2. River basin management plans
This section describes the aims of the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive (England and Wales) Regulations 2017, objectives for specific water body types, the river basin planning process and cost recovery.
The Water Framework Directive seeks to establish an integrated approach to the protection and sustainable use of the water environment. This requires a holistic approach to managing waters, looking at the wider ecosystem and taking into account the movement of water through the hydrological cycle.
The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 transpose, for England and Wales, the Water Framework Directive as well as aspects of the Groundwater Directive and Environmental Quality Standards Directive.
The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 (referred to as WFD Regulations in this document) provides a framework for managing the water environment in England.
The European Union Withdrawal Act 2018 carries over the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, into domestic law as retained EU law.
The WFD Regulations require the preparation and publication of river basin management plans; the setting of environmental objectives for groundwater and surface waters (including estuaries and coastal waters) and the devising and implementing of programmes of measures to meet those objectives.
Under the WFD Regulations, a river basin management plan must be developed for each river basin district and reviewed and updated every six years. These plans were first published in December 2009. They were updated in February 2016 and December 2022.
The aims of the WFD Regulations are to:
- prevent further deterioration and protect and enhance the status of aquatic ecosystems and associated wetlands
- promote the sustainable consumption of water
- reduce pollution of waters from priority substances and phasing out of priority hazardous substances
- prevent the deterioration of the status and to progressively reduce pollution of groundwater
- contribute to mitigating the effects of floods and droughts
The WFD Regulations environmental objectives, as set out in Regulation 13, are:
- prevention of deterioration of the status of surface waters and groundwater
- achievement of objectives and standards for protected areas
- protect, enhance and restore each body of surface water with the aim of achieving good status for all water bodies by 2021 Where this is not possible and subject to the criteria set out in the WFD Regulations, aim to achieve good status by 2027 or set an objective less stringent than good status
- protect and enhance each artificial or heavily modified water body with the aim of achieving good ecological potential and good surface water chemical status for heavily modified water bodies and artificial water bodies. Where this is not possible and subject to the criteria set out in the WFD Regulations, aim to achieve good status or potential by 2027 or set an objective less stringent than good status or potential
- reversal of any significant and sustained upward trends in pollutant concentrations in groundwater
- aim progressively to reduce pollution from priority substances and aim to cease or phase out discharges of priority hazardous substances into surface waters
- progressively reduce the pollution of groundwater, prevent the input of hazardous substances and limit the entry of non-hazardous pollutants to groundwater
The river basin management plans also recognise that it is important to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises in order to achieve these aims, for example, prevent further deterioration, ensure sustainable water supply and mitigate the effects of natural hazards such as floods and drought.
2.2.1. Preventing deterioration
As required by Regulation 13, the status of water bodies must be prevented from deteriorating, except in specified circumstances. Deterioration is formally assessed and reported over the 6 years of a river basin management planning cycle.
The environmental baseline from which the preventing deterioration objective applies is the current status reported in the plans. This environmental baseline is used by the Environment Agency and others when making water management decisions such as determining environmental permits and licences and assessing the potential impact of development.
For the 3rd cycle of river basin planning (2022 to 2027) any consideration of deterioration will need to take into account the current status reported in both the updated plans and the 2015 plans. Any published interim classification results should also be taken into consideration. This will ensure that decisions take into account any:
- deteriorations of status since 2015, including any deteriorations in the baseline permitted under Regulation 19
- improvements of status since 2015
In line with government guidance, the main aspects of the Environment Agency’s approach to implementing the preventing deterioration requirements are that:
- the preventing deterioration requirements are applied independently to each of the elements that come together to form the water body classification. This requirement may not apply to elements at high status
- deterioration from one status class to a lower one is not permitted
- while deterioration within a status class does not contravene the requirements of the WFD Regulations, action should be taken to limit within status class deterioration as far as practicable. For groundwater quality, measures must also be taken to reverse any environmentally significant upward trend in pollutants, whether or not it affects status
- where the water body or element is already in the lowest status class (bad ecological status or potential, fails to achieve good chemical status, poor groundwater chemical status, poor groundwater quantitative status) no further deterioration will be permitted
- to manage the risk of the deterioration of the status of the biological elements for surface waters, the preventing deterioration requirements are applied to the environmental standards for the physico-chemical elements, including those for the moderate to poor and poor to bad status boundaries
- to manage the risk of deterioration from water abstraction by ensuring river flows continue to support the existing status of biological elements and environmental objectives
- for groundwater the preventing deterioration requirements are applied to each of the 4 component tests for quantitative status and the 5 component tests for chemical status
-
elements at high status may be permitted to deteriorate to good status provided:
- the water body’s overall status is not high
- the river basin management plans have not set an objective for the water body of high status
- the objectives and requirements of other legislation are complied with
- action is taken to limit deterioration within the high and good status classes as far as practicable
- where the morphology element is at high status, deterioration to good status is not permitted
In certain and specific circumstances, Regulation 19 may be used to justify deterioration caused by new modifications to the physical characteristics of a surface water body or alterations to the level of groundwater. More detail on regulation 19 is provided in the section on exemptions to the environmental objectives.
