Act No. 167 relative to groundwaters, 1960

TlJRKEY Act No. 167 relative to groundwaters. - 16 D.:cemher 1960. Resmi Gazete No. I0,688, 23 December 1960, p. 2853. OWNl:RSllll' Ol· GR0UNDWAll'RS 1. Groundwaters form part of national waters and ,hall be subject to State ownership and possession. All kinds of prospecting, utilization, protection and registration or ,uch waters shall be governed by the pro visions of this Act. DEFINITIONS 2. The terms used in this Act in relation to groundwatns shall be defined as follows: Groundwaters shall be all waters found below the ground, whether still or in motion (flowing waters). Groundwater Sheet shall be any deposit of groundwaters existing in un derground strata the withdrawal of water from which at any point exer cises an effect on the total waler mass. Persons shall be physit.:al and juridical persons with official, semi-ollicial or private status. Neighbours shall be persons who own adjoining land or persons wl10 while inhabiting the same general area must, in cases of necessity, utilize groundwater in the same way as owners of adjoining land. Applicants shall be persons seeking a licence for prospecting, utilization, or· improvement and: alterations. cicensec shall be a person who has obtained a licence for prospecting, for utilization or for improvement and' alterations. Suitable purposes shall be the use of groundwaters for drinking and cleans ing purposes, municipal services, watering of livestock, agricultural ir rigation, mining and industrial exploitation, sport or other installations. Water requin:mcnts for suitable needs shall mean the supply of water required hy persons using groundwaters for suitable purposes. Safe marginal limit shall mean the quantity of water that may be with drawn continuously without affecting unfavorably the level of the ground water sheet concerned. Test wells shall be wells sunk for the purpose of obtaining data relative to groundwaters. Exploitation wells shall be wells intended for exploitation. ESTABLIS!IMENT OF GROUNDW A'I ER DEPOSITS AND CONSTITUTION OF GROUND WATER FXl'l.OITATIUN SECIORS 3. As and wht:n the limits and characteristics of groundwater deposits arc determined, the said deposists shall he recognized and incorporated into the public domain, by an Order of the Coundl of Ministers on the recommendation of thi;: Minister of Public Works, constituting them " groundwater exploitation sectors ". SINKING Ur WELLS IN DEPOSITS CONSTITUTED AS GROUNDWATER EXPLOITA TION SITTORS 4. The number of wells to be sunk within the groundwater exploitation sectors, after the grant or a licence in accordance with the provisions of Article 8, their locations, depth, other characteristics and quantities of water that may be withdrawn therefrom shall be determined and estab lished by the State General Directorate of Hydraulic Works. Hydraulic works of any character within the provisions of Article 8, in n:spet:t of groundwaters comprised within such exploitation sectors, shall be earric<l out in accordance with the provisions of technical regulations establi,hcd by the Minister of Public Works. Whoever sinks a well shall be authorized to withdraw therefrom only that quuntily of water absolutely necessary for his own suitable pur poses. The extent of such needs for suitable purposes shall be determined and specifinl, in accordance with the purposes expressly established in this ri;:spect, by the State General Directorate of Hydraulic Works, subject to previous consideration by the Ministries concerned. 2 v;i PROSPECTING AND UTILIZATION OF GROUNDWATERS OUTSIDE THE LIMITS OF OFFICIALLY CONSTITUTED GROUNDWATER EXPLOITATION SECTORS 5. Outside the limits of officially constituted groundwater exploitation sectors, every landowner shall have the right to prospect for such waters on his own land and to make usc of any waters so discovered in quanti ties required for his own suitable purposes. Nevertheless, in so far as the provisions of Article 8 apply hereto, ti1e party concerned shall be bound tn nbtain a licence bcforehand. The requirements of water for suitable purposes shall be established in accordance with the provisions of Articlc 4. NE!GIIB0UR's RIGIIT 6. The conditions in whid1 any person whose land lacks sufficient water to med his suitable purposes or who would incur undue expenditure in obtaining such water, may utilize groundwaters situated on his neigh bour's land, shall be laid down in the Regulations n:ferred to in Article 20 below. POWERS OF Tiff STATE GINFRA!. DIRECT0RA1T 01· HYDRAULIC' WORKS 7. For purposes