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5. CONCLUSIONS
Our latest proposals for standards, condition limits and threshold values complete the work we started with the 2007 Directions. We now have the tools we need to identify where we need to take action to protect / improve the water environment and assess how successful we have been in achieving the objectives that will be established through the river basin management planning process.
For the first time, the same standards will be used to classify waters right across the UK. Many of the biological standards have been developed as part of the EU intercalibration exercise. Their application will provide an unprecedented level of comparability not only within the UK but right across Europe.
We also think that the parallel development of biological, water quality, water resource and morphological standards and condition limits is important. It has provided us with the strongest basis ever for protecting the structure and functioning of our river, loch, transitional water and coastal water ecosystems.
A number of the proposed water quality standards for surface waters are very similar to existing standards (See Table 3). However, we think it is important to have reviewed the latest scientific evidence to give us confidence that the standards we use for river basin management planning are the most effective available to help achieve our objectives for the water environment. Such reviews are important to make sure we incorporate up-to-date scientific knowledge. A few of the existing standards from the 1970s now appear more stringent than the latest science suggests is necessary to protect aquatic plants and animals. Our proposals take account of these findings and will thus help us better target our efforts to protect and improve the water environment.
In the case of the proposed surface water quality standards, initial estimates by SEPA indicate that there are relatively few failures of the new 'good' standards. In part, this reflects our past success in preventing and reducing pollution. Having the new standards is important in helping us maintain this enviable situation.
In contrast, we are expecting a significant number of water bodies to fail the proposed morphological condition limits and the proposed condition limits for river flows. We have only recently started to appreciate the impact of morphological alterations and changes to river flow regimes on aquatic ecosystems. These pressures have not so far had the same level of attention as our efforts to control pollution. Our proposals will help us evaluate such impacts and prioritise efforts to address them.
Many of the failures of the morphological condition limits and condition limits for river flows are likely to result from alterations necessary to support uses for which water bodies have been designated as artificial or heavily modified waters. In these cases, the standards will not be applied if their achievement would be incompatible with those uses. Many other failures are likely to be as a result of the legacy of past engineering works. To address these, the Scottish Government is developing a policy statement for consultation later this year.
Table 3: Implications of the proposed standards, condition limits and threshold values
Summary of implications | Standard, condition limit or threshold value |
|---|
Equivalent to, or in some cases less stringent than, old standards that currently apply for other purposes | - temperature in rivers;
- nitrogen in transitional and coastal waters;
- specific pollutants: 2-4 dichlorophenol; ammonia in salt water; arsenic; chlorine; copper; cyanide; iron; permethrin; zinc; annual mean standards for toluene
|
Initial estimates indicate no or only a very small number of failures | - phosphorus in freshwater lochs;
- freshwater flows into estuaries;
- ammonia in freshwater lochs;
- specific pollutants: 2,4 D; chromium VI in salt water; linuron; phenol
|
Not used directly to determine the level of action required to protect or improve the environment | - biological standards for surface waters
- groundwater threshold values
|
Application has limited implications for operators | - morphological condition limits for freshwater lochs
- morphological condition limits for transitional waters and coastal waters
- condition limits for river flows
|
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