Executive summary

Tha an Geàrr-chunntas gnìomhach seo sa Ghàidhlig aig.
This Executive summary is available in Gaelic.

The purpose of this plan is to maintain and improve the quality of the water environment in the West Highland advisory group area. This includes the catchments of the Western Isles, Skye and the small isles and the western seaboard of mainland Scotland from Cape Wrath to Ardnamurchan, plus the coastal and estuarine waters surrounding them. This plan supplements the river basin management plan for the Scotland river basin district[1], and will help to deliver Water Framework Directive requirements. It focuses on local actions for the West Highland area and highlights the opportunities for partnership working to ensure that we all continue to benefit from improvements to, and protection of, the water environment.

This plan has been produced in partnership with the West Highland Area Advisory Group. The actions set out here will bring important benefits for many of the economically important activities in the area and the high number of designated sites.

In 2008, 92% of water bodies in the West Highland area were classified under the Water Framework Directive as being at good or high ecological status or potential. This plan aims to maintain this good or high ecological status and to secure continuous improvements in water bodies that are currently below good ecological status. The planned targets for improvement until 2027 are set out in Table 1. These targets are demanding and can only be achieved through partnership working by the West Highland Area Advisory Group and other stakeholders in the area.

 

Table 1: Condition of water bodies throughout the river basin planning cycles in the West Highland area

 

2008

2015

2021

2027

% of water bodies at good or high ecological status or potential

92%

93%

94%

99%

The most important objectives for the West Highland area management plan are to:

  • minimise the impacts of hydropower generation and public water supply provision on water abstraction from rivers and lochs;
  • reduce the impacts of hydropower generation and public water supply provision on flow regulation and changes to natural flows in rivers and lochs;
  • increase the number of water bodies accessible to migratory fish and restore water bodies whose beds and banks have been physically altered (eg by hydropower generation, aquaculture, road transport, public water supply provision, farming, commercial fishing and historical engineering);
  • reduce the impacts of nutrient enrichment from diffuse pollution from livestock and mixed farming and sewage disposal;
  • reduce the impacts of point source pollution from aquaculture;
  • manage the presence and risk from introduction of invasive non-native species;
  • investigate the reasons for the unfavourable status of areas protected for fresh water pearl mussels and put appropriate management measures in place;
  • work together to ensure that there is no deterioration in the quality of the water environment of the West Highland area.

The West Highland area is dominated by rough, mountainous terrain and an abundance of marine and fresh waters which have dictated human settlement and activity. Important economic activities sustaining these fragile and remote communities include tourism, caged marine and freshwater salmon farming, shellfish farming and renewable energy production. Planning for sustainable water use in this area requires considering the needs of these communities at a time when they are under increasing economic pressure whilst, at the same time, preventing degradation of – and where necessary improving – the environment on which they depend.

Delivering improvements and ensuring that there is no deterioration will require actions from many partners. The Area Advisory Group will ensure that appropriate networks are set up and that the full range of stakeholders is involved in this process. The group will also oversee the progress of actions and improvements and then identify where new actions may be needed.

The river basin management plan for the Scotland river basin district, and the eight supplementary area management plans, describe how we are going to manage, improve and protect our water environment over the next six years. This area management plan will run from 2010 to 2015, when it will be reviewed and the next six year planning cycle will begin.

  1. The full river basin management plans for the Scotland and the Solway Tweed river basin districts can be found on the SEPA website.