Open navigation
Topics > Water > Water licences and permits

Water affecting activities

Are you planning to build a structure or carry out an activity that may impact on a water resource? You might be planning what we call a water affecting activity and may need to apply for a permit.

What is a water affecting activity?

Some activities can have adverse impacts on the health and condition of water resources and the ecosystems that depend on them, as well as on other water users. These water affecting activities include:

  1. constructing or enlarging dams or structures to collect or divert water 
  2. building structures in, obstructing, or depositing solid materials in a watercourse, lake or floodplain (e.g. erosion control, construction of water crossings or dumping material) 
  3. excavating material from a watercourse, lake or floodplain (e.g. excavating or cleaning soaks, waterholes and on-stream dams) 
  4. destroying vegetation in a watercourse, lake or floodplain (e.g. removal of reeds) 
  5. draining or discharging water or brine into a watercourse or lake (e.g. desalination waste, stormwater including urban discharge, drainage and salinity control) 
  6. drilling, deepening and back filling wells, bores and groundwater access trenches.   

Permits for water affecting activities

Water affecting activities need to be managed carefully, and may require a permit. You need to apply for your permit at least two months before you intend to undertake the activity.

To find the permit and application form you need for items 1 to 4 listed above, go to the landscape management region you're interested in. For items 5 and 6 please visit the statewide forms page

Click here to view form.