Amendment to Water Board Regulation definitively adopted
On October 23, 2024, the general board of the Noorderzijlvest Water Authority decided to partially amend the Water Authority Regulations. No opinions were submitted on the draft amendments, which were available for inspection for eight weeks.
In addition, some of the areas of operation have also been updated. No opinions have been submitted regarding the draft of these amendments either.
The most important changes
Activities that require compensation for lost water storage capacity are now subject to a permit requirement rather than a notification requirement. These include, in particular, the filling in or reduction in size of waterways, or the digging or enlargement of waterways.
- The rules for ground disturbances involving pressure pipes are being relaxed. From now on, only ground disturbances involving pipes to which the Precautionary Measure applies will be subject to a reporting obligation. The other rules (duty of care and specific implementation rules) will continue to apply to ground disturbances involving all types of pressure pipes.
- From now on, there will no longer be a protection zone (five-meter zone inland) around the Paterswoldsemeer, because the water board does not need to carry out maintenance on the Paterswoldsemeer from the shore.
- The rules for the maintenance of works that have been carried out without prior permission, but for example following a notification, also apply to future stakeholders in the maintenance of those works.
Why is the Water Authority Regulation being updated?
Since the introduction of the Environment Act on January 1, 2024, and the Water Board Regulation on January 2, 2024, the water board has gained experience in working with these new laws and regulations. In implementing these regulations, the water board has encountered situations that required the updating of a number of rules and provisions. In some cases, there is excessive regulatory pressure where this is no longer necessary or efficient. In other cases, the water board has found that stricter rules are needed to clarify responsibilities for maintenance or new activities, for example.
What are areas of operation?
Areas of operation are maps of specific areas within our management area where certain rules from the Water Authority Regulations apply. For example, different rules apply to our flood defenses (dikes) than to our waterways. The areas of operation are part of the Water Authority Regulations and thus help to protect our water management works.
Announcement
The complete overview of the amendments to the Water Board Regulation, which have been adopted by the general board, can be found at officielebekendmakingen.nl: Water Board Gazette 2024, 22707 | Overheid.nl > Official announcements.
The announcement of the change in the areas of operation can be found at officielebekendmakingen.nl: Waterschapsblad 2024, 22755 | Overheid.nl > Official announcements.
The current version of the Water Board Regulations of the Noorderzijlvest Water Board can be consulted at lokaleregelgeving.nl: Water Board Regulations Noorderzijlvest Water Board 2023 | Local legislation and regulations.
More information
The Water Authority Regulations contain rules about your living environment in our working area. Our Water Authority Regulations