| The Significant Water Management Issues consultation reports for the Scotland and Solway Tweed river basin districts are now available here. Summary reports are also available online and in print.
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires a report on the significant issues affecting each river basin district to be published by the end of 2007. The main focus of the report is the identification of the significant water management issues (SWMI) that we think put our ability to achieve the objectives of the WFD at risk. The report also highlights the need for new and, in some cases, national measures to be implemented. Consultation responses will be considered for the first draft of the river basin management plan in 2008. SEPA, together with the Environment Agency for the Solway-Tweed river basin district, is preparing its reports slightly earlier than the Directive requires; the Environment Agency and the Environment & Heritage Service have already published their SWMI reports.
Have your say before 8 April 2008.
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Scotland’s rivers are of high quality
Scotland's water continues to be an important economic and social asset. The characterisation report identifies where the water environment is at risk of being harmed and although problems do exist, the majority of Scotland's rivers are of high quality. Forty-three per cent of the water bodies in the Scotland river basin district are at risk of being harmed - this compares to over 80% of waters in most of Europe.
Most of Scotland's river water bodies are of good quality:
- 72% are not affected by pollution
- 73% are not affected by abstractions or dams
- 66% are not affected by engineering works
The economic analysis reveals a wide range of uses of our waters and the value of them to Scotland. These range from an essential resource for key industries such as distillers, bottled drinking water and the production of renewable energy. Scotland's environment and its wildlife habitats are of increasing importance for recreation and tourism.
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The Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires an environmental and economic characterisation for each river basin district by December 2004. A summary of the results must be reported to the European Commission by March 2005. These reports present the most detailed descriptions ever produced on the pressures and impacts on the water environment.
The main steps of characterisation are:
- identifying water bodies and their physical characteristics;
- identifying protected areas;
- assessing the pressures and impacts on rivers, lochs, estuaries, coasts, groundwaters and wetlands;
- identifying which water bodies are at risk of not achieving the Directive’s objectives;
- an economic analysis of water uses and users (this is presented in a companion report).
In Scotland, work has been undertaken by a range of organisations including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), British Geological Survey, British Waterways, Fisheries Research Services (marine and fresh water laboratories), Macaulay Institute, Scottish Executive, Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Water. A similar report for the Solway-Tweed river basin district has been produced in conjunction with the Environment Agency and input from English Nature.
SEPA consulted on preliminary results between July and September 2004. Closed consultations can be viewed here. The results from this public consultation have been incorporated into the final report.
Environmental characterisation is an important first step in the process of improving the water environment as it will help to determine the monitoring strategy as well as provide a starting point for the design of a programme of measures.
Reports and associated information
Future work
This assessment is only the first step in improving our water environment through integrated river basin management. Information will continually be improved and refined making the next cycle of characterisation more accurate than this first assessment. The next stage will be to further develop characterisation by improving our information from all sources, including regulated and non-regulated sectors and by incorporating additional monitoring data. This will help generate the report on ‘Significant Water Management Issues’ in the river basin in 2007, as required by the Directive. SEPA and the Environment Agency will use the information in this report to help amend the environmental monitoring programme.
SEPA will continue to work in partnership with other organisations and sectors in order to design and carry out a programme of measures to achieve the environmental objectives of the Directive.
