all. They can also design and supervise your pumping test and produce the groundwater impact assessment required.

6. Apply for an abstraction licence

After you have finished your investigations with the appropriate consent, you must apply for an abstraction licence to continue to abstract groundwater.

Even if the source provides enough water, this does not mean the Environment Agency will automatically grant you an abstraction licence. This could be because of:

  • the effects of abstraction on other sources or environmental features
  • general restrictions on licences in the area due to water shortages

You must be able to justify the amount of water you want to abstract when you apply for an abstraction licence.

7. Contact the Environment Agency

To discuss your proposal or to apply for consent, contact the groundwater support team for the area your site is located in.

7.1 Cumbria and Lancashire

Email [email protected]

7.2 Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

Email [email protected]

7.3 East Anglia

Email [email protected] for:

  • Broadland
  • East Suffolk
  • Essex
  • North Norfolk

Email [email protected] for:

  • Cam and Ely Ouse
  • North-west Norfolk
  • Old Bedford including Middle Level
  • Upper Ouse and Bedford Ouse

7.4 East Midlands

Email [email protected]

7.5 Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire

Email [email protected]

7.6 Hertfordshire and North London

Email [email protected]

7.7 Kent, South London and East Sussex

Email [email protected]

7.8 Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire

Email [email protected]

7.9 North East

Email [email protected]

7.10 Solent and South Downs

Email [email protected]

7.11 Thames

Email [email protected]

7.12 Wessex

Email [email protected]

7.13 West Midlands

Email [email protected]

7.14 Yorkshire

Email [email protected]

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