Resources
This paper provides guidance on establishing groundwater monitoring programmes to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
The prioritisation process ranks substances based on their potential exposure in the aquatic environment and hazard to aquatic life.
Operational monitoring will be undertaken in water bodies identified as ‘at risk’ or ‘probably at risk’ of not achieving good status (i.e. 1a and 1b water bodies).
The UK Technical Advisory Group (UKTAG) sought comments on the scientific principles underpinning the first proposals for environmental standards to underpin the implementation of the Water Framework Directive.
The existing ‘No deterioration’ policies applied by the individual agencies, to inform regulatory decisions on new discharges and increases in load for existing discharges, will continue to be applied.
This paper sets out UKTAG’s guidance on a risk-based decision pathway for the determination of “significant damage” to Groundwater Dependent Terrestrial Ecosystems (GWDTEs).
The classification schemes will provide the basis for describing the state of the aquatic environment and for assessing the effectiveness of the programmes of measures in achieving the environmental objectives established through the river basin management planning process.
The paper sets out UKTAG’s guidance on the:a) the high-level principles that influence the need for less stringent objectives (LSOs) (or ‘lower objectives’) for groundwater bodies;b) an approach used in 2004 to identify initial list of groundwater bodies that will require less stringent objective
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) establishes a range of different environmental objectives for the water environment.