As the climate changes there may be fundamental alterations to the character of some water bodies. For example, streams might become ephemeral (only flowing in winter) or coastal freshwater water bodies might become saline due to sea-level rise. Without better understanding and information on the extent, direction and timing of these changes it is not appropriate to proactively change the river basin management plan objectives. The priority is to build a baseline understanding of the condition of the water bodies and monitor the performance of measures (such as fish passes or abstraction changes) to ensure they deliver the benefits and resilience required.
In line with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra’s) catchment based approach, the Environment Agency wants to continue working with catchment partners to clarify the impacts of climate change and implement appropriate measures accordingly. This adaptive management approach is consistent with Defra’s guidance on river basin planning and the National Adaptation Programme.
2.2.2. Protected areas
The WFD Regulations incorporate objectives and requirements for waters used for shellfish harvesting and the quality of raw waters abstracted for drinking water supply. Areas designated for the protection of habitats or species, or for their sensitivity to nutrients, and bathing waters have separate regulations that set out the objectives and requirements for these sites. Waters and water-dependent areas which are subject to the requirements of this separate legislation and the WFD Regulations are known as protected areas.
Regulation 10 of the WFD Regulations requires the Environment Agency to establish and keep an up-to-date register of protected areas. The types of protected areas that must be included in the register are:
- areas identified for the abstraction of water intended 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 (habitats sites protected areas). As a matter of government policy, Ramsar sites receive the same treatment as habitats sites protected areas.
Ramsar sites are treated in the same way as habitats sites protected areas for river basin planning purposes, but they are not included in the protected areas register.
The protected area register is available to download on the catchment data explorer. To access, select ‘river basin district’ then ‘protected areas’ in the data section. The download is in the protected areas data box at the bottom of the page.
Drinking water protected areas
For drinking water protected areas, the aim of the programme of measures is to avoid deterioration in the quality of the water, and so reduce the level of purification treatment required in the production of drinking water abstracted from the protected area.
Drinking water protected area objectives are at risk when additional measures are needed to reduce pollutant concentrations (as measured against a 2007/8 baseline) and/or when pollution could lead to additional treatment such as blending. For groundwater bodies only, not meeting these objectives may also mean the water body is classed as poor chemical status.
Safeguard zones are non-statutory catchment areas where land use management practices and other polluting activities are affecting the quality of the raw water abstracted for drinking water supply. Measures to prevent and reduce pollution are targeted within these zones and detailed in Safeguard Zone Action Plans.
Economically significant species (shellfish waters)
Some areas of estuarine and coastal waters are designated as shellfish waters. Shellfish waters are areas requiring protection or improvement to support shellfish life and growth in order to contribute to the high quality of shellfish for people to eat. In addition to generic objectives for surface waters (good status, no deterioration and so forth) there is a requirement for environmental objectives to be set for shellfish waters such as are necessary or desirable to improve or protect the shellfish water. The additional objective for shellfish waters is a microbial standard of 300 or fewer E. Coli per 100ml of shellfish flesh that the Environment Agency must endeavour to observe.
Recreational waters (bathing waters)
Bathing waters are designated waters that large numbers of bathers use. The objective for bathing waters is to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment and to protect human health by meeting the ‘sufficient’ water quality standards of the Bathing Waters Regulations 2013 and to take such realistic and proportionate measures considered appropriate with a view to increasing the number of bathing waters classified as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.
