North East Scotland Area Advisory Group: who's who SEPA is responsible for: co-ordinating the production of River Basin Management Plans in the Scotland River Basin District (RBD as required by Section 10 of the ; technical aspects of the river basin planning process. SEPA will chair the Area Advisory Group (AAG) in the first instance.

The River Basin Management Plan and Area Management Plans for the Scotland River Basin District will record the district’s characteristics. Characterisation of an area will provide information on:

The Chair will be supported by a River Basin Planning Coordinator provided by SEPA. Each Area Advisory Group will have its own coordinator who will be the first point of contact for the area. They will act as liaison between the members of the Area Advisory Group, members of the AAG Forum and SEPA.

Area Advisory Group Coordinators’ contact details.

North East Scotland Area Advisory Group Membership

Membership of the North East Scotland Area Advisory Group is determined by the range and type of pressures in the North East Scotland area. Members include representatives from:

• local authorities;
  
• agriculture;
  
• Scottish Water;
  
• other sectors such as fisheries and recreation.
  
  
  
• North East Scotland Area Advisory Group member organisations
  
  

Membership is flexible. It will be possible for additional members to be co-opted for agreed periods to assist with the preparation of particular aspects of River Basin Planning. Such members can be co-opted onto the Area Advisory Group for single meetings, to cover specific agenda items or for a short period, to advise the Area Advisory Group on a particular issue. They will not be full members and therefore will not determine quorum or vote.

North East Scotland Area Advisory Group meeting agendas and minutes

The North East Scotland Area Advisory Group will assist SEPA and other responsible authorities in carrying out their duties and obligations under the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 and associated regulations.

North East Scotland Area Advisory Group meets regularly and provides a mechanism to support the production of a River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) for the Scotland RBD and its co-ordination with other plans and programmes. The meetings provide a means to:

• consult with responsible authorities and interested parties;
  
• reach consensus;
  
• prioritise views on river basin planning and other matters related to the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
  
  

Follow the links in the table below to view agendas and minutes from North East Scotland AAG meetings.

Pressures and Impacts: characterisation in the North East Scotland Area

• pressures and impacts;
  
• protected areas;
  
• economic issues.
  
  

Characterisation will also detail:

• environmental objectives, with timescales for their achievement;
  
• a Programme of Measures to achieve these objectives (including who will do what and when);
  
• monitoring networks and programmes;
  
• consultation/participation opportunities for interested parties.
  
  

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SEPA’s WFD characterisation database is being continually updated and summary pressure and impact data will change over time. The map below shows results from some early characterisation work in the North East Scotland area.

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Click for larger image

The main pressures for freshwaters are: morphological alterations (changes in the physical structure of water bodies); abstraction; flow regulation; diffuse pollution. For transitional and coastal waters, the main issues are: diffuse pollution; point source pollution.

More information on characterisation

SEPA has published a report on the characterisation of the Scotland River Basin District.

Monitoring and Classfication

The Water Framework Directive requires SEPA, and other responsible organisations in Scotland to develop new monitoring and classification systems by December 2006. These systems will cover all surface water and groundwater bodies. They will be based on a new ecological classification system with five quality classes underpinned by monitoring a range of biological quality elements.

• More information on monitoring and classification