In each River Basin Planning cycle, we will define environmental status objectives for each water body.
Objectives may be to 'achieve good status' or to 'maintain high status' within a specified time period.
The Directive recognises that in some water bodies it may be impossible to get to a near natural condition because of useful changes, such as to protect people from floods, to allow navigation, or to hold back water for abstraction or power generation. For these water bodies we will set a target of good ecological potential.
Good ecological potential does not downgrade the targets - we still have to achieve all the relevant environment standards and improve the physical features that affect ecology.
Classification systems are used to assess the state of the environment. They show us where the quality of the environment is good, and where it may need improvement.
Environmental standards are the values for water quality, quantity and habitat structure, which will ensure the right environmental conditions are created to achieve the objectives.