Nutrient sensitive areas (nitrate vulnerable zones)
The objective of the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015 (as amended) is to reduce water pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources and to prevent further such pollution occurring. Nitrate vulnerable zones are designated where nitrate concentrations in water bodies are high or increasing, or water bodies are, or may become, eutrophic due to agricultural nitrate pollution. Farmers within nitrate vulnerable zones must comply with mandatory action programme measures to reduce agricultural nitrate losses. In addition, a code of good agricultural practice has been established for voluntary implementation by all farmers.
Nutrient sensitive areas (Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations 1994)
The objective of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations 1994 is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of waste water discharges. Sensitive areas for nutrients are designated for water bodies affected by eutrophication or where surface water abstraction is affected by elevated nitrate concentrations. Reductions or emission standards for nutrients in sewage effluent must be met within areas sensitive to nutrient pollution.
Habitats sites
Habitats sites refers to ‘European sites’ and ‘European marine sites’ as defined in Regulation 8 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended). A habitats site is a Special Area of Conservation or Special Protection Area. In previous river basin planning rounds these were referred to Natura 2000 sites, but following European Union exit, these sites in the United Kingdom no longer form part of the European Union’s Natura 2000 network. In England the network of these sites is now referred to as the national site network.
The network objectives are to:
-
maintain or, where appropriate, restore habitats and species listed in Annexes I and II of the Habitats Directive to a favourable conservation status (FCS)
-
contribute to ensuring, in their area of distribution, the survival and reproduction of wild birds and securing compliance with the overarching aims of the Wild Birds Directive
A habitat site can also be a protected area. The provisions of the WFD Regulations only relate to areas where the maintenance or improvement of the status of water is an important factor in the protection of the habitats or species. Therefore, only water dependent habitats sites are defined as protected areas under the WFD Regulations.
Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the criteria of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for containing representative, rare and unique wetland types or for their importance in conserving biological diversity. While they are not protected areas under the WFD Regulations they are all included in the river basin planning process as a matter of government policy.
2.2.3. Artificial and heavily modified water bodies
England is densely populated. Humans have been altering the water environment for centuries for social and economic reasons. Where these alterations are still necessary, there are things that can be done to mitigate their environmental impacts and ensure the water bodies can support a functioning biological ecosystem.
In recognition of these changes to the water environment for socio-economic reasons, water bodies can be designated as either artificial or heavily modified water bodies (Regulation 15 of the WFD Regulations). These designations recognise that the waters do not have the same biological systems as their natural counterparts.
Heavily modified water bodies are surface water bodies which, as a result of physical alterations for beneficial human activity, are substantially changed in character and cannot therefore meet a ‘natural’ water body objective of good ecological status. The beneficial human activity is called a ‘protected use’. In this context physical alterations mean changes to the size, slope, the amount of water, form and shape of the riverbed and banks of a water body.
Artificial water bodies are surface water bodies which have been created in a location where no water body existed before, and which have not been created by the direct physical alteration, movement, or realignment of an existing water body. For instance, many reservoirs and canals. These water bodies also need an associated current protected use to be considered an artificial water body.
There are 11 freshwater and 5 estuarine and coastal protected uses that are used to designate a water body as an artificial or heavily modified water body.
For freshwater these are:
- drinking water
- water regulation
- flood protection
- navigation, including ports
- power generation
- recreation
- land drainage
- urbanisation
- other human sustainable development
- irrigation
- wider environment
For estuarine and coastal waters these are:
- flood protection
- navigation
- coast protection
- ports and harbours
- shell and fin fisheries
For those surface water bodies that have been designated as an artificial or heavily modified water body, the physical environment has been altered to such a degree that the attainment of good ecological status is not possible without having a significant adverse impact on a protected use or the wider environment. In these water bodies the default environmental objective is good ecological potential.
Good ecological potential provides a sustainable balance between the socio-economic, heritage or conservation interests (or both) that cause physical constraints on a water body and doing all that can be done (taking into account the cost and benefits) to improve the ecological condition of the water body. Due to the enormous range and combinations of physical modifications that occur in surface waters (that all have varying impacts on the biology), it is not possible to define biological targets with confidence as in natural surface water bodies. Instead, the presence or absence of mitigation measures is used to classify these water bodies.
For a modified water to be at good ecological potential it needs all its relevant mitigation measures to be in place and the physico-chemical elements also to be at good status. These are described as the relevant mitigation measures in a mitigation measures assessment for each artificial or heavily modified water body.
