Executive summary

The purpose of this plan is to maintain and improve the quality of the rivers, lochs, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwaters in the Tay Area Advisory Group area. The plan supplements the River basin management plan for the Scotland river basin district, and will help to deliver Water Framework Directive requirements. It focuses on local actions and highlights how work partnerships can ensure wider benefits to the water environment.

The plan has been drafted by the partners who make up the Tay Area Advisory Group (see Page 3 for details), while the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) have provided much of the scientific information. A wider forum has also been established to allow the public to be involved in planning developments.

The actions set out in the plan will bring important benefits for drinking water, flood prevention, natural habitats and will help to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

In 2008, 48% of water bodies in the Tay area were classified under the Water Framework Directive as being at good or high ecological status, and this plan aims to maintain these. It also aims to secure continuous improvement of those waters that are currently below good ecological status. The planned improvement targets until 2027 are set out in Table 1. As they are ambitious, they can only be achieved through working in partnership with the Area Advisory Group and other stakeholders from the region.

Table 1: Overview of planned improvements for Tay Area Advisory Group, 2008–2027
	2008	2015	2021	2027
Number and % of water bodies at good (or high) ecological status	170 48%	206 58%	231 65%	338 95%

Table 1: Overview of planned improvements for Tay Area Advisory Group, 2008–2027

2008

2015

2021

2027

Number and % of water bodies at good (or high) ecological status

170

48%

206

58%

231

65%

338

95%

The priorities to secure these improvements in the Tay area are:

to reduce the number of water bodies affected by abstraction;
to reduce the number of water bodies affected by diffuse pollution;
to reduce the number of water bodies affected by alterations to banks and beds;
to reduce the number of water bodies affected by barriers to migratory fish movement;
to reduce the number of water bodies affected by point source pollution.

Delivering these improvements will require actions from many partners, so the Area Advisory Group will ensure that appropriate networks and stakeholders are involved in this process. The group will also oversee the development of new actions and monitor the actions and improvements.

The river basin management plan (RBMP) for the Scotland river basin district and the eight supplementary area management plans outline how we are going to manage and improve our water environment over the next six years. This plan will run from 2009–2015, after which it will be reviewed and the next six year cycle of planning will begin.