The Department of Industry has commissioned URA to produce …

The director of Services of the Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, Iñaki Aldekogarai Labaka, has delegated to the Basque Water Agency (URA) the competence to issue the report of the State Attorney’s Office in files regarding hydraulic domain. The decision was signed on September 16 and published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country No. 191 of October 6, 2026, with official reference 2026/4126. The delegation was published in the gazette and enters into force the following day.

What the decision has changed

The Directorate of Administration and Services of URA will henceforth issue the report corresponding to the State Attorney’s Office, in the cases set out in articles 2 and 10 of Chapter III of Title II of the Regulation of the Public Hydraulic Domain (Royal Decree 849/1986 of April 11). The only exception is that provided for in article 167 of said regulation.

This report is requested in files for concessions and permits regarding the public domain of water, as well as in procedures to extinguish or cancel the right to private use of water. The delegation, therefore, moves a fundamental piece of the administrative management of water: the legal opinion will no longer be provided by the department itself, but by the specialized agency.

Legal basis

The decision is based on several regulations:

Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector: article 9 allows for the delegation of competences.
Organic Law 3/1979, of December 18, of the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country: article 10.11 assigns to the community exclusive competence over water exploitations when the water flows entirely within the community.
Law 1/2006, of June 23, of the Waters of the Basque Country: article 7 assigns to URA the interventions for the protection of the public hydraulic domain, including the granting of concessions and permits.
Decree 18/2024, of June 23, of the President: article 10.1.n) assigns to the Department of Industry the functions in the area of “Waters, Canals and Irrigation”.
Decree 410/2024, of December 3: article 2.c).1.3 attaches URA to the department, and article 5.1.b) assigns the legal consultancy of the department to the Directorate of Services.

Starting point: the opinion of March 9, 2026

The context was specified by the legal opinion issued on March 9, 2026, by the Central Legal Services of the Basque Government. The opinion answered the legal query posed by the Directorate of Services and concluded that in concessions affecting internal basins of the community, the report corresponding to the State Attorney’s Office must be issued by the legal consultancy of the department competent in the field of water, specifically the department to which URA is attached at any given time.

Conditions and control

The delegation establishes limits and control mechanisms:

Actions taken under delegation must explicitly state that nature, and the delegated body shall be considered the author.
The Directorate of Administration and Services of URA shall send a list of reports issued under delegated powers to the delegating body annually.
The director of services may revoke the delegation at any time; this shall take effect from the day it is published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country.
The director may assume knowledge and resolution of any delegated matter for themselves, even while the delegation remains in force.
As provided in Article 25 of Law 3/2022, of May 12, of the Public Sector of the Basque Country, delegations and their revocations must appear in a permanent and accessible manner on the websites of both the delegating and the delegated body.

Effect

The decision seeks to accelerate the processing of files in the field of water, based on specialization and a more efficient use of resources. URA is already the entity responsible for the protection of the public hydraulic domain, and now it also assumes the function of the legal report, subject to one exception and an annual accountability report.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial del País Vasco, n.º 191, 6 de octubre de 2026, Otras disposiciones (referencia oficial: 2026/4126).