Waste in watercourses can result from an accumulation of general litter, or from fly tipping (the illegal dumping of waste). The main detrimental effects of waste accumulation in watercourses are a reduction of flow in the watercourse and environmental damage. The Board do not have enforcement powers with regard to fly tipping as these rest with the relevant Local Authority and the Environment Agency. As such, when notified of fly tipping in the Internal Drainage District the Board would consider the incident as follows: If the incident is causing a significant obstruction to flow or is presenting an imminent risk of flooding within the Internal Drainage District the Board’s operatives will remove the waste as per the Board’s statutory functions. For this purpose the Board have a waste transfer licence to allow them to move waste. Waste can be temporarily stored in the relevant Board’s yard, where a waste exemption licence is in place, before disposing of in an appropriate manner. If the Board’s operatives consider the fly tipping incident to be of a serious nature or to have already resulted in a severe consequence the Board will report it to the appropriate enforcement body, rather than attempting to deal with it itself, in case evidence is inadvertently lost, which could have been used to prosecute offenders. In all other incidents the waste will be reported to the relevant Local Authority. In the case of a vehicle, the Police will also be informed as soon as possible. If the waste is causing a pollution incident then the Environment Agency will be informed at the earliest opportunity and the pollution contained.