Province of Groningen: applying for a planning permit for activities near water

Do you perform an activity in surface water or with groundwater and does the activity have little impact on water quality? Notification of this is often sufficient. Are the impacts more significant? Then you need a water permit. This relates to the abstraction of larger quantities of water from the ground or the discharge of groundwater, surface water or rainwater (precipitation).

Examples of activities requiring a water permit are:

• the discharge or dumping of substances into surface water (e.g. a ditch or river)
• the abstraction of groundwater or the infiltration of water, for which the province has jurisdiction
• activities near a water body (e.g. motorway, viaduct, tunnel, bridge, waterway or dyke).

Sometimes an exemption from the province is required. You must apply for this in certain cases for the drainage of a ditch along a provincial road.

You apply for the water permit via Omgevingsloket online. The water notification is also sent via Omgevingsloket online.