Wisdom's Law of Watercourses

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Description
Since the first edition, published in 1962, A.S. Wisdom's work on the law of watercourses has been highly regarded by both legal practitioners and land management professionals dealing with the distinctive range of rights and duties that arise in relation to streams, rivers, estuaries and related kinds of water. The new edition strives to remain faithful to Wisdom's original aim of summarising the law relating to watercourses "within a reasonably confined but comprehensive compass", and retains much of the familiarity of structure which past readers have found valuable. However, momentous changes in the law have taken place over recent years, since the last edition in 1992, and extensive revision of the work has been necessary to accommodate these changes. Perhaps most notably, the establishment of the Environment Agency, under the Environment Act 1995, has replaced the former National Rivers Authority by an environmental regulator with a more holistic remit and an obligation to regulate water in a way that is more closely integrated with other kinds of environmental regulation. Specific enactments have introduced major changes of approach in relation to different aspects of water management. The Water Act 2003 has reformed the way that water resources are managed, the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 has introduced a new approach towards flood risk and reservoir safety, and the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 have integrated water pollution regulation with environmental regulation more generally.
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Contents
1. General characteristics of watercourses
2. The sea and coastal waters
3. Natural rights of water
4. Acquired rights of water
5. Artificial watercourses and underground water
6. Navigation on watercourses
7. Ferries and bridges
8. Fisheries at common law
9. Water regulation
10. Water resources
11. Water pollution
12. Flood defence
13. Conservation law
14. Fisheries under statute
15. European Union water legislation
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Author Details
William Howarth, Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Kent
Simon Jackson, Solicitor, Simon Jackson Solocitors