Page 276 - Freshwater-Biology-and-Ecology-Handbook

CHAPTER 6 3 Box 6.1
UK 25-Year Plan: Goal – Clean and Plentiful Water

We will achieve clean and plentiful water by:
Improving at least three-quarters of our waters to be close to their natural state as soon as is practicable by:
• reducing the damaging abstraction of water from rivers and groundwater, ensuring that by 2021 the proportion of
water bodies with enough water to support environmental standards increases from 82% to 90% for surface water
bodies and from 72% to 77% for groundwater bodies

• reaching or exceeding objectives for rivers, lakes, coastal and groundwaters that are specially protected,
whether for biodiversity or drinking water as per our River Basin Management Plans

• supporting Ofwat’s ambitions on leakage, minimizing the amount of water lost through leakage year-on-year, with
water companies expected to reduce leakage by at least an average of 15% by 2025
• minimizing by 2030 the harmful bacteria in our designated bathing waters and continuing to improve the cleanliness
of our waters. We will make sure that potential bathers are warned of any short-term pollution risks.

In the context of this handbook, note the second bullet point above.

‘Monitoring and Metrics’ from the 25-Year Plan is particularly relevant to this book and the monitoring and
assessment methods described herein. We would expect these methods to evolve and assist in meeting and
evaluating progress with the 25-Year Plan and the WFD (see Box 6.2).

Box 6.2
Extract from 25-Year Plan – Monitoring and Metrics

Measuring the impact of the 25-Year Environment Plan
Metrics are a critical part of the 25-Year Environment Plan. They enable us to comprehend the complexity of the
environment and allow us to:
• understand how the environment as a whole is changing – the pressures, the state of assets, and the flow of benefits
• assess the effectiveness of our policies and show how we are delivering our domestic and international commitments

• inform decisions and promote action within and outside government, locally and nationally.

We have a large number of existing indicators and associated statistics, data and monitoring systems.
A Natural Capital approach will require careful selection of these and development of further indicators.

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