Rivers, lakes and coastal waters are vital
natural resources: they provide drinking water, crucial habitats
for many different types of wildlife, and are an important resource
for industry and recreation. A significant proportion of them are
environmentally damaged or under threat. Protecting and improving
the environment is an important part of achieving sustainable
development and is vital for the long term health, well being and
prosperity of everyone.
The EC Water Framework Directive is a welcome
and radical improvement on earlier, piecemeal EU water legislation.
It expands the scope of water protection to all waters and sets out
clear objectives that must be achieved by specified dates.
In October 2000 the
'Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in
the field of water policy' (Water Framework Directive or WFD)
was adopted and came into force in December 2000. The purpose of
the Directive is to establish a framework for the protection of
inland surface waters (rivers and lakes), transitional waters
(estuaries), coastal waters and groundwater. It will ensure that
all aquatic ecosystems and, with regard to their water needs,
terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands meet 'good status' by 2015.
The Directive requires Member States to
establish river basin districts and for each of these a river basin
management plan. The Directive envisages a cyclical process where
river basin management plans are prepared, implemented and reviewed
every six years. There are four distinct elements to the river
basin planning cycle: characterisation and assessment of impacts on
river basin districts; environmental monitoring; the setting of
environmental objectives; and the design and implementation of the
programme of measures needed to achieve them.
The Directive has a series of implementation
deadlines which stretch to December 2015 (the date by which
environmental objectives must be met). Information about UK
implementation can be found via the Defra
website.
JNCC's work in relation to the Water Framework
Directive is discharged through various groups. These include the
Inter-Agency Water Framework Directive Nature
Conservation Group (NCG), and the UK Technical
Advisory Group's (UKTAG’s) Marine Task Team (MTT) and its Alien
Species Group (ASG).
The NCG focuses on all aspects of the WFD that
are especially relevant to nature conservation. In particular the
group has contributed to UKTAG’s work on wetland habitats,
monitoring methods for fresh waters, river basin characterisation
and small water bodies, ecological status classification, and river
basin management plans.
The MTT advises on the technical aspects of
typology, reference conditions, classification and monitoring
requirements for transitional and coastal waters. This group has
also contributed to the development of European guidance for the
EC's Common Implementation Strategy and an extensive programme to
inter-calibrate classification tools across Europe. JNCC has been
working through MTT to integrate and harmonise tools, monitoring
approaches (including Quality Assurance/Quality Control), and where
possible, monitoring programmes to ensure maximum use of resources
and data to inform condition assessments for the Habitats
Directive.
Under the MTT are a number of sub-groups which
feed into the development of classification tools for the
biological quality elements. One of these sub-groups, the Marine
Benthic Invertebrate Task Team (MBITT) has developed classification
tools for the benthic invertebrate fauna to be assessed, although
some gaps still remain. JNCC's focus in this group has been on its
relationship to monitoring and the assessment of Special Areas of
Conservation (SAC) condition. JNCC has worked with MBITT on
investigating methods for assessing both soft sediment and hard
substratum benthic macroinvertebrate communities.
The ASG has helped guide the work on how
non-native species should be addressed under the WFD. This has
resulted in a continually updated list of species of concern in
aquatic habitats and guidance on how non-native species
data should be incorporated into classifications of ecological
status. The ASG has also played a major role in work on these
matters at a European level through the European Commission’s
ECOSTAT group.
River
Basin Management Plan consultations carried out by the
Competent Authorities with responsibility for the Water Framework
Directive across the UK closed in June 2009, with the intention to
have the final plans published in December 2009. These plans will
inform the Directive’s Programme of Measures required to help
minimise impacts on Annexed features.
Transposition to UK Legislation
Transposition into national law in the UK
occurred through the following regulations: The Water
Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales)
Regulations 2003 (Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 3242) for
England and Wales; the
Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 (WEWS
Act) and The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive)
Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (Statutory Rule 2003 No. 544)
for Northern Ireland.
February 2010