Commentary on Sections Part 1: Abstraction and Impounding 65. .Section 17: Protected rights.
Currently, owners of land bordering rivers or lying above groundwater are taken for the purpose of the WRA to have rights to abstract up to 20 m3 of water per day for domestic purposes or agricultural purposes other than irrigation (e.g. for stock watering). Section 17 preserves the classes of abstractor that benefit from the protected rights. The volume of water to which the protected right applies may, however, be reduced to coincide with a lower threshold introduced by an order made under new section 27A (section 6). Should the threshold subsequently rise, the protected right will remain at the lower level. Examples of how this works are given in the box below
66.The section also applies a protected right to those abstractors whose licence lapses by virtue of falling below the relevant volume or purpose threshold for so long as they continue to abstract. The protected right lapses after four years of non-abstraction unless the abstraction is irregular in nature (e.g. it is only required under certain conditions) in which case it may continue if the Agency agrees.  These provisions will also apply where a person transfers part of his licensed abstraction rights to someone else, and that part (or his remaining part) no longer requires an abstraction licence (provided some abstraction occurs within any given period of four years).