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Section 1 - Water Policy in Scotland

1 The legislative framework

The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/ EC ( WFD) was introduced in 2000, and applies to all rivers, lochs, estuaries and coastal waters as well as water under the ground. Its objectives can be summarised as follows:

• prevent deterioration in the status of surface and groundwater bodies;
• protect, enhance and restore all bodies of surface water and groundwater with the aim of achieving good surface water status by 2015.

The WFD was implemented in Scotland by the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 ( WEWS). The aim of the WEWS Act is to protect and improve the water environment while also supporting the social and economic interests of those who depend on it. The Act identifies the Scottish Environment Protection Agency ( SEPA) as the competent authority for the Scotland River Basin District and gives certain duties to Scottish Ministers. In the Solway Tweed River Basin District, which straddles the Scotland-England border, SEPA and the Environment Agency are required to work jointly to establish a co-ordinated approach to implementing our WFD obligations.

The WEWS Act sets out steps for the implementation of the river basin planning process in Scotland. It also includes requirements for control regimes to regulate all activities that pose a risk to the water environment. These arrangements were introduced in 2005 via The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 ( CAR).

The WEWS Act requires that an annual report on progress should be submitted before the Scottish Parliament. This document is the fifth such report and focuses on our progress in implementing the WEWS Act during 2007.

The Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2003/20030003.htm

Scotland RBD map:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1057/0002407.pdf

Solway Tweed RBD map:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1057/0010070.pdf

The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2005/20050348.htm

2 Timetable for implementation

3 Implementing the Water Framework Directive in Scotland

Overview

The WFD represents a significant shift in attitude to water resource management, taking a more holistic approach to the protection of the water environment, both in terms of the assessment of water status and the scale at which resources are managed.

Under the Directive, water status is determined not only by its chemical condition, but by the health of the animals and plants that live in it. We therefore need to look more broadly at water use, considering all activities that could pose a risk to water life, including alterations to banks, bed or shores, or to the amount of water in a water body. Therefore, through CAR we have introduced controls for any activity that abstracts or impounds water, and engineering or construction works that alter the shape of a water body, as well as discharges into watercourses.

The WFD requires us to manage the water environment on a larger, river basin scale. This means that we will need to consider not only local risks posed by activities in, for example, one part of a river, but also their impacts on the water environment downstream and in water bodies elsewhere in the River Basin District ( RBD). Over the next few years we will develop a risk-based planning process for managing water in each basin. These River Basin Management Plans ( RBMP) will set out environmental objectives and a programme of measures to deliver those objectives. Monitoring programmes will assess whether the measures are effective.

Integration with other policy areas

We recognise the importance of working together to achieve the right balance between our environmental aims and Scotland's economic prosperity. This requires collaboration and early integration with other policy areas, including land-use planning, transport, energy, fisheries, enterprise, recreation and tourism, agriculture and the water industry. We are working across the Scottish Government to ensure that potential impacts on the water environment are considered at an early stage in the development of policies and legislative frameworks.

Delivering in partnership

Ministers set the policy framework for implementing the WFD and will be responsible for approving the objectives set out in River Basin Management Plans. SEPA's core responsibilities are implementing CAR, developing river basin planning and managing the monitoring and assessment of water bodies.

Our key aim is to achieve a balance between environmental priorities and social and economic needs. The Scottish Government and SEPA have adopted a pro-active collaborative approach to WFD implementation, working with stakeholders across many sectors since 2001, which has helped shape the delivery of our WFD programme. This collaboration has resulted in a streamlined and proportionate approach to implementation.

Scotland's place in Europe

Scotland is at the forefront of influencing European policy on implementing the WFD, playing an important role in a range of working groups established by the European Commission.

The Scottish Government also plays a key role in a forum guiding the UK's implementation of WFD. Membership is drawn from the various UK administrations and environment agencies and is supported on technical matters by the UK Technical Advisory Group, UKTAG. This group consists of the Environment and Countryside Agencies of the UK, together with representatives from the Republic of Ireland.

This collaboration enables us to develop a common approach, where appropriate, to the UK's implementation of the WFD programme, and also facilitates the exchange of ideas and good practice. Relationships built through the forum have been particularly valuable in the development of environmental standards that will be used to assess water quality in the UK. Development of river basin planning in the Solway-Tweed RBD has already relied on close collaboration between the relevant administrations and agencies, to ensure that properly integrated systems are developed to deliver environmental objectives.

4 Funding issues

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the provisions of the WEWS Act are effectively and proportionately implemented in Scotland. Under the 2004 spending review process, Scottish Ministers increased SEPA's grant-in-aid for the period 2005-08 to make provision for the additional work needed to implement the Act. SEPA are focussing these resources on Ministers' priorities for delivering our environmental objectives. In April 2005, an additional £2.85 million was provided to deliver important capital and research projects to support implementation of the Directive.

More recently under the 2007 spending review, Scottish Ministers have made further funds available, specifically aimed at tackling diffuse pollution and rivers damaged by historic engineering activities or structures.

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