Encyclopedia of Hydrology and Lakes pp 688-689 | Cite as
Water charges (UK): Abstractions and discharges
Under Act of Parliament the Environment Agency is required to raise, through charges, sufficient funds to cover the costs relating to issuing and monitoring discharge consents and their impact on receiving waters. The charges are raised from persons or industry making either an abstraction or discharge or both. The principle behind the scheme of charges is that the Environment Agency costs should be recovered from those making the abstraction or discharge rather than the general taxpayer. About 70% of the funding of the Agency is raised through water abstraction charges, levis on local authorities for flood defense work, pollution control and fisheries, navigation and recreation charges. The remainder is in the form of grants from central government.
