Authority for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture

Apply for permission to extract groundwater

Prerequisites

• The groundwater and the public water supply are not endangered by your use.
• Your project does not fall under the permit-free use of groundwater
  • In Hamburg, you must report any use of groundwater without a permit.

Documents required

Which documents you need for your application varies depending on the type and scope of your project. In a preliminary discussion with the responsible authority, you can clarify which documents are required in your case.

Typically, this involves several or all of the following documents:

• Explanatory report
• Site plan in which the existing or planned facility is marked in color
• Information on the type of facility
• schematic representation of the system in plan and section

Please note

You do not need a water law permit if you only extract groundwater to a small extent and without adverse effects on the water balance, for example for

• your own household,
• garden irrigation,
• the agricultural farm,
• watering livestock.

In these cases, you must report the usage.

Deadlines

There is no legal deadline. Apply for permission well in advance of starting your project.

Procedure

• You send your application with the required documents to the responsible authority.
• The competent authority
  • checks the completeness of your application and documents and contacts you if any information or documents are missing,
  • examines your application from a water management and water law perspective and, if necessary, involves other bodies.
• You receive
  • a permit or
  • a rejection notice
• You will also receive a fee notice.
• You pay the fee.

Processing time

Please allow 4 weeks for processing. In individual cases, processing may take longer or shorter.

Fees

50.00 EUR - 10,000.00 EUR

Legal remedies

Contradiction

Legal basis

Section 8 paragraph 1 of the Water Resources Act (Water Resources Act - WHG)


www.gesetze-im-internet.de/whg_2009/__8.html


Section 9 paragraph 1 number 5 of the Water Resources Act (Water Resources Act - WHG)


www.gesetze-im-internet.de/whg_2009/__9.html