Applying for a planning permit for activities near water

Do you want to build a shed near water? Or construct a jetty? Then you may need an omgevingsvergunning voor een wateractiviteit – watervergunning (planning permit for activities near water). In some cases a permit is not required and a notification is sufficient. Or you must apply for an exemption.

Where you need to apply to for a permit for activities near water depends on where you are going to carry out your activity:

Are you going to carry out activities in or near a ditch, stream, pond, dyke or road managed by a local water authority? If so, you must apply for a permit from your local water authority.
Are you going to carry out activities at a highway, viaduct, tunnel, bridge, waterway or dyke that is managed by a province? Then you must apply for a permit or exemption from the province.
Do you want to carry out an activity in or near a large river or lake, such as the Rhine, the Meuse or the IJsselmeer? Then you must apply for a permit from Rijkswaterstaat (executive agency of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management).

If you are not sure where you need to apply for a permit, contact the municipality where you intend to carry out your activity.

You may also need other permits for activities that you intend to carry out under other laws or regulations. One example is an omgevingsvergunning (planning permit). You can obtain information about this from the relevant municipality.

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Province of Limburg

Here is some information from your province.

Water rights licence

Do you perform an activity in surface water or with groundwater and does the activity have little impact on water quality? Notification of this is often sufficient. Are the impacts more significant? Then you need a water permit. This relates to the abstraction of larger quantities of water from the ground or the discharge of groundwater, surface water or rainwater (precipitation). Examples of activities requiring a water permit are: the discharge or dumping of substances into surface water (e.g. a ditch or river), the abstraction of groundwater or the infiltration of water, for which the province has jurisdiction, activities near a water body (e.g. motorway, viaduct, tunnel, bridge, waterway or dyke). Sometimes an exemption from the province is required. You must apply for this in certain cases for the drainage of a ditch along a provincial road.

You wish to use groundwater, surface water or rainwater. The water permit does not relate to tap water.

https://www.omgevingsloket.nl/

You apply for the water permit via Omgevingsloket Online (https://www.omgevingsloket.nl/) (Service Counter for Environmental and Planning Permits – OLO). You also submit the water notification via OLO.

Legesverordening 2023

In principle, a decision period of 26 weeks applies to a water permit.

Have you applied for a permit? If you do not agree with our decision on your application, you can appeal. Do this within 6 weeks. Do you then disagree with the decision on your objection? Then you can appeal to the court within 6 weeks.

Contact the servicedesk of the Province of Limburg:
Telephone number +31 43 389 9999.

Support on applying for a permit