Water Act 1973

• Citation: 1973 c. 37
• Sections: 61

Section 9 Transfer to water authorities of functions of river authorities.

Subject of Part IV of Schedule 5 to this Act and to the provisions of any instrument under this Act, the functions which immediately before 1st April 1974 are exercisable by river authorities as respects their respective areas under any enactment or instrument shall be exercisable by water authorities as respects water authority areas and accordingly, but subject to any such provision, in any enactment or instrument—

(a) any reference to a river authority or any reference which falls to be construed as a reference to a river authority shall, except where it is a reference to a specified river authority or is to be construed as such, be construed as a reference to a water authority; and

(b) any reference to a river authority area or any reference which falls to be construed as a reference to a river authority area shall, except where it is a reference to a specified area or is to be construed as such, be construed as a reference to water authority area.

Section 14

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(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Section 26

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Section 34 Consequential, transitional and supplementary provision.

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(2) The provisions of Part II of that Schedule, being provisions which reproduce with modifications certain provisions of section 262 of the 1972 Act (local Acts and instruments), shall have effect with respect to local statutory provisions in force immediately before 1st April 1974.

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Section 35 Isles of Scilly.

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(3) Except as provided by an order under this section, this Act shall not extend to the Isles of Scilly.

Section 36 Orders, regulations and byelaws.

(1) Any power to make orders or regulations conferred on the appropriate Minister or Ministers by or by virtue of this Act shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

(2) Any power to make an order conferred by or by virtue of any provision of this Act shall include power to make an order varying or revoking any order previously made under or by virtue of that provision.

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Section 37 Expenses.

There shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament—

(a) any expenses incurred by any Minister under this Act;

(b) any increase attributable to the provisions of this Act in the sums payable out of moneys so provided under any other enactment.

Section 38 Interpretation.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say—

“ the appropriate Minister or Ministers ” and “ the Ministers ” have the meanings assigned to them by section 1 above;

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“ county ”, “ district ”, “ county council ”, and “ district council ”, mean respectively a county, district, county council and district council established by the 1972 Act;

“ development corporation ” means a development corporation established under the New Towns Act 1965 or any Act replaced by that Act;

“ existing local authority ” means a local authority within the meaning of the Local Government Act 1933;

“ joint water board ” and “ joint water committee ” mean respectively a joint board and a joint committee which has been constituted under section 9 of the Water Act 1945 and on which a statutory water company is represented;

“ land drainage ” includes defence against water (including sea water), irrigation other than spray irrigation, warping and the provision of flood warning systems, and “ land drainage functions ” shall be construed accordingly;

“ local authority ” means a county council, . . . a district council, a London borough council or the Common Council of the City of London;

“ local land drainage committee ” and “ regional land drainage committee ”mean respectively the committees referred to by those names in sections 2 and 4 respectively of the Land Drainage Act 1976 ;

“ local land drainage district ” means a local land drainage district established or continued under section 4 of the Land Drainage Act 1976 and any part of a water authority area which is to be treated as a local land drainage district for the purposes of sections 45 to 49 of that Act (in accordance with section 89(2) of that Act) ;

“ local statutory provision ” means a provision of a local Act (including an Act confirming a provisional order) or a provision of a public general Act passed with respect to some area or a provision of an instrument made under any such local or public general Act or of an instrument in the nature of a local enactment made under any other Act;

“ London excluded area ” has the meaning given by section 116 of the Land Drainage Act 1976;

“ the 1972 Act ” means the Local Government Act 1972;

“ public authority ” includes a statutory water company;

“ public sewer ” has the same meaning as in the Public Health Act 1936 and “ private sewer ” shall be construed accordingly;

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“ river authority ”, “ underground strata ”, “ inland water ”, “ watercourse ” and “ water resources ” have the same meanings respectively as in the Water Resources Act 1963;

“ statutory water company ” means a company authorised immediately before the passing of this Act by any local statutory provision to supply water or a company in whom the assets of any company so authorised have subsequently become vested;

“ statutory water undertakers ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 11(6) above;

“ supply of water in bulk ” and “ water fittings ” have the same meanings as in the Water Act 1945;

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(3) Except in so far as the context otherwise requires, any reference in this Act to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, applied or extended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.

Section 39 Commencement.

(1) The following provisions of this Act shall come into operation on 1st April 1974, that is to say—

section 9, except so far as relating to sections 21 and 22 of the Land Drainage Act 1930, Part VI of the Local Government Act 1948, section 21 of the Land Drainage Act 1961 and section 82 of the Water Resources Act 1963;

section 10;

section 11, except subsection (6) so far as relating to section 12 of the Water Act 1945;

section 12(1) and (6) to (11), except subsections (9) and (11) so far as relating to section 12 of the Water Act 1945;

section 13(3) and (4);

section 14;

section 16;

section 17;

section 18;

section 19(6) to (11);

section 20;

section 21(3) to (6);

section 24;

section 25;

section 28;

section 29(1);

section 33;

section 40(2), except so far as relating to the amendments of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957 made by Schedule 8;

section 40(3).

(2) Any provision of, or any instrument made under, another Act which is modified or amended by a provision of this Act which comes into operation before 1st Aril 1974 shall between the passing of this Act and that date have effect both as modified or amended by this Act and as it would have had effect without the modification or amendment.

