Memorandum submitted by Andrew Needham
1. EU Commission has warned EA to "step
up the pace" on implementing the Water Framework Directive
(ENDS report attached[1]).
The cost of implementation in the UK has been
estimated to be about £12 billion.There is concern from agriculture
and industry on the cost benefit analysis—and how the directive
for good ecological quality would be enforced.
2. As a County Councillor representing a
rural area I know that NFU have been very vocal to Government.
There is also the issue of responsibility for
diffuse pollution.
3. So until all this has been resolved,
I think that EA have been right to proceed carefully.
There is a need to coordinate the five relevant
plans (see below)
WATER FRAMEWORK
DIRECTIVE
4. The main priority for local government
is the EU Landfill Directive—for which there will be massive
fines from DEFRA for non compliance.
On the other hand the Water Framework Directive
will be achieved by "voluntary means". There are five
relevant plans.
5. These are CAMS, CFMPS, FAPs, RBMP and
WLMPs:
(i) Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies
(CAMS)
Strategies for the management of water resources
at a local level. Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies
make more information on water resources and licensing practice
publicly available and allow the balance between the needs of
abstractors, other water users and the aquatic environment to
be considered in consultation with the local community and interested
parties.
(ii) Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMPs)
Catchment Flood Management Plans are strategic
planning tools through which the Environment Agency seeks to work
with other key decision-makers within a river catchment to identify
and agree policies for sustainable flood risk management.
(iii) Fisheries Action Plans (FAPs)
Fisheries Action Plans are local plans developed
in partnership between the Environment Agency and local angling
and fisheries groups, with input from conservation and other interest
groups. FAPs cover canal and still-water fisheries as well as
rivers. They may cover a wide range of issues from fish habitat,
through to angling promotion and land management. Each FAP is
different and reflects the concerns and priorities of local angling
and fisheries interests.
(iv) River Basin Management Plan (RBMP)
For each River Basin District, the Water Framework
Directive requires a River Basin Management Plan to be published.
RBMPs are reports or strategies that set out how the environmental
objectives for all the water bodies within the River Basin District
will be achieved. The plans will be based upon a detailed analysis
of the pressures on the water bodies and an assessment of their
impacts. The RBMPs must be reviewed every six years.
(v) Water Level Management Plans (WLMPs)
Water Level Management Plans provide a means
by which water level requirements for a range of activities, including
agriculture, flood defence and conservation, can be balanced and
integrated. Provides the strategic policy framework for the effective
preparation of local planning authorities' development plans.
6. All these plans are relevant to the Water
Framework Directive. For example CAMS will control over abstraction
which can lead to low flow—and reduced dilution for diffuse
and other pollution.
7. There are also Fisheries Action Plans
(FAPs) which are developed in partnership with local angling and
fisheries groups and other interests.
All these five plans are interrelated and need
to be coordinated for WFD priorities.
Andrew Needham
November 2005
1 Not printed (August 2005-ENDS Report 367). Back
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