THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE - AN OPPORTUNITY TO INFLUENCE
The Water Framework Directive is potentially the most important recent development in protecting and improving our rivers, lakes and coastal waters. It requires that rivers achieve Good Ecological Status by 2015 – and, if that’s not possible, it allows interim targets to be set for 2015 and 2021 with full compliance by 2027. Under all conditions, it requires that there should be no deterioration in status.
The actions that will be taken to achieve this objective will be set out in ‘River Basin Management Plans,’ final versions of which will be published in December 2009. Following the consultation that ended in June, 'revised' Plans were published 22nd September 2009, which are now being considered for approval by the Secretary of State. You can find out what is planned for any water body in the country here.
For decades water quality has been assessed by the presence of a limited number of chemicals and the bugs found in rivers. This approach showed very real improvements in sewage treatment, but is insensitive to many of the problems affecting river ecology. Under the WFD, a new system has been introduced that assesses a broader range of pollutants and biology, including fish and aquatic plants. This sets a new standard, “Good Ecological Status” (or GES), for healthy populations of fish and other species living in our waters.
This new approach has produced a more accurate picture of the state of our water environment. It has shown that our waters are very poor in terms of the life they contain. Nationally, over 84% of our rivers, 85% of lakes, 97% of our estuaries and 58% of our coastal waters by length are failing to meet GES.
Under the WFD, some waters have been designated as Artificial or Highly Modified Water Bodies - this can include reservoirs, canals and rivers used for drainage, water resources, hydrogeneration and navigation. Such waters only have to achieve Good Ecological Potential. This means that certain on-going damaging activities and modifications will be permitted..
The Environment Agency produced 11 Regional River Basin Management Plans setting out how the Directive’s targets in England and Wales will be met. The plans have been discussed by a Liaison Panel in each region, with representatives from industry, agriculture, water companies, and environmental bodies.
The revised plans - published on the 22nd September following consultation - should have identified the main pressures causing problems on our rivers, such as: agricultural pollution; abstraction and low flows; nutrients from sewage; urban run-off; invasive non-native species; and industrial legacy. The extent to which these pressures have been accurately assessed should have been informed by your comments, passed to the Agency through the Our Rivers website, as well as local and national consultation responses.
The final Plans will be published in December 2009, revised editions are available to download from the EA website. Viewing the revised plans will allow you to assess the degree to which your views have been considered.
The revised plans published by the Environment Agency in Sept 2009, suggest that surface waters including rivers will only achieve a 5% increase in GES across England and Wales by 2015. The Environment Agency and Defra have acknowledged that this is an unacceptably weak level of ambition, and that more must be done. The message is: ‘please help us to improve the plans’. This is where the Our Rivers campaign comes in.
