Developing environmental standards for abstractions from UK rivers to implement the EU Water Framework Directive

Environmental standards for abstractions from UK Rivers to implement the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) were developed. An appropriate flow regime was known to be a basic requirement to achieve a healthy river. The management of the flow regime was sub-divided into two types, restrictive management and active management where, restrictive management involved limiting abstractions out of, and discharged into, a river and active management involved releasing water from an impounded reservoir. The results showed that the standards were broadly consistent with the percentages of flow that could be abstracted for different environmental weighting bands under Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies (CAMS) and the main differences were the addition of seasonal variations for the WFD environmental standards. It was concluded that the WFD provided a legal imperative to reassess scientific knowledge on the flow requirements of UK river ecosystems.