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F - CONCLUSIONS
This paper proposes the first set of environmental standards to be developed for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in the UK. The standards have been developed on a UK-wide basis after careful assessment of current scientific data. We are therefore confident that the proposals in this paper are supported by robust scientific evidence and will provide appropriate protection for aquatic ecology at 'good' status. Introduction of these environmental standards on a UK-wide basis will provide consistency for all water users across the UK.
Introduction of environmental standards is a key stage in implementing the WFD in Scotland:
- Standards underpin the objective-setting process within basin planning. They will provide the basis for assessing risks to the water environment and determining what action would be needed to prevent deterioration of status or to achieve 'good' ecological status.
- The standards are vital to the regulation of water use in Scotland. They will provide a basis for SEPA to determine new applications and to review licence conditions for existing authorisations under the Controlled Activities Regulations ( CAR), which came into force earlier this year.
- Ongoing monitoring of water conditions against the range of standards will help to assess risks to the water environment. It will also contribute to identifying where measures are effective in delivering our environmental objectives, and hence will support both regulation and basin planning.
This paper also summarises a Regulatory Impact Assessment ( RIA) carried out by independent consultants on a UK-wide basis. It is important to recognise that until the objective-setting process has been carried out, this report can only give a broad estimate of the economic implications of the standards. The costs of implementing measures will depend on the specific objectives and actions that are agreed during the objective-setting process. The key assessment of the costs and benefits associated with implementing the WFD in Scotland will therefore be the RIA which accompanies the draft River Basin Management Plan in 2008.
The proposals in this consultation paper include thirteen elements, relating to aspects of water quality, water resources and morphology in surface waters:
- For water quality, the proposed standards are similar to those SEPA has been using to drive improvements in the past. The proposed standards would bring regulation in line with the latest scientific thinking, as type-specific standards are proposed to replace the existing single standards for all river (or loch) types. This will result in better targeting of resources at water bodies where the ecology is at most significant risk. Thresholds in some river types have increased while others have decreased.
- The issues of most significance in Scotland are likely to be tackling riverine phosphorus and riverine ammonia levels. The RIA concluded that improvements in both ammonia and phosphorus levels are most likely to be delivered by two key sectors: agriculture and Scottish Water. Agricultural issues will be tackled primarily through the development of a national diffuse pollution strategy, including a set of general binding rules. Requirements for Scottish Water to address WFD compliance were incorporated into the objectives that Ministers set in the Quality and Standards 3 process for the period 2006-2014.
- Introduction of the proposed riverine phosphorus standards is expected to result in only a minimal increase in the number of water bodies at risk, but importantly, better targeting of resources at those water bodies where the ecology is judged to be most at risk from raised nutrient levels. The impacts of a proposed change in the dissolved oxygen standard for some rivers are expected to be minimal, as the proposals do not change the related BOD standard. A new salinity standard is proposed for lochs, but no failures are expected in Scotland.
- Standards for water flow in rivers and water levels in lochs are proposed for the first time. Until CAR was introduced earlier this year, there were no comprehensive controls in Scotland for abstractions or activities that alter water flow. The proposed standards aim to protect ecology from extremely low flows by restricting the permitted changes from natural flow patterns. The consultants writing the RIA concluded that there is currently not enough information to estimate the associated costs. The impact of the proposed standards will depend on the specific objectives that are set for each water body.
- A decision-supporting framework is proposed as a tool to make initial assessments of new applications for activities that may impact on the structure or shape of a river. Such works in freshwaters have only this year become regulated with the introduction of CAR. The framework proposed in this paper is the first of its type to be introduced in the UK, and should enable all initial assessments of these new applications to be made on a consistent basis. Detailed risk assessments will still be needed where proposals are expected to have significant impacts on ecology.
We would welcome your comments on any aspect of this paper.
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