Guidance

River basin management plans, updated 2022: current condition and environmental objectives

Updated 22 December 2022

Applies to England

1. Current condition

The current health of the water environment is assessed in terms of its status. Surface waters are assessed for ecological status or potential and chemical status. Groundwaters are assessed for quantitative status and chemical status.

A range of quality elements are assessed in each water body. For a water body to achieve good status, every element assessed must be at good status or better. If one element is below its threshold for good status, then the water body’s status is classed as less than good.

Ecological status can be classed as high, good, moderate, poor, or bad.

High – near natural conditions

• no restriction on the beneficial uses of the water body
• no impacts on amenity, wildlife, or fisheries

Good – slight change from natural conditions because of human activity

• no restriction on the beneficial uses of the water body
• no impact on amenity or fisheries
• protects all but the most sensitive wildlife

Moderate – moderate change from natural conditions because of human activity

• some restriction on the beneficial uses of the water body
• no impact on amenity
• some impact on wildlife and fisheries

Poor – major change from natural conditions because of human activity

• some restrictions on the beneficial uses of the water body
• some impact on amenity
• moderate impact on wildlife and fisheries

Bad – severe change from natural conditions because of human activity

• significant restriction on the beneficial uses of the water body
• major impact on amenity
• major impact on wildlife and fisheries with many species not present

Surface water chemical status can be classed as good or fail.

Since the current plans were published in 2016 the approach to chemical status classification has changed. A more advanced and sophisticated approach to classifying the chemical status of English water bodies is being used. This helps to more accurately reflect the accumulation of some of the more persistent substances which can be underestimated by monitoring water alone.

Groundwater quantitative and chemical status can be classed as good or poor.

More information on how the current condition of the water environment is assessed, including the changes in approach to assessing chemical status, can be found in section 3.2 of the River basin planning process overview document.

The current classification results for your river basin district are available on the catchment data explorer: Anglian, South East, Thames, South West, Severn, Northumbria, Humber, North West.

2.  Environmental objectives

The environmental objectives in the plans are used by government, the Environment Agency, and other public bodies to:

• make planning decisions
• decide on the conditions to include in environmental permits
• target action, including inform funding decisions

Many of the objectives are locally specific, applying to individual water bodies or parts of the water environment.

The environmental objectives in the plans become legally binding once the updated plans are approved by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. All public bodies must have regard to these objectives when making decisions that could affect the quality of the water environment.

The environmental objectives covered by the plans are:

• preventing deterioration of the status of surface waters and groundwater
• achieving objectives and standards for protected areas
• aiming to achieve good status for all water bodies
• reversing any significant and sustained upward trends in pollutant concentrations in groundwater
• cessation of discharges, emissions and losses of priority hazardous substances into surface waters
• progressively reducing the pollution of groundwater and preventing or limiting the entry of pollutants

More information on the environmental objectives in river basin management plans can be found in section 2.2 of the River basin planning process overview document.

3.  Preventing deterioration

To protect and maintain the many uses and benefits the water environment provides it is essential to prevent it deteriorating. Businesses, including the water industry, have invested billions of pounds in infrastructure that rely on secure supplies of clean water. Preventing deterioration also protects wildlife and people’s health and wellbeing.

The plans contain a summary of the programmes of measures to protect the water environment. Without these measures, the quality of the water environment would deteriorate with associated loss of benefits.

More information on the requirement to prevent deterioration can be found in section 2.2.1 of the River basin planning process overview document.

Water bodies that deteriorated in ecological status compared to 2015 are identified in the classification data for your river basin district available on the catchment data explorer: Anglian, South East, Thames, South West, Severn, Northumbria, Humber, North West.

Further information on water bodies that deteriorated in ecological status compared to 2015 is provided in the River basin planning progress report.

4.  Protected area compliance and objectives

There are many areas where the water environment is especially valued for its uses or sensitive to particular pressures such as nutrients. These areas include rare wildlife habitats, bathing waters and areas where drinking water is abstracted. These areas are known as protected areas and their uses or sensitivity are given particular legal protection. Protected areas are a priority for action to make sure they achieve their objectives and protect the benefits they provide.

