FOREWORD—What this
Report is about
The European Union adopted ambitious new legislation
in 2000 designed to protect and restore clean water in sufficient
quantity across Europe. Making it work, however, creates many
challenges for all those involved, including not only public authorities
but many other organisations whose duties and activities are linked
to water or nearby land.
Putting the Water Framework Directive into practice
also requires some of its aspirations to be quantified in the
form of binding standards. The importance of making sure that
these standards are set at an appropriate level led us to take
evidence from the UK Government and from the Environment Agency.
Implementation seems to be proceeding relatively
well throughout the United Kingdom, although it is still very
early days. If its success so far is to continue, partnership
is key. Local authorities, planners, government and farmers, to
name but a few, must work together.
In some instances, it may prove disproportionately
costly or technically impractical to achieve in the short term
the ambitious targets that are demanded. That is why some flexibility
is built into the Water Framework Directive, but it is crucial
that this flexibility is not abused.
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