Environment and planning permit: water activities

For activities near water, you may need to apply for an environment and planning permit for water activities (omgevingsvergunning). In some cases you only need to submit a notification or apply for an exemption. Examples of activities near water (in Dutch) are:

• discharging waste water directly into surface water
• extracting groundwater
• constructing water storage facilities
• filling in or draining a ditch
• conducting activities near civil engineering structures such as a viaduct, tunnel, bridge, inland waterway, or embankment
• an event on the water

Do you want to carry out work that will cause disturbance to the functioning of a construction of great social importance? For example, work near a waterway or the North Sea? This is called an activity in a restricted area (beperkingengebiedactiviteit, in Dutch). The central government is almost always the competent authority in such areas. This means you have to comply with the rules of the Environmental Activities Decree (Besluit activiteiten leefomgeving, Bal, in Dutch).

Do the permit check and apply for an environment and planning permit for water activities

Do you want to know if you need an environment and planning permit for a water activity? Or if you need to submit a notification? Go to the Environment and Planning portal (Omgevingsloket) and do the permit check (vergunningcheck, in Dutch). If you enter all the information, the Environment and Planning portal will tell you automatically if and where you need to apply to or notify. You can also see whether you ned any other permits. In some cases, you need to apply for a permit or notify more than one authority. You can submit your application or notification directly via the Environment and Planning portal.

Information about the rules

The rules governing activities near water vary depending on the situation. You can find information about the rules at:

• the water authority: each regional water authority has its own Waterschapsverordening (Water Authority By-laws, in Dutch) which sets rules on activities in surface water of groundwater near a ditch, stream, lake, dike, or road that it manages
• the provincial authority: each province has its own environmental regulations (omgevingsverordening) (in Dutch) that sets the rules on activities in surface water or involving groundwater near a motorway, viaduct, tunnel, bridge, waterway, or dike managed by the province
• Rijkswaterstaat: the Environmental Activities Decree (Besluit activiteiten leefomgeving, Bal, in Dutch) sets out the rules for activities near a major river of large lake, such as the Rhine (Rijn), the Meuse (Maas) and the IJsselmeer (national waters) 

Applying for compensation

Do you experience damage as a result of water management activities? You can claim compensation from the organisation that carries out the work.