Top court restores protection for spring threatened by quarry plan

Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court has overturned a permit allowing work that could damage a spring in Sipoo, restoring its protection and clarifying how the Water Act applies to springs across the country, Yle reported.

The court ruled that a spring affected by logging can still be considered natural if its water balance remains intact. The spring may then recover its natural vegetation, according to the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation’s Uusimaa district.

The decision also requires applicants seeking exceptions to assess not only the spring in question, but other springs in the area, including their natural condition, presence and representativeness.

The dispute began in 2023, when NCC Industry applied for permission to affect the spring area as part of plans for a quarry at Linnanpelto. The Regional State Administrative Agency rejected the application, but the Vaasa Administrative Court later granted the permit. Local residents and the conservation association appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, which overturned the permit in a decision issued in late October.

NCC Industry can still plan the quarry if land use does not affect the spring or its catchment area. The company told Yle it was assessing the ruling’s significance for the project and had not decided whether to proceed.

The court said the need for protection depends on the wider picture. Protecting springs is especially important where they are rare, as they are in Sipoo and across southern Finland. However, the ruling does not require every spring to be preserved; an exception may be possible in places where the same habitat type is more common.

Natural springs, fladas and kluuv lakes are protected habitat types throughout Finland. A spring is fed by groundwater or perched groundwater rising to the surface.