Artificial and heavily modified water bodies are still required to aim to achieve good chemical status and, if also designated as a protected area, the protected area objectives.
Each water body will have a unique set of uses whose impacts will vary. The type and amount of mitigation action used to address the issues is not fixed and needs to be tailored to the individual characteristics of the water body.
2.2.4. Exemptions to the environmental objectives
Alternative objectives
In specific circumstances (set out in the WFD Regulations) deviation from achieving the default water body status objectives is allowed. Objectives which are different from the default objectives are referred to as alternative objectives.
The use of alternative objectives is the mechanism which the WFD Regulations provide for:
- considering other environmental, social and economic priorities alongside water management priorities
- prioritising measures over successive river basin management planning cycles
The alternative objectives and their conditions are the only relevant considerations when justifying the prioritisation of action under the WFD Regulations.
The types of alternative objective are:
- an extended deadline (for example, achieving good status by 2027; Regulation 16)
- a less stringent objective (for example, achieving moderate status by 2015; Regulation 17)
In some circumstances both may apply to a water body objective (for instance, achieving moderate status by 2027).
The justifications or reasons that can be used for setting alternative objectives are as follows:
- technically infeasible – no known technical solution is available: this applies where there is no practical technique for making the necessary improvement. It does not include financial considerations. Techniques which may be under development but are not yet known to be effective in practice will fall into this category
- technically infeasible – cause of adverse impact unknown: this applies where a water body is classed as worse than good but the reason (the pressure or the specific source of the pressure) for this failure has not yet been determined. This may signal the need for an investigation or may reflect genuine scientific uncertainty. Consequently, a solution cannot feasibly be identified
- technically infeasible – practical constraints of a technical nature prevent implementation of the measure by an earlier deadline: this includes administrative constraints in terms of commissioning, gaining permission for, and undertaking the necessary works. It does not include constraints due to a lack of legislative mechanisms or of funding
- technically infeasible – problem cannot be addressed because of lack of action by other countries: the application of this exemption is expected to be very limited in England. It may possibly be applicable where problems are caused by aerial deposition of transboundary pollutants and (a) local mitigation cannot solve the problem; and (b) discussions with the other countries have not led to effective action
- disproportionately expensive – unfavourable balance of costs and benefits: in this case attaining the default objective is not justified because the costs of the measures exceed the benefits, taking into account qualitative as well as quantitative information
- disproportionately expensive – disproportionate burdens: this applies where the measure would be unaffordable to implement within a particular timetable without creating disproportionate burdens for particular sectors or parts of society; or the only solution would be significantly at odds with the polluter pays principle
- natural conditions – ecological recovery time: applies where there is expected to be a delay before the biological quality of the water body recovers. The delay may be due to the time taken for the plants and animals to re-colonise and become established after the hydromorphological, chemical and physicochemical conditions have been restored to ‘good’; or the time taken for the habitat conditions to stabilise after improvement works
- natural conditions – groundwater status recovery time: applies where the climatic or geological characteristics dictate the rate at which groundwater levels recover or saline (or other) intrusions reverse once over-abstraction has been addressed
- natural conditions – chemical status recovery time: applies where there is expected to be a delay in the chemical substance meeting the required standard once the necessary measures to achieve compliance have been implemented
Where a less stringent objective has been set for a water body, the best possible status must still be achieved for the water body, once allowance has been made for the impacts of the human activity or pollution that cannot be avoided (as required by Regulations 17(3) and (4)). Justifications for alternative objectives are applied at the element level. All elements in a water body that do not have a less stringent objective will have an objective of reaching good or better status. Therefore, in some cases, although a less stringent objective has been set, action will still happen to improve the water body to the best possible status. Measures will be implemented up to the point where doing more would be disproportionately expensive or technically infeasible. In these cases, pressures may be partially resolved or, where there are multiple sources in a catchment, some may be addressed whilst others are not.
In previous cycles of river basin planning, deadlines for achieving the objectives for some habitats sites protected areas have been extended for a range of reasons.
The plans must aim to achieve the objectives for all the remaining habitats sites protected areas by 2027; less stringent objectives cannot be applied. Ecological recovery time can be used as a reason for extended deadlines beyond 2027 as long as all the required measures have been implemented before 2027.
