The Act – Section by Section Part 2 – Control of Water Abstraction Section 5 – Qualifying abstraction
13.Part 2 of the Act establishes a requirement for Ministerial approval for certain abstractions from the water environment in Scotland that are above the specified rate threshold, and are not exempt under section 7.
14.Section 5 sets out the abstractions to which the provisions of Part 2 apply (“qualifying abstractions”). The requirement for Ministerial approval applies to an abstraction from any body of inland water in Scotland that is above the threshold rate set by or under section 8.
15.Inland water is defined by the 2003 Act as all standing or flowing water on the surface of the land (other than partly saline water in the vicinity of river mouths) and all groundwater within the landward limits of coastal water.