Legislation

Regional water authorities are part of the government organisation: within set legal boundaries they can take binding decision for citizens, lay down regulations and issue or refuse permits and levy taxes.

On that account a regional water authority is -just like provincial and local governments- a territorial decentralised government. The boundaries of the area over which the regional water authority governs are legally set.

The Water Act is leading in general water management, along with government regulations and regulations of decentralised governments. These form the main source of water legislation, which can be defined as the total sum of legislative rules and regulations pertaining to water management. More and more legislation and policies with an impact on the regional water authorities originates from the European Union.