Twenty-eighth Report Adapting Institutions to Climate Change Cm ...

3.47
For each of the exemplars, national governments have a major role in establishing regulatory
frameworks and policy goals, and in providing financial resources for the agencies. This is taken
for granted in the following descriptions.
MANAGEMENT OF WATER
3.48 The governance arrangements for water seek to achieve several aims, including:
3.49
Protecting water quality – in particular the ecological and chemical quality of water bodies (covering
surface water – lakes, rivers, reservoirs, coastal waters and the sea – and groundwater);
Managing water as a resource – ensuring that there are adequate, wholesome supplies of water
for domestic use and for industry, and proper management of wastewater, and (for domestic
consumers) ensuring that monopoly suppliers do not exploit their position and that water is
affordable. Water is also a resource for recreation, navigation and fishing; and
Managing the threat of flooding, through land and surface water drainage, and flood
protection works.
The Government’s Water Resources Strategy for England was published in 2008 and covered
objectives up to 2030. 47 This highlighted the need for adaptation to climate change, as well as
mitigation, and recognised the need for regional and local approaches. The Environment Agency
published its water resources strategy in 2009, and this sets out a number of adaptation objectives
and a timetable for implementing its work. 48 The European Commission’s White Paper on
adaptation is also relevant. 49
Water quality
3.50 The Environment Agency (for England and Wales), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency have the key roles in environmental management.
For example, they are the ‘competent authorities’ for ensuring that the requirements of the EU
Water Framework Directive are met. This overarching European Directive (Box 3C) requires
Member States to aim to achieve good status for water bodies and specifies processes – such as
drawing up river basin management plans – to help to achieve this.
BOX 3C THE EU WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC) was agreed in 2000. It sets out a
framework for the protection of inland surface and coastal waters and groundwater. It aims to
protect and enhance the status of aquatic ecosystems, to promote sustainable water use based
on the long-term protection of water resources, and to reduce pollution and the threat from
hazardous substances.
It requires Member States to characterise the current condition of surface water and groundwater
bodies. They are first to ensure that there is no deterioration in the status of water bodies, and
second to work to achieve good ecological and chemical status for surface waters and good
quantitative and chemical status for groundwaters by 2015 (though there are some exceptions
and derogations). The Directive focuses on river basin districts as the unit of management,
and requires Member States to prepare for each river basin district an analysis of its characteristics
and the impact of human activities on the status of water bodies, and an economic
analysis of water use. A river basin management plan was to be produced for each river basin
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Chapter 3