Conclusions and Recommendations
31. We urge the Government to address the Water
Framework Directive with more urgency. It presents challenges,
particularly to agriculture, which is facing financial difficulty.
But the Directive also presents opportunities. We urge the Government
to view the Directive positively, and, rather than doing the bare
minimum required at the last possible moment, to implement it
in such a way that the benefits are maximised. The Directive could
be an opportunity to make real the concept of 'sustainable development':
we urge the Government to seize that opportunity (paragraph 92).
Both Defra and the Environment Agency are working
with all urgency to progress implementation and involve other
departments and stakeholders. In doing so, the Government will
want to comply with the requirements set out in the Directive
in step with the timetable it establishes. The Government does
not agree that this equates to doing the bare minimum at the last
possible moment.
The Directive does present challenges - particularly
for agriculture which was identified by the Policy Commission
on Food and Farming as the number one polluter of water. The strategic
review of diffuse water pollution from agriculture was set up
to find practical and cost-effective solutions to the problem
of agricultural diffuse pollution (see recommendation 10). The
Government is committed to tackling this difficult issue effectively.
We are however conscious of the need to ensure proportionality,
particularly in an industry which cannot pass costs on to its
customers, and to make the best use of environmental regulation
without overburdening the industry.
As the Committee rightly notes, the Water Framework
Directive also presents opportunities. For the first time a water
Directive deals with the whole spectrum of inland and coastal
waters, managed on a river basin basis. The "joining up"
part of the Directive is not only about the integration of surface/groundwater
and quality/quantity, integration of links with EU biodiversity
objectives and supporting the water needs of wetlands. It is equally
about moving towards joining up the management of water with other
policy sectors that have an impact on the water environment such
as land use planning. The Directive's emphasis on public participation
will mean that there will be proper public involvement in shaping
the development of river basin plans.
There is no doubt that in meeting the ambitious environmental
objectives set by the Directive, all those involved will help
make real the concept of 'sustainable development'.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
May 2003
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