of June 1, 2026 No. 148-Z
About change of the Water code of the Republic of Belarus
Accepted by the House of Representatives on April 17, 2026
Approved by Council of the Republic on May 11, 2026
Article 1. To be reworded as follows the water code of the Republic of Belarus of April 30, 2014:
This Code governs the relations in the field of water use, is directed to protection and rational (steady) use of waters, water resources, preserving and recovery of water objects, and also to protection of the rights and legitimate interests of water users.
1. The automated control system behind dumpings of sewage - the system of the automated measurement and accounting of sizes of dumpings of sewage into the environment providing collection, transfer, processing, display of information on indicators of such dumpings in the National monitoring system of the environment in the Republic of Belarus.
2. Improvement of superficial water objects - complex of the works and organizational and technical actions performed on superficial water objects and the territories adjoining to them in borders of the water protection zones for the purpose of reduction of these objects in the condition suitable for their target use, creating favorable conditions of life activity of the population, forming of full-fledged, esthetically expressive habitat.
3. Water resources - inventories of underground and surface water which are used or can be used in economic and other activity.
4. Water object - concentration of waters in natural or artificial deepenings of the land surface or in subsoil, having certain borders, amount and signs of the hydrological mode or the mode of underground waters.
5. Reservoir - the superficial water object representing concentration of waters in natural or artificial deepenings of the land surface with the slowed-down water exchange (flowing) or its total absence (landlocked).
6. Water intaking constructions - the hydraulic engineering constructions and devices intended for production (withdrawal) of waters.
7. The water protection zone - the territory adjacent to superficial water object in which the legal regime of special protection when implementing economic and other activity is set.
8. Water retaining constructions - the hydraulic engineering constructions intended for rise and maintenance of level of waters in superficial water objects.
9. Water use - production (withdrawal) of waters, use of water resources, water objects and (or) impact on water objects when implementing economic and other activity.
10. Water users - physical persons and legal entities which get (withdraw) waters, use water resources, water objects and (or) make impact on water objects when implementing economic and other activity.
11. Waterway - the superficial water object of natural or artificial origin which is characterized by movement of water in the direction of bias.
12. Water management system - set of superficial water objects and hydraulic engineering constructions and devices, functionally connected among themselves.
13. Water storage basin - the artificial reservoir surface area of water at least 100 hectares built for the purpose of accumulating, storage of water and regulation of water drain, use in economic and other activity.
14. Waters - set of all types of the waters concentrated in water objects.
15. Recovery of water object - carrying out complex of the actions directed to achievement of standard rates of quality of water of superficial water objects, hygienic standard rates of safety and harmlessness of water of water objects for economic and drinking and cultural and community (recreational) use.
16. Releases of sewage - the hydraulic engineering constructions and devices intended for dumping of sewage into superficial water objects.
17. The hydrological mode - changes in time and space of condition of superficial water object, including the changes of depth, speed of current, water drain, amount and water temperature and other parameters in superficial water object including caused by climatic conditions, effects of implementation of economic and other activity.
18. Hydraulic engineering constructions and devices - the water intaking constructions, water retaining constructions, channels, locks, the pumping equipment, releases of sewage, conduits, collectors and other similar engineering constructions and devices intended for production (withdrawal), transportation, processing of waters, rise and maintenance of level of waters, regulation of water drain, dumping of sewage, needs of navigation, protection of waters, prevention of harmful effects of waters.
19. Production (withdrawal) of waters - extraction from the environment of water resources for the purpose of their use in natural type or after preliminary processing in economic and other activity.
20. Drainage waters - the waters extracted (withdrawn) and dumped to the environment using drainage systems for the purpose of elimination of flooding, bogging of the territories (lands).
21. Pollution of waters - receipt in waters, stay and (or) origin in them as a result of harmful effects on water objects of substances, physical factors, microorganisms, properties, location or the number of whom is led to negative changes of physical, chemical, biological and other indicators of condition of water objects, including to exceeding of standard rates in the field of protection and use of waters.
22. Contamination of waters - hit of solid waste in superficial water objects.
23. Use of waters for economic and drinking needs - use of waters for the drinking, economic and household and hygienic purposes, and also on watering and washing of pavings (watering works), the territories of the organizations, plantings and other objects, operation of fountains.
24. Depletion of waters - steady reducing inventories of underground and surface water, deterioration in their quality.
25. The channel - the hydraulic engineering construction built in earth dredging or embankment, intended for transportation of waters, regulation of water drain, providing optimum for agricultural plants and other plantings of the water mode of soils, needs of navigation.
26. The channel of interbasin redistribution of water resources - the artificial waterway which is specially built for transfer of surface water between river basins.
27. Career (mine, miner) waters - the waters which are pumped out in the course of mining for the purpose of prevention of flooding of excavation (pit, the mine and other similar constructions).
28. The control alignment - the conditional cross section of superficial water object is lower on current of the place of dumping of sewage in which make sampling and carrying out measurements in the field of environmental protection for impact assessment of dumping of sewage on quality of water of superficial water object.
29. Liquidation of superficial water object - complex of works, including earthwork, and the organizational and technical actions directed to the termination of functioning of superficial water object and reduction of the territory occupied by him in the condition suitable for subsequent use in other purposes.