of conducting investigations and prospecting for ground waters, the State Cieneral Directorate of Hydraulic Works shall have the right to sink wells or to cause them to be sunk in any locality what soever. No expropriation shall he made in n:spect of such wells. In the case of wells specifically sunk for exploitation purposes or of test wells subsequently converted into exploitation wells, the land necessary for such operations and for access thereto shall be subject to expropria tion by the State (ieneral Directorate of Hydraulic Works. The amount of indemnity for such expropriation shall be charged to the co~t of the well. The right of utilizing such exploitation wells may be assigned or leased to natural or juridical persons by the State General Directorate of Hydraulic Works, at a price fixed thereby. The owner of the land shall enjoy a preferential right in regard to assign ment or lease of the right of utilizing the well in question. OBUGA.l l0N ·10 OBTAIN A LICENCE AND TO SUPPLY INFORMATION 8. For purposes of the execution of the operations of sinking or open ing up a well as referred to in paragraphs a) and b) below, a licence must be obtained from the State General Directorate of I lydrautic Works for: 3 j l J,1\.1,) a) excavations of all kinds, and also ·the sinking and opening up .of water wells whatever the width thereof, if their depth is in excess of the limit established by the State General Directorate of Hydraulic \Vorks, as approved by the Council of Ministers and duly published (excert for wells dug by .manual labour); h) gall.:ries and tunnels of all kinds, horizontal or inclined, provided with apertures for water catchment, regardless of their length and cros~-section. In the case wherein the sinking and the opening up of wells are not intended for the purpose of water catchment, it shall not be necessary to procure a licence, hut if the State General Directorate of Hydraulic Works ,o requests it shall be obligatory to supply information concern ing thc:m. PROSPIT l lNCi l.l< 'l·NCL lJ. For the execution of groundwater prospection works which require the grant or a licence, there shall be issued a prospecting licence valid for one year. lJpon the expiry of that period, if prospecting has not yd heen completed, the licence shall he renewable for a further year pro vided that the licensee makes application for such renewal within the month hefure the date of expiry. If prospecting has still not been completed by the date of expiry of the period of renewal, the licence shall be con sidered to l1ave expired and the party concerned must aprly for a new licence. lJ !II IZAI ION LICLN('I 1 O. A person upon whose land water has been discovered as a result of prospection under a licence shall be authorized to make use of such water. Application for a utilization licenct: must, however, be made to the State General Directorate of Hydraulic Works within one month after such water is found. IMPIWVl'MEN.IS AND AI.ITRA.IIONS LICTNCf: 11. The holder of a utilization licence may not proceed on .his own initiative to undertake operations of any nature designed to increase the output of the wells or groundwater sources on :his land or .for any other purpose, or to change the form of use of such wells. Such ,operations may be undertaken only subject to.the previous grant.by lhe Statc•Genccal V/1 Directorate of Hydraulic Works of an "improvrn1cnts and alterations licence ". EXHWIION IROM PAYMI.NT Of' ALL FEFS ANI> TAXI'S IOR LICENCES 12. All licenci.:s granted pursuant to the provisions of Articli.:s 9, 10 and 11 above shall be exempt from payment or all charges, stamp duties, fees or any other taxes whatsnever. A Pf'! H ·\ IION I OR UC! N( TS 13. Any person wishing to obtain a licence for prospecting, utilization or improvements and alterations shall make application to the office of the State General Directorate of Hydraulic Works at the place of his residence, or where no such oflice exists there, thrnugh the offices of the nearest civil auth1\rity. Request~ for licences must he approved or refused within one month after their submission. APPROACH TO TIIE SAIT MARGINAL LIMIT IN Till·. CASI 01-' SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATIONS 14. When the volume to he withdrawn umler simultaneous requests ~pproaches the safe marginal limit of the groundwater deposit, all requests for use of the same groundwater .dep,\sit lilc<l within a period of one week .from the date of suhmission of the said reqw.:sts shall be reviewed by a Commission composed of repi:esentatives,of the Ministries concerned, which shall tht:n designate lhc applicants to whom a utilization licence shall be issued. RI:GISTRATION .15. All licenceo issued on .the basis of this Act shall be recorded m a register kept by the State GtJncral Oirelltnrat.: of I lydraulic Works . . EsTABLISHMENI AND coN·nmL .