The Legal Frame of Water Use
Water, as a natural resource, is an object of regulation by the environmental protection law, and the right to use water is shaped by three instruments of that law: the basic principles, the environmental-load norms and the environmental decision. This page describes precisely those three instruments — why water use is paid, how the quota system limits it, and when an environmental decision is required for an activity.
Basic Principles — Paid Nature Use
In planning and carrying out activities, state organs and all physical and legal persons are obliged to be guided by the basic principles of environmental protection, and for water three of them work with particular force. The principle of paid nature use: for an activity subject, the use of land, water, forest, flora and fauna, subsoil and subsoil natural resources is paid — water is public property and its use is not free. The polluter-pays principle: the activity subject is obliged to compensate the damage inflicted by it on the environment — water pollution demands compensation. And the sustainability principle: the use of the environment and natural resources is admissible where it does not endanger the development of society and the protection of the resources from irreversible changes is secured.
To these are added the risk-reduction principle — in planning, measures must be taken to prevent harmful impact; the restitution principle — a degraded environment must be restored in a form maximally close to its original state; and the impact-assessment principle — in designing, the subject must assess the possible impact of the activity. These principles are not abstract declarations: they are the foundation of the concrete instruments by which the state controls water.
Environmental-Load Norms and Quotas
In using and developing natural ecosystems, landscapes and other territories, maximum admissible load norms are established. These norms embrace quotas for the use of natural resources, established at the state level with regard to the principles of sustainable development; quotas for individual types of resources are established at regional and local levels. The norms are elaborated and approved by the ministry once every 5 years, by statute. For water this means that the volume that may be abstracted from a given water object, or discharged into it, is not unlimited — it is bounded and shaped by levels.
The Environmental Decision
With regard to the ecological, social and economic interests of society and the state, and for the protection of human health, the natural environment and cultural and material values, an environmental decision is required for carrying out an activity on the territory of Georgia. Before the decision is issued, the environmental-impact assessment procedure is carried out under the Environmental Assessment Code, and the questions connected with issuance are determined by the same code. For an activity affecting water, this is the act that fixes the conditions of the impact.
What These Norms Do Not Contain
These norms contain no concrete quota figures or tariffs — those are established by statutes and decrees and change; nor are the application-procedure details here, which are resolved by the Assessment Code and permit legislation. When planning a concrete project, one must first establish whether it falls within the mandatory assessment-and-decision frame, and then verify the current quotas.
First, understand that water use is paid and the polluter pays — include these costs in the budget from the start. Second, verify the quotas at the respective level — state, regional or local. Third, if the activity affects water, begin with the assessment-and-decision frame — the most time-sensitive stage. Fourth, remember the norms are updated once every 5 years — check the currency.
One more detail practitioners often miss: the list of principles is not a merely declarative enumeration — it is joined by the priority principle, under which an action that may exert a negative influence may be replaced by a less risky, even more expensive one — and the more expensive action receives priority where its value does not exceed the costs of compensating the damage inflicted by the less valuable action. In water projects this bears directly on technological choice: the more expensive but safer solution is statutorily prior. The principles of public participation and information accessibility are equally important — society participates in taking decisions, and information on the state of the environment is open. These two principles create the legal foundation of public discussion on water questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the questions most frequently asked on this topic.
Why is the use of water paid?
Under the basic principles of the law on environmental protection — the use of nature is paid, and this principle extends to water.
What limits the use of water?
The norms of environmental impact and the system of quotas.
When is an environmental decision necessary?
For activities defined by law — before the activity begins; this goes beyond the frame of water use as well.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team will assess your situation within the norms described on this page and help you with the appropriate instruments. Write to us on Legal.ge — we will plan the steps at the very first consultation.
A timely application strengthens the position — contact us before the terms or the course of the dispute limit the decision.