30. Standard rates of admissible dumpings of chemical and other substances as a part of sewage - sizes of admissible concentration and mass of pollutants as a part of the sewage dumped in superficial water object in case of which observance standard rates of quality of water of superficial water objects in control alignment are provided.
31. Standard rates of quality of water of superficial water objects - sizes of indicators of quality of water of superficial water objects and threshold limit values of chemical and other substances in water of superficial water objects in case of which observance their steady functioning is provided.
32. Flood of the territories - complex of the hydrotechnical events held in anhydrous or shallow areas for providing with water when using local water resources or by transfer of water from other territories for the purpose of steady functioning of natural ecological systems, other natural and natural and anthropogenous objects.
33. The flooded pit - the artificial reservoir built as a result of mining.
34. The isolated water use - the privilege of one physical person or legal entity to use of water object in economic and other activity confirmed by the documents certifying the right to the parcel of land.
35. General water use - use of superficial water objects by physical, legal entities gratuitously, without fixing to them of these objects and without receipt of allowing documents.
36. The lake - reservoir of natural origin.
37. Protection of waters - activities of state bodies, other legal entities, physical persons and the system of measures directed to preserving and recovery of waters, prevention or liquidation of pollution, contamination and depletion of waters.
38. Sewage treatment - processing of sewage for the purpose of removal of pollutants from them to the values which are not exceeding standard rates of admissible dumpings of chemical and other substances as a part of sewage or other standard rates in the field of environmental protection.
39. Treatment facilities of sewage - complex of the constructions and devices intended for sewage treatment and processing of deposit of sewage.
40. Floating construction - the floating artificial construction which is not the vessel and not used for the purpose of navigation.
41. Superficial water object - the concentration of waters in natural or artificial deepenings of the land surface having certain borders, amount and signs of the hydrological mode (the river, stream, the lake, water storage basin, pond and other superficial water objects).
42. Underground water object - the concentration of waters in subsoil having certain borders, amount and signs of the mode of underground waters and consisting of one or several water-bearing horizons.
43. Water losses - the amount of water which is lost in case of its transportation, storage, redistribution and chilling therefore it does not reach the water user or is abnormal spent.
44. Coastal strip - the part of the water protection zone which is directly adjoining superficial water object on which more strict requirements to implementation of economic and other activity, than in other territory of the water protection zone are established.
45. Pond - the artificial reservoir surface area of water less than 100 hectares built for the purpose of accumulating and storage of water, use in economic and other activity.
46. Prud-kopan - artificial reservoir surface area of water to 0,01 of hectare and no more than 2 meters in depth in specially created deepening of the land surface, built for the purpose of accumulating and storage of water, cultivation and (or) content, cultivation of fish for the personal needs which are not connected with business activity.
47. Rational (steady) use of water resources - water use in case of which the complex of the events providing preserving water resources, decrease in losses of water, prevention of pollution, contamination and depletion of waters is held.
48. Regulation of water drain - redistribution in time of amounts of water in water drain.
49. The mode of underground waters - changes in time and space of levels (pressures), temperatures, chemical, gas and microbiological composition and other characteristics of underground waters.
50. The river - the natural waterway with permanent current having accurately expressed bed 5 kilometers long and more.
51. Land relief - set of all roughnesses of the area (flat or hilly), including ravines, beams, ditches, thalwegs and other similar dredging in soil.
52. The river basin - the territory with which the water drain through the connected superficial water objects arrives to the certain river.
53. Spring - natural exit of underground waters to the land surface.
54. Bed - the bed developed by waterway on which constantly or periodically there is water movement.
55. Stream - natural waterway up to 5 kilometers long.
56. Dumping of sewage - specially organized intake of sewage to the environment using hydraulic engineering constructions and devices.
57. The Silnoizmenenny water object - the superficial water object having permanent and irreversible changes of initial natural hydromorphological (hydrological) characteristics as a result of the physical transformations caused by anthropogenous activities.
58. Content of superficial water objects in proper condition - complex of the works and actions performed on superficial water objects and the territories adjoining to them in borders of the coastal strips directed to preserving their steady functioning under the influence of natural and anthropogenous factors and also on prevention of the zamorny phenomena.
59. Special water use - the water use performed by legal entities, individual entrepreneurs for a fee based on permissions to special water use, complex nature protection permissions.
60. Sewage - the waters dumped from residential, public and factory buildings and constructions after their use in economic and other activity, and also the waters formed in case of loss of liquid atmospheric precipitation, snow thawing, watering works in the territory of settlements, industrial platforms and other objects and dumped to the environment using hydraulic engineering constructions and devices including through centralized systems of water disposal (sewerage).
61. Technological standard rates of water use - normative amounts of use of water resources, formations of sewage in products production process (performance of works, rendering services) and specific regulations of water consumption and water disposal per unit of the made products, the used raw materials, materials.
62. Technological water object - the superficial water object which is specially built for chilling, evaporation, averaging, upholding of sewage, lowering of the level of waters (reservoirs cooling agents, ponds evaporators, ponds averagers and other similar objects) and also for fire-proof needs (fire reservoirs), cultivation and (or) content, cultivation of fish (ponds of the fish-breeding organizations).
1. The relations connected with protection and use of waters are regulated by the legislation on protection and use of waters, international treaties of the Republic of Belarus, and also other international legal acts containing obligations of the Republic of Belarus.
2. The legislation on protection and use of waters is based on the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus and consists of of this Code and other acts of the legislation.
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