Temporary deterioration in status
In certain circumstances (set out in Regulation 18) a temporary deterioration in status of a water body, caused by exceptional or unforeseen events such as extreme floods, prolonged droughts or accidents, is allowed. The exception does not apply to those effects of extreme floods and prolonged droughts which could reasonably have been planned for and prevented, nor does it apply in the case of accidents which could reasonably have been foreseen.
This exemption requires responsible authorities to demonstrate that:
- all practicable steps were taken to prevent further deterioration in status
- the measures to be taken under exceptional circumstances are included in the programme of measures and will not compromise the recovery of the quality of the body of water once the circumstances are over
- all practicable measures are taken to restore the body of water to its status prior to the effects of those circumstances as soon as reasonably practicable
- a summary of the effects of the circumstances and the measures taken are included in the next update of the river basin management plans
Prolonged droughts
The Environment Agency is responsible for conserving and securing proper use of water resources in England and protecting the environment. As the regulator of the water environment, the Environment Agency has overall responsibility for safeguarding the environment during drought and overseeing the actions water companies take to secure public water supplies. Water companies are ultimately responsible for managing water supplies to meet the needs of customers.
It is the role of the Environment Agency to monitor, report and act to reduce the impact of drought on the natural environment. The Environment Agency takes specific actions to manage environmental droughts, where low river flows and lake levels have the potential to cause damage to the natural environment and ecology. Water companies are also responsible for maintaining supply while protecting the natural environment. The decision to take action is based on a range of factors, including present and forecast weather conditions and how effective the measure would be. The sequence of measures will differ as drought events need to be managed on an individual basis.
Prolonged and severe droughts may affect water body status through reduced river flows, damage to or loss of habitat, alterations to bio-chemical composition of the river and impact on water-dependent species. A drought is a natural, unpredictable phenomenon and it is not always possible, even with the implementation of appropriate mitigation measures, to avoid the effects of drought or prevent temporary deterioration in water body status throughout a prolonged drought.
Water company drought plans set out the measures that should be taken to minimise environmental impacts and maximise available supplies during a drought, without causing deterioration where possible. Effective monitoring of environmental indicators also helps to differentiate between the natural impacts of drought and the impacts caused by human activity such as the implementation of drought permits and orders. This is important to show that any temporary deterioration resulted from the natural impacts of the drought.
If the impacts of a drought temporarily cause deterioration to water body status and all the criteria in the WFD Regulations can be met, this defence can be used as a justification why an objective set in a river basin management plan has not been met. This is always done on a case by case basis.
Extreme floods
The Environment Agency is responsible for providing flood forecasting and warnings to the public in England. This involves monitoring rainfall, river levels and sea conditions. Combined with weather data and tidal reports the Environment Agency provides local area forecasts on the possibility of flooding and its likely severity.
Severe floods may have an impact on water body status through effects such as the loss of habitat (for example, by scouring of sediments and in-stream vegetation), the physical displacement of species or increased inputs of pollutants including sediment. These impacts may be localised and of insufficient magnitude to affect the status of an entire water body.
Accidents
The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (England) Regulations 2015 implement the Environmental Liability Directive in England. Under these Regulations, environmental damage includes water damage which is defined as damage to surface waters or groundwater causing a change to water body status.
This means either a deterioration of water status overall or a deterioration in status of any of the individual elements or parameters used to classify the water body.
Adverse effects that are short-term or limited in their geographical extent are unlikely to amount to environmental damage.
When environmental damage is confirmed, the regulations include a remediation objective to require remediation as if the damage had not occurred.
New modifications or new sustainable development
Under Regulation 19, new modifications or new sustainable human development activities may be permitted even though they might compromise the achievement of certain environmental objectives. Certain new developments provide valuable benefits to society that outweighs the environmental or societal benefits of achieving some environmental objectives. Such benefits may include those provided by activities such as:
- public water supply
- flood and coastal defence
- navigation and transport
- urban development
- rural land management
Any modifications or activities considered likely to compromise environmental objectives must undergo a thorough assessment before they can be permitted under regulation 19 and must also ensure other related objectives are not compromised as a result of the proposed activities. All the requirements of the WFD Regulations must apply. An assessment must provide evidence to satisfy the following conditions:
- all practicable steps are taken to mitigate the adverse impact on the status of the water body
- the benefits to human health or human safety or sustainable development outweigh the benefits of achieving the environmental objectives or the activity is of overriding public interest
- there are no other means of providing the services offered by the activity that are technically feasible or of a proportionate cost and provides a significantly better environmental option
In addition, the reasons for the modifications or activities must be specifically explained in the river basin management plans and relevant objectives are reviewed every 6 years.
