Skip to content
An ACT Government Website
Accessibility
Contact us ACT Digital Account
Accessibility Contact us ACT Digital Account

Water licensing and access entitlement

Water resources are managed in the ACT under the Water Resources Act 2007 by the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate.

Current water take updates

Across all Water Management Areas across the ACT, there is:

  • no general reduction in Licensed Surface Water take
  • no general reduction in Licensed Ground Water take.

Individual licences holders may be subject to reductions in their Licensed Volume take, based on individual circumstances.

All Licenced water users are reminded of their general environment duties as well as obligations under:

EPA will contact water licence holders if there is any reduction in their Licensed Volume take.

For information on available volumes, contact the Office of the Environment Protection Authority on 13 22 81 or environment.protection@act.gov.au.

Licensing

To take or access water in the ACT, you may need a licence or an exemption.

To apply or for more information, email environment.protection@act.gov.au.

Applications and licences attract a fee. View Water Resources (Fees) Determination 2024 (No 2) for current fees.

Water licenses are included on our Public registers. View the list of water licenses on our Public registers page.

Water Access Entitlement

If you need a licence to take water, then you will also need a water access entitlement (WAE) in most cases:

All water access entitlements are included on our Public registers. View the list of water access entitlements on our Public registers page.

Licence to take water

A licence states how much water you can take and where from.

Bore owners licence

A bore includes a borehole, a hole, well, excavation or other opening in the ground or an underground cavity (whether naturally, or having been artificially constructed or modified) from which water is, or is capable of being obtained or used. For the purposes of the Water Resources Act 2007, these features are also considered to be bores if they are used, or are capable of being used, for the disposal of water or waste. However, subsoil drains are not included.

For full definitions see the Water Resources Act 2007.

You need a bore work licence and to submit a bore completion report within one month of doing any work associated with the licence.

You also need a WAE.

Driller licences

Only qualified drillers licensed in the ACT are allowed to construct, modify or seal off a bore located within the ACT.

Waterway work licences

To protect our waterways and aquatic ecosystems, you need a licence to work in a waterway or to construct a water structure with a capacity of more than 2 megalitres

Water meter requirements

If you have a licence to take water in the ACT there are requirements you must meet.

These requirements relate to:

  • water meter installation and maintenance
  • ensuring a water meter accurately measures the volume of water abstracted.

To meet these requirements the water meter validation certificate [PDF 270KB] [DOCX 72KB] must be completed when any work is done on a water meter.

This includes when a meter is:

  • installed
  • moved
  • repaired
  • tested for accuracy – this must be done every 5 years
  • has any maintenance work done.

The certificate must be completed by a registered meter installer and validator. You can find all registered meter installer and validators on Irrigation Australia's website.

Once completed, the form must be:

The EPA will review the certificate and decide whether the water meter meets the requirements.

If the meter does not meet the conditions the EPA may take compliance action.

The previous ACT Government Water Meter Installation, Maintenance and Replacement Guideline (March 2015) is available from the Environmental Protection Authority, upon request.

To find more information about the requirements your water meter must meet read the non-urban water metering policy [PDF 432KB].