Registration of activities involving risk to aquatic environment
Registration of activities involving risk to aquatic environment is required depending on the volume or nature of the activity. In order to register an activity, an application must be submitted to the Environmental Board at least one month before the commencement of the activity. Where several activities involving a risk to the aquatic environment are planned and these activities are interrelated in terms of space or technology, these activities shall be set out in a single application.
If a person previously has a permit for the special use of water for activities for which the water permit is no longer needed, but which entails the obligation of registration, the person may submit an application to the Environmental Board for its revocation and registration of the corresponding activity.
When applying for a registration, it may be necessary to carry out a preliminary assessment to consider the need for an environmental impact assessment or an environmental impact assessment itself.
Water applications
Information about applying for registration of activities involving risk to aquatic environment can be found on the water applications page.
read moreDepending on the activities applied for, the applicant of registration must submit the following:
- Description, purpose and justification of the planned activity.
- The characterisation and technical description of the planned activity with approximate volumes.
- Coordinates and description of the location of the planned activity.
- Name of the body of groundwater, water body or part of the sea affected.
- If there is data, the number of the environmental register of the water body and the number of the register part of the immovable and the cadastral register number.
- A description and mitigation measures of the potential adverse impact on the properties of surface water and groundwater, aquatic biota or water-related biota due to the planned activity.
- Normal damming level in case of applying for the registration of lowering of water level.
- The planned time of implementation of the activity.
Registration and submission of application is regulated in addition to the Water Act by the application of registration of activities involving risk to aquatic environment and the data list of the registration.
Cutting tree and shrub layer in a water protection zone
Cutting layers of trees and shrubs in a water protection zone is an exception and must be justified.
Consent of the Environmental Board is required for cutting a tree and shrub layer on the beach or shore of water bodies, except during the construction and storage work of the land improvement system. The consent of the local government is required for cutting of single trees in a densely populated area.
WHY DO WE NEED APPROVAL?
Woody flora in a water protection zone prevents nutrients and soil from entering the water body, the root system of trees ensures the slope of the shore of the water body and reduces erosion, and the shade of trees limits the proliferation of aquatic vegetation and provides shelter for aquatic life.
In order to prevent the erosion of the banks or shores of water bodies, and diffuse emissions into water, the banks or shores of water bodies shall have water protection zones. The baseline for calculating the extent of a water protection zone means the boundary of a water body set out in the base map. If the main ditch, canal or a ditch serving as an artificial recipient of a land improvement system has been set out as a line object in the base map of the Estonian Topographic Database, the edge of the recess shall be the baseline for calculating the extent of a water protection zone. Read more in §118 and 121 of the Water Act.
The extent of the water protection zone can be viewed in the restrictions map application of the geo-portal of the Land Board.
THE EXTENT OF WATER PROTECTION ZONE IS:
- 20 m on the Baltic Sea, Lake Peipus, Lake Lämmijärv, Lake Pskov and Lake Võrtsjärv
- 10 m on other lakes, rivers, brooks, springs, canals, main ditches and open artificial recipients of land improvement systems
- 1 m in main ditches and open artificial recipients of land improvement systems with a catchment area of less than 10 km2.
THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF BANKS OR SHORES OF WATER BODIES HAVE NO WATER PROTECTION ZONE:
- Port areas, embankments or shore protection areas established on legal grounds
- Bathing areas and bathing waters.
SPECIFICATIONS:
- In case of a water protection zone with repeated flooding, the condition of §35 (4) of the Nature Conservation Act must also be taken into account.
- If cutting works are carried out in the water protection zone and to the extent that requires submission of a forest notification, the Environmental Board provides the conditions within the framework of the processing of the forest notification.
Application
In order to obtain consent for cutting layers of trees and shrubs on a non-forest land, an application must be submitted at info@keskkonnaamet.ee, in case of a forest land a forest notification must be submitted at register.metsad.ee . The Environmental Board reviews the submitted application within 30 days.
The application must describe as precisely as possible what is intended to be done, including:
- The location of the planned cutting area (name of the water body, identification ofn cadastral unit, coordinates of the activity if possible)
- Type, number and condition of trees to be cut (dangerous, dead, fallen into water)
- Time of the planned activity (beginning and end)
- Known nature conservation restrictions
- Cutting must not be carried out during the period of bird peace.
A drawing/map reflecting the location of the planned cutting area must be added to the application.
Explanations
- Tree layers – stands of trees of more or less the same height, among other things
- Dangerous trees – with branches or trunks that are in danger of breaking, often damaged trees
- Dead trees and stubs - trees and stubs of the living trees without a crown
- Healthy trees - no visible trunk and crown damage
- Trees that have fallen into the water - trees lying partially or completely in water
- Shrubs layer – a collection of shrubs 1-4 meters high, including trees up to 4 m high (often formed of willows, chockeberry, hazel)
- Brushwood – a combination of natural fine-trunk and low deciduous of up to 8 cm in diameter (often formed from willows, alders) that is generally formed on a waste land or a clear cut area.
Last updated: 16.12.2022
