Foreword

Over the coming years, important decisions are going to be made about how we, in Scotland, protect and improve the valuable water resources we have and, on the pages that follow, we set out some important information about the pressures and impacts upon the water environment.

This work is one of the first steps under the Water Framework Directive which came into force in Europe in 2003 and established new and better ways of protecting, improving and using Europe’s rivers, lochs, estuaries, coasts, canals, wetlands and groundwater.

We have worked hard during the last three years to collect information about the ways in which water contributes to the economy, to ensure that it is informative and useful to key organisations, individuals, and decision-makers. This information has been reported separately to the European Commission. However, there is still much to be done to fully understand the impacts, and further work is planned for the years ahead.

Throughout this document you will see references and electronic links to research reports and papers that have been produced in the course of carrying out this work. These provide more detail and technical information that you may find helpful. We will continue to collect and present information, as it becomes available, on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) website.

The work has been undertaken in consultation with an Economics Stakeholder Group which has provided SEPA with advice on the development of this report and the research projects upon which it is based. An important component of the report is the appendix providing sector specific reports authored by these stakeholders.

SEPA is grateful for the input of stakeholders to the process and we intend to continue this participative approach throughout our work on the Directive as we monitor, assess, plan and take action to improve the Scotland’s water environment.

Dr Campbell Gemmell
Chief Executive
Scottish Environment Protection Agency