As well as providing information on exemptions that have already been granted under Regulation 19, the plans also contain information on schemes where Regulation 19 assessments may be required but the assessments have not yet been carried out or completed. These possible future applications of Regulation 19 are included in the plans to support public participation in the decision making processes and to ensure that the use of exemptions is transparent. Information on exemptions is provided in the Exemptions under regulation 19 spreadsheet.
The Environment Agency works with public bodies, developers and its own operational functions to ensure the environmental objectives in river basin management plans are met.
In England, the appropriate authority for the implementation of the WFD Regulations is the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The appropriate authority:
- has general responsibility for ensuring the WFD Regulations are given effect
- has specific responsibilities for ensuring that appropriate economic analysis is carried out, approving proposals for environmental objectives and programmes of measures and approving the river basin management plans
- may give guidance or directions to the Environment Agency, and any other public body, on the practical implementation of the WFD Regulations
- has the duty to exercise its relevant functions so as to secure compliance with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, Environmental Quality Standards Directive and Groundwater Directive
The Environment Agency is the appropriate agency for producing and updating the river basin management plans in England. The Environment Agency:
- is responsible for identifying, characterising and in certain circumstances monitoring drinking water protected areas and identifying measures where water quality is deteriorating and establishing a register of those waters and other protected areas
- has to prepare proposals for environmental objectives and programmes of measures for each river basin district and prepare draft river basin management plans
- must also ensure public participation in preparation of the river basin management plans and make certain information required under the WFD Regulations accessible to the public
- has the duty to exercise its relevant functions so as to secure compliance with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, Environmental Quality Standards Directive and Groundwater Directive
Secretary of State
The Secretary of State is legally part of the Crown and is not established in legislation.
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body established by the Environment Act 1995.
Environment Agency
Horizon House
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AH
River basin planning in the Environment Agency follows a plan-do-check-review approach. This is an internationally recognised ‘best practice’ approach used across the world for all types of planning, including environmental planning.
The Environment Agency applies this approach through its Environmental Planning and Delivery Framework. This is a continuous, cyclical planning and programming approach, punctuated at intervals by the formal consultations and reporting of progress required by the WFD Regulations. The process is supported by ongoing engagement with partners.
This cyclical approach, and the intelligent adaptation of environmental outcomes, is a key part of taking a more systems approach to environmental planning. It also provides an opportunity for new ideas and innovative thinking to be considered as part of the decisions. Environmental outcomes are not just set once; they are adapted and re-set.
The ongoing river basin planning process is broken down into the 6 stages of the Environmental Planning and Delivery framework as follows:
Stage 1: define the aspirational outcome we and those we work with want to achieve and how to achieve it
The aspirational outcomes to be achieved through river basin planning are the environmental objectives set out in the WFD Regulations, including aiming to achieve good status in all waters.
The define stage also includes defining the standards and targets against which status and other objectives are assessed and the geographical scale and boundaries to which the planning applies (such as river basin districts and water bodies).
Define involves setting out how the rest of the Environmental Planning and Delivery framework will operate and includes the Working Together consultation step in the development of river basin management plans.
Stage 2: establish the current and past condition of the water environment
The establish stage describes the current condition of the environment including any current or historical trends, that is, improving, declining or being maintained. Assessments identify whether there is a current environmental problem, such as the failure of a protected area to achieve its objective, a water body that has deteriorated in status or a water body that is assessed as being at less than good status.
The condition of habitats site protected areas (water dependent Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas) is assessed by Natural England. The condition of all other protected areas is assessed by the Environment Agency. The current status of water bodies is assessed mainly through a process of classification. Comparison of these results over time will indicate whether any deterioration in that status is occurring. Classification results are one of the pieces of information that can indicate whether there is an environmental problem in a water body, but other information, including information from partners, can also be used to help determine whether or not there is a problem.
The reasons for any of the current environmental problems are identified, such as reasons for not achieving good status.