()F ,CONDI JIONS 16. The Regulations referred to in Article 20. of ,this Act shall stipu late the conditions governing operations for prospcl'.ling, utilization, and improvements and alterations respectively as well as the rights, authority .and .responsibility devol.ving upon technical • l\Xperts in ,connection with well sinking operations and the inspection thereof. 5 TlJRKEY fFC'HNICAL PROJECTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 17. Investigations and projects and works of all kinds carried out in view of the use of groundwater, whether newly constructed or improved or altered in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall betbased upon an approved plan drawn up by and on the responsibility of au thorized experts. Surface wells sunk in alluvial soil, with a depth not exceeding the limit specified in Article 8, shall not be subject to the provisions of this Article. PENAL PROVISIONS I 8. Without prejudice to the impos1t10n of more severe penalties pro vided for under other legislation, those persons failing to fulfil the obliga tions strictly incumbent upon them under this Act, shall be punished m accordance with the provisions of the present Article. a) Those who carry out the operations specified in Article 8 without having obtained a licence to do so and those who deliberately sup ply false information shall bt: punished by a fine of between 500 and 3,000 Turkish pounds. In cases where, after the payment of the fine, the State General Directorate of Hydraulic Works finds that there is no obstacle to the opening and exploitation of the well concerned, the necessary licence shall be issued to the owner. Otherwise, such well shall be closed down at the expense of the party responsible for opening it up. In the case of a re peated offence the fine shall be doubled, the issue of a licence to the offender shall be refused, and the well shall be closed down at his expense. b) Those who contravene the provisions of Articles 10 and 11, those who fail to observe the conditions imposed during operations for prospecting, utilization, and improvements and alterations, as well as those who refuse to supply the data requested in applica tion forms or who fail to observe the obligations imposed upon tlu:m by tht: last paragraph of Article 8, shall be punished by a fine of between 500 and 1,500 Turkish pounds. In the case of a repeated offence the fines shall be doubled and the licence either refused or, if already issued, withdrawn. The well shall be closed down at the expense of the party responsibk for opening it up. c) Disputes arising out of this Act shall be heard by the Magistrate's Courts. 6 V/-1 EXEMPTIONS 19. Waters considered to be mineral waters within the meaning of Act No. 6309 and waters with therapeutic qualities for drinking or bathing purposes governnl by Acts Nos. 927, 4268 and 6977 shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act. The provisions of the last paragraph of Article 8 shall, howewer, remain applicable thereto. PREVIOUSLY OPENED WELLS Temporary Article: Owners of groundwater wells opened before the com ing into force of this Act, falling within the scope of Article 8 and used for agricultural irrigation or for mining and industrial operations shall within two years from the coming into force of this Act submit the mat ter to the office of the State Hydraulic Works Service in the district where the well is situated, by forwarding thereto the special printed forms, duly filled in. Within one month from the date of submission of such forms, the State General Directorate of Hydraulic Works shall, afler having studied them, establish the conditions governing the use of the wells in question and issue a utilization licence to their owners. Those who fail to obtain such licence within the time limit granted by tttis Temporary Article shall be liable to a fine of between 500 and 1,500 Turkish pounds. PREPARATION OF REGULATIONS 20. Regulations governing matters in application of this Act shall be jointly prepared by the Ministries of Public Works, Agriculture, Industry, and City Planning and Housing. 21. This Act shall come into forl'.e on the date of publication. 22. The provisions of this Act shall be promulgated by the Council of Ministers. 7