Government Decision No. 816 validating free water use procedure.

Legal relations concerning free use of water are regulated by this Government Decision, with the exception of water resources for tourism, sports and recreational needs, ground water on a plot of land owned by a person, free water use for firefighting purposes, which are regulated by separate rules established by the Government. As a result of the evaluation of the water user's application by the Ministry of Environment, the water user may be exempted from the requirement to obtain a water use permit in accordance with the requirements of Article 22 of the Water Code of the Republic of Armenia, also in cases where: (a) water use contributes to the solution of environmental problems defined by the national water program; (b) temporary use of water resources for scientific research and educational purposes aimed at the implementation of environmentally acceptable technologies is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On Environmental Impact Assessment", with the presence of a positive experimental conclusion; and (c) water is used in the direction of the flow of the water resource (from the mouth of the river to the point of discharge), in the administrative territory of the last settlement adjacent to the border of the Republic of Armenia, in accordance with the quality indicators of the water (subject to accounting). A legal entity that is a free water user can carry out free water use after submitting information about it to the Ministry. The legal entity submits a copy of the certificate of registration in the state register to the Ministry for water use accounting, indicating the name of the water user, the name of the water resource and information about the purpose of water use, the surface of the water resource, the banks, their adjacent areas, as well as the use of the water environment. Free water use should not lead to violation of water quality standards, in terms of water use, restriction of rights of other water users and should comply with water basin management plans.