The types of protected areas that can be designated are:

• areas identified for the abstraction of water for human consumption (drinking water protected areas)
• areas designated for the protection of economically significant aquatic species (shellfish water protected areas)
• bodies of water designated as recreational waters, including bathing waters (bathing water protected areas)
• nutrient-sensitive areas, including areas identified as nitrate vulnerable zones and sensitive areas for urban waste water treatment
• areas designated for the protection of habitats or species - these are water-dependent Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas (collectively referred to as ‘habitats sites’)

Ramsar sites are not protected areas under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) Regulations but are included in the river basin management plan as a matter of government policy.

You can use these links to find maps of the protected areas in each river basin district and information on compliance with their standards and objectives: Anglian, South East, Thames, South West, Severn, Northumbria, Humber, North West.

5.  Water body status objectives

The water body status objectives set in the 2015 river basin management plans have been reviewed and, where necessary, updated, based on the latest evidence and understanding. The updated objectives are presented in the updated plan for each river basin district.

For surface waters, objectives are set for ecological and chemical status. For artificial or heavily modified surface water bodies, objectives are set for ecological potential and chemical status. Ecological potential is explained in more detail in section 2.2.3 of the River basin planning process overview document.

For groundwater, objectives are set for quantitative and chemical status.

Status objectives consist of a target status (for example, good) and a target date (for example, by 2021).

The default objective for river basin planning was to aim to achieve good status or potential by 2015. In some cases, where specific conditions are met, water bodies have been set alternative objectives. These either involve taking an extended time period to reach the target status (for example, good by 2027) or achieving a target status less than good (for example, moderate by 2015).

Where the target date is 2027, confidence in achieving the target status by that date depends on both of the following:

• having confidence that the necessary actions will be implemented by 2027
• having confidence about which specific water bodies will benefit

Where confidence in either of those aspects is low, the target date is expressed as ‘by 2027 (low)’.

In addition, there will be many additional opportunities for further action and improvements by 2027 which it is not yet possible to identify.

Some chemicals, known as ubiquitous persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances, can remain in the water environment for decades after actions to reduce or eliminate emissions are in place. The target date for achieving good status for some of these chemicals, where the required actions are already in place, reflects this extended recovery time.

The requirement to prevent deterioration was also considered when reviewing and updating water body status objectives.

Irrespective of the current water body status objective, the long-term objective remains “aim to achieve good status”. Therefore, even if the current target status for a water body is less than good, proposals for new developments and strategic long-term planning processes, such as water resources planning by the water industry, should be designed to achieve good status (subject to regulation 19 of the WFD Regulations).

In certain circumstances, and if specific conditions are met, a failure to achieve good status or prevent deterioration is allowed. Details of situations where this exemption (made under regulation 19 of the WFD Regulations) has been applied, and a list of where it may be applied in the future, are available in the regulation 19 spreadsheet.

More information on the process for reviewing and updating water body status objectives, including the circumstances for setting alternative objectives, can be found in sections 4.1 and 4.2 of the River basin planning process overview document.

You can use these links to find updated status objectives for every water body in your river basin district: Anglian, South East, Thames, South West, Severn, Northumbria, Humber, North West.

6.  Reversal of trends in pollution of groundwater

Actions to reverse any significant and sustained upward trends in pollutant concentrations in groundwater must be implemented as soon as a trend has been identified. It is not possible to propose an alternative that is less stringent or extend the deadline for this objective.

7.  Progressive reduction of pollution of groundwater

Hazardous substances must be prevented from entry into groundwater and the entry into groundwater of all other pollutants must be limited to prevent pollution. Hazardous substances are substances or groups of substances that are toxic, persistent and liable to bioaccumulate, and other substances or groups of substances which give rise to an equivalent level of concern.

8.  Other biodiversity objectives

There are additional biodiversity objectives which must be taken into account when considering action which could affect the water environment. These include objectives for:

• water dependent sites of special scientific interest – these protected sites support many, rare and endangered species, habitats and natural features
• marine conservation zones – these are marine protected areas that protect a range of nationally important, rare or threatened habitats and species along the coastal and offshore areas of the English seas
• protected species and species of most conservation concern (priority species) such as freshwater pearl mussel, salmon, and white-clawed crayfish
• important habitats such as lakes and chalk streams

Rivers, lakes, ponds, wetland, coastal habitats and the sea form natural corridors and stepping stones for wildlife that intersect and connect many landscapes. Action to protect and improve the water environment will help restore connectivity across the landscape, allowing species to migrate and adapt, and increasing the resilience of wetland and water dependent habitats and species to pressures from climate change.