Explanatory note

This Order, made on the application of South East Water Ltd (“the Company”), makes provision to meet a serious deficiency of supplies of water which exists or is threatened in the Sussex region of the Company’s area of supply by reason of an exceptional shortage of rain.

The Company is authorised to abstract water from the River Ouse at Barcombe, East Sussex under abstraction licence numbered 21/128. Under this abstraction licence, the Company may not abstract water from the River Ouse at Barcombe if the minimum residual flow over the weir at Barcombe is less than 20,000m³ per day.

The effect of this Order is to temporarily reduce (until 31st March 2012) the minimum residual flow which the Company is required to allow to flow over the weir in the River Ouse at Barcombe from 20,000 to 5,000 m³ per day (and hence permit more abstraction by the Company than would be permitted if the licence were left unmodified) (article 3). This is subject to the conditions listed in article 4.

Article 5 modifies (until 31st March 2012) the Operating Agreement for the Ardingly Reservoir to prevent the Company relying on drought as a reason to refuse a request made by the Environment Agency under that Agreement to release water.

Article 6 provides that the modifications made by this Order are not to be taken as authorising any environmental damage for the purposes of the Environmental Damage Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/153) (and accordingly the Company may not rely on this Order to support grounds for an appeal against a notice relating to remediation of environmental damage).

The abstraction licence and Operating Agreement are available for public inspection at Environment Agency South East, Guildbourne House, Chatsworth Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 1LD.