Power to take, pump, impound and discharge water
19.—(1) The Agency may take, impound and use water from, and discharge water into, the river, and may pump any water required by it from or into the river or pump any water found by it into the river or into any watercourse, public sewer, or drain in connection with the construction or maintenance of the authorised works and for those purposes may lay down, take up and alter conduits, pipes and other works and conveniences and may, on any land within the limits of deviation, make openings into, and connections with, the river, or any watercourse, public sewer or drain.
(2) Any dispute arising from the exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph (1) to connect to or use a public sewer or drain is to be determined as if it were a dispute under section 106 (right to communicate with public sewers) of the Water Industry Act 1991(1).
(3) The Agency must not, in exercise of the powers conferred by this article—
(a)discharge any water into any public sewer or drain except with the consent (which is not to be unreasonably withheld) of the person to whom it belongs and subject to such terms and conditions as that person may reasonably impose; and
(b)make any opening into any public sewer or drain except in accordance with plans reasonably approved by and under the superintendence (if provided) of the person to whom the sewer or drain belongs.
(4) Nothing in this article obviates any requirement for an environmental permit under regulation 12(1)(b) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016(2).
(5) The Agency must take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that any water discharged into a watercourse or public sewer or drain in exercise of the powers conferred by this article is as free as may be practicable from gravel, soil or other solid substance or oil or matter in suspension.
(6) If a person who receives an application for consent or approval fails to notify the Agency of a decision within 28 days of receiving the application for consent under sub-paragraph (3)(a) or approval under sub-paragraph (3)(b) then that person is deemed to have granted consent or approval, as the case may be.
(7) In this article “public sewer or drain” means a sewer or drain which belongs to a sewerage undertaker, the Agency, a harbour authority, an internal drainage board, a local authority, or a joint planning board.
(8) In this article, other than references to “public sewer or drain” or “watercourse”, expressions used both in this article and in the Water Resources Act 1991(3) have the same meaning as in that Act.