Finally, the Environment Agency also establishes and updates the baseline against which future changes in the status of water bodies will be assessed, particularly deteriorations in status.
Stage 3: Forecast the future condition of the environment
To adapt to the climate emergency and other pressures such as population growth, land use change, invasive species and emerging chemicals, it is necessary to plan for the future condition of the environment, not just the current condition. If the plausible range of future pressures is understood, action can be taken to control, accept or redirect interventions in order to achieve the environmental objectives. Acting early can be cheaper and more cost-effective than waiting for impacts to occur. Considering future risks to achieving the environmental objectives ensures that environmental planning and management, and the interventions undertaken, are appropriate to address future conditions and are as future-proof as possible.
Stage 4: Decide what action needs to happen to deliver the desired outcomes
Having identified current problems and future risks, the technically feasible solutions that are available to resolve the problem are identified. Where more than one technically feasible measure is available, the most cost effective approach is selected. All of the measures required to fully resolve the problem are identified.
The cost effective and technically feasible measures needed to achieve good status across all water bodies in each catchment were grouped together and subject to economic appraisal to identify those measures where implementation is justified because the benefits to society from implementing the measures exceed the costs of putting the measures in place.
While it is important to understand the costs and benefits of the measures needed to achieve protected area objectives and those to prevent deterioration in water body status, these objectives must still be achieved, even where costs outweigh benefits.
The outcomes that will be achieved from implementing the measures are used to identify the best future condition or status that could be achieved for protected areas and water bodies. The ‘best’ future status, which may be less than good status (that is a less stringent objective), is the target status in the water body status objective in the plans.
When this future condition or status can be achieved is determined by considering how and when the measures to achieve the objectives will be funded and implemented and the time it will take for the environment to recover. This provides the target date in the water body status objective.
Stage 5: Act on implementation planning, prioritisation and scheduling of action
Whilst some actions (for example, policy development and national infrastructure) will be delivered nationally, local delivery plans will need to be developed collaboratively with partners. Implementation should be as co-ordinated and integrated as possible to ensure one action does not create unintended consequences elsewhere and to ensure cost-effective implementation.
Not all action can be planned. Opportunistic action due to changes in management approaches, policy, partnership involvement, financing, and land access will continue to play an important part of delivering the environmental objectives in the river basin management plans.
Stage 6: Check progress and refine actions
Every 6 years, compliance with the objectives set in the river basin management plans is reviewed. Where necessary updates to the objectives and measures are identified as part of the ongoing planning cycle. This is an essential component of taking a continuous improvement approach to environmental planning. It ensures that all partners continue to learn as progress towards the desired outcome is made, effectiveness of interventions is improved, and future investment is optimised.
The check step provides the information to report on progress, effectiveness and to justify future expenditure and funding as part of reviewing and updating the river basin management plans. An economic assessment is also provided to government, setting out information on the sectors that are responsible for the pressures on protected areas and water bodies and the costs of the measures needed to achieve the objectives.
Statutory guidance on the practical implementation of the planning process, the role of the competent authority and requirements for the plans are laid out in the ministerial guidance on river basin planning.
This guidance was updated in September 2021 and has informed the review and update of the plans. For this update of the plans, the United Kingdom Government and the Government of Wales have produced separate ministerial guidance, applying to river basin districts within their respective territories. In addition, specific issues relating to the cross-border Dee and Severn River Basin Districts is addressed in a supplementary guidance document on cross-border areas.
2.6.1. Economic regulation
The water industry in England is regulated to protect consumers and the environment. Ofwat is the independent economic regulator for the water industry in England and Wales. Every five years Ofwat sets price limits based on water company business plans, produced in dialogue with the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Natural England, Consumer Council for Water, customers and others. These business plans set out in detail how much each company needs to charge its customers to provide water and sewerage services (where relevant) and to comply with its statutory obligations. Thus the costs of providing resilient water and sewerage services are recovered through customer bills.
2.6.2. Abstraction charges
Where abstractors hold an abstraction licence various charges apply which cover the cost of sustainable water resources management. This is done through The Environment Agency (Environmental Permitting and Abstraction Licensing) (England) Charging Scheme 2022..
2.6.3. Water metering
One way water companies can help to reduce the environmental costs of public water supply and provide appropriate incentives is to reduce leakage and make the cost of supplying water more visible to consumers by implementing water metering programmes.