Characterisation of the water environment
This paper sets out UKTAG’s advice on the identification of relevant Natura 2000 sites for inclusion on the register of Protected Areas required under Article 6 of the Water Framework Directive
This paper sets out guidance on the delineation and characterisation of groundwater bodies as required under Article 5 of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and detailed in Annex II of the WFD. The guidance is required to ensure the requirements of the WFD are met in the 2nd River Basin Management Planning cycle and that future WFD assessments will produce comparable results for each Agency. This paper supersedes UKTAG paper 6(a) on groundwater delineation and characterisation
This paper sets out UKTAG’s advice on the application of the framework in the UK. The advice is designed to ensure that the implementation of the Directive focuses management on the protection and improvement of significant elements of the water environment and thereby helps deliver the greatest possible benefits. The identification of minor elements of surface water, such as garden ponds and artificial drainage ditches, as separate water bodies would cause significant logistical difficulties, and stretch the resources available to improve more significant elements of surface water.
Under Annex II of the Directive, reference condition for each type of surface water body need to be developed.This guidance was produced by the Rivers Task Team in consultation with other UKTAG Task Teams.
This paper describes the development of a typology for England, Wales and Scotland. It does not describe the rivers typology development for Northern Ireland, which is being undertaken by the North/South TAG for Ecoregion 17. The Northern Ireland representatives on Rivers Task Team are maintaining an overview of the two processes.
The Directive’s requirements with respect to wetlands and groundwaters are linked to the environmental objectives Article 4 1b, to be applied to and monitored for achieving Good Groundwater Status (both quantitative and chemical) and as outlined in Article 4, Annex 5 of the Directive.
The paper sets out UKTAG’s guidance on the framework for the identification of, and assessments of ‘type-specific’ risk thresholds for deciding if a water body is likely to fail to achieve the ‘good status’ objectives in relation to existing biological classification schemes and monitoring data for rivers.This approach will be adapted and applied by the environment and conservation agencies to achieve a consistent and effective approach to the use of existing environmental monitoring data and other relevant information in assessing the risk that river water bodies will fail to achieve the
As part of a review of the impact of human activity on the status of waters (the pressures and impacts analysis), Article 5 and Annex II of the Water Framework Directive require Member States to:(a) Collect and maintain information on the type and magnitude of the significant pressures to which surface water and groundwater bodies in each River Basin District are liable to be subject; and(b) Carry out an assessment of the risk that these bodies will fail to meet the Directive’s environmental objectives.
This paper sets out UKTAG’s summary guidance on the approach to the provisional identification and subsequent designation of artificial and heavily modified water bodies under the Water Framework Directive as set out in Article 4.3 of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and further interpreted in the common implementation strategy guidance on the identification and designation of artificial and heavily modified water bodies (HMWBs).
The aim of this document is to provide guidance on:(a) Pressures likely to cause alterations to the morphological conditions of surface waters;(b) Morphological data required for carrying out risk assessments for Article 5 analyses;and(c) Morphological pressure thresholds above which water bodies are considered to be at risk of failing the environmental objectives of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
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