Section 40 Short title, minor amendments, repeals and extent.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Water Act 1973.

(2) The enactments specified in Schedule 8 to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments, modifications and adaptations set out in that Schedule, being amendments, modifications and adaptations which are consequential on the foregoing provisions of this Act and minor amendments.

(3) The enactments specified in Schedule 9 to this Act (which include enactments that were obsolete or unecessary before the passing of this Act) are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in column 3 of that Schedule.

(4) The following provisions of this Act, that is to say—

(a) section 4(5) to (8), so far as relating to the matters mentioned in section 4(5)(d) and (e);

(b) section 9, so far as relating to any enactment which extends to Scotland;

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(d) paragraphs 43, and 93 of Schedule 8;

(e) in Schedule 9, the repeals in the Water (Scotland) Act 1967; and

(f) so much of this Act as relates to the interpretation or commencement of the foregoing provisions;

extend to Scotland, but except as aforesaid this Act does not extend to Scotland.

(5) This Act, except section 4(5) to (8), so far as relating to the matters mentioned in section 4(5)(d) and (e) . . . and so much of this Act as relates to the interpretation of those provisions, does not extend to Northern Ireland.

(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Section 1

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Section 22

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Section 31

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Section 1

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Section 11

Subject to paragraph 12 below, any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies and which is not continued in force by any other provision of this Act shall—

(a) notwithstanding the transfer of functions and abolition of bodies effected by or under this Act and, in the case of an instrument made under any enactment, notwithstanding the repeal of that enactment, continue to apply on and after 1st April 1974 to, but only to, the area, things or persons to which or to whom it applies before that date;

(b) have effect subject to any necessary modifications and to the modifications made by paragraph 13 below;

but the continuation by this paragraph of an instrument made under any enactment shall not be construed as prejudicing any power to vary or revoke the instrument which is exercisable apart from this paragraph.

Section 12

Paragraph 11 above shall have effect subject to the provisions of—

(a) this Act and any Act passed after this Act and before 1st April 1974;

(b) any order made under section 254 of the 1972 Act, as applied by section 34 above, or paragraph 14 or 15 below.

Section 13

As from 1st April 1974 any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies and which immediately before that date applies to an area which on that date becomes comprised in one or more water authority areas shall have effect, so far as relates to functions which on that date become exercisable by a water authority and to things done or falling to be done in the exercise of those functions, as if for any reference to the body by whom the functions were exercisable immediately before that date there were substituted a reference to that water authority, or where the former area becomes comprised in two or more water authority areas, the water authority for the water authority area in or as respects which that thing falls to be done.

Section 14

Paragraph 13 above shall have effect subject to any provision to the contrary made by, or by any instrument made under, this Act and, without prejudice to the foregoing, the Secretary of State may by order provide for the exercise of functions conferred by any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies and exclude the operation of that paragraph where it would otherwise conflict with any provision of the order.

Section 15

Where any local statutory provision is continued in force in any area by paragraph 11 above or is amended or modified in its application to any area by an order under section 254 of the 1972 Act, as applied by section 34 above, the appropriate Minister or Ministers may by that order, or in the case of a provision continued as aforesaid, by an order under this paragraph—

(a) extend the provision throughout the water authority area in which it is continued in force or extend it to a part of that area in which it was not previously in force;

(b) provide that that provision as so continued, amended, modified or extended shall have effect in that area or part to the exclusion of any enactment for corresponding purposes, including any enactment contained in or applied by this Act;

(c) make such modifications of any such enactment in its application to that area or part as would secure that the enactment will operate harmoniously with the said provision in that area or part;

(d) repeal or revoke any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies and which appears to the appropriate Minister or Ministers to have become spent, obsolete or unnecessary or to have been substantially superseded by any enactment or instrument which applies or may be applied to the area, persons or things to which or to whom that provision applies;

(e) make such modifications of any local statutory provision to which this Part of this Schedule applies in its application to a water authority area or part of such an area as appear to the appropriate Minister or Ministers to be expedient.

Section 16

A statutory instrument containing an order under paragraph 15 above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Section 17

This Part of this Schedule applies to any local statutory provision in force immediately before 1st April 1974 and relating to—

(a) a body abolished by section 33 above;

(b) functions which immediately before that date are exercisable by an existing local authority and on that date become exercisable by a water authority; or

(c) some area constituted for the exercise of functions affected by this Act and situated wholly or partly within Greater London.

Section 1

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Section 20

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Section 22

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Section 24

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Section 32

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Section 37

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Section 38

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Section 39

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Section 40

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Section 41

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Section 43

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Section 44

Section 4(4) of the Public Health (Drainage of Trade Premises) Act 1937 (exemption of laundries from need for consent to discharges) shall cease to have effect.

Section 45

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Section 49

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Section 50

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Section 51

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Section 63

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Section 64

In section 2(2) of the Town Development Act 1952 (Exchequer contribution to councils of receiving districts), after paragraph (e), there shall be inserted the following paragraph:—

(ee) payments under section 16 of the Water Act 1973 in respect of the provision of a public sewer needed for the purposes or in consequence of the development.

Section 65

(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2) Section 8(4) of that Act (exercise of sewerage functions by participating authorities) shall cease to have effect.

Section 66

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Section 67

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Section 68

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Section 69

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Section 70

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Section 72

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Section 76

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Section 78

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Section 80

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(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Section 81

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