Water Framework Directive (WFD)

The EU Water Framework Directive ( WFD) (2000/60/ EC) established a new legal framework for the protection, improvement and sustainable use of rivers, lochs, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater across Europe in order to:

• prevent deterioration and enhance the status of aquatic ecosystems, including coastal waters (out to 3 nautical miles from the coast in Scotland)
• promote sustainable water use
• reduce pollution, and
• contribute to the mitigation of floods and droughts.

The Water Framework Directive requires the competent monitoring authority to divide surface waters into water bodies and assess the status of these water bodies by assigning them to a class from High to Bad.  In Scotland, the work required to implement the Directive is being delivered by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), in conjunction with the Scottish Government and other partners.  Scotland has 457 coastal water bodies and 50 transitional water bodies.