Guidance

River basin management plans: updated 2022

Find the 2022 update to the river basin management plans which describe the challenges that threaten the water environment and how these challenges can be managed.

From:
Environment Agency
Published
21 October 2022
Last updated
17 January 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England

River basin management plans (RBMPs) set the legally binding locally specific environmental objectives that underpin water regulation (such as permitting) and planning activities. They provide a stable planning base for economic development. This includes investment programmes such as the:

  • Water Industry National Environment Improvement Programme (WINEP)
  • strategic water resources solutions being developed by the Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID)
  • government’s new environmental land management schemes and England Trees Action Plan

The plans are the foundation for delivering the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan ‘clean and plentiful water’ goal. In preparation for the publication of the Environment Improvement Plan in 2023, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, Natural England and the Environment Agency have been assessing the use of new interventions to further improve the water environment. The Environment Improvement Plan will build on and incorporate:

  • current river basin planning work
  • the legally binding environment targets for the Environment Act 2021
  • the recommendations made by the Environmental Audit Committee

Water is critical to all aspects of life. Pressure comes from all our activities and is exacerbated by population growth and climate change. Left unchecked we will see a 6% decrease in the percentage of rivers at good ecological status by 2027 unless current interventions are maintained and new interventions introduced to halt further decline. All of society from individuals to organisations and sectors (interactions with energy, food, and waste for example) have a role to play in securing and improving our shared water environment. RBMPs provide the foundation for this work.

Updating the RBMPs

The update to the RBMPs has been made in line with ministerial guidance and the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017.

The Environment Agency must review and update RBMPs every 6 years. The update of the RBMPs is informed by 3 public consultations.

The consultation on the draft river basin management plans (the third of 3 consultations) ran between October 2021 and April 2022. You can read the:

The Challenges and Choices consultation (the second of 3) ran between October 2019 and September 2020. You can read the Challenges and Choices consultation summary report for details of the feedback received.

The Working Together consultation (the first of 3) ran between June 2018 and December 2018. You can read the Working Together consultation summary report for details of the feedback received.

The record of consultation and engagement sets out the consultation and engagement methods the Environment Agency used for the review and the update to the RBMPs.

Investment requirements for England’s river basin management plans

The Investment requirements for England’s river basin management plans report outlines the economic evidence for making the investments required to protect and improve the quality of England’s water environment. The report describes and compares the costs and benefits of taking action in both monetary and non-monetary terms. The report also describes the likely scale of available funding to pay for the required measures in the next few years.

Strategic environmental assessment

The Environment Agency has concluded that the requirement for a strategic environmental assessment for the current review of the river basin management plans can be screened out. This is under the justification of minor modifications to the existing plans. You can read more in the screening report River basin management plans: use of strategic environmental assessment screening. This screening report was published in 2021 before the draft plans were published. The decision has been reviewed and confirmed appropriate as part of the subsequent habitats regulations assessment.

Habitats regulation assessment

A habitats regulation assessment of each updated RBMP has been carried out to consider if it is likely to have a significant effect on any habitats site. The Environment Agency carried out these assessments in consultation with Natural England. As the Severn RBMP is a cross border plan with Wales this habitat regulation assessment has been done in consultation with Natural Resources Wales and Natural England.

RBMPs in England, Wales and Scotland

Use the river basin district (RBD) map to find the area you are interested in.

There are 12 RBDs in England, Scotland and Wales. The Environment Agency manages the 7 RBDs in England.

Natural Resources Wales manage the Western Wales RBD. Natural Resources Wales and the Environment Agency jointly manage the Dee and Severn RBDs. See the RBMPs for Western Wales and Dee on the Natural Resources Wales website.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency manage the Scotland RBD. Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Environment Agency jointly manage the Solway Tweed RBD. See the Scotland RBD and the Solway Tweed RBMP on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency website.

Accessing the RBMPs

To help you understand and navigate the RBMPs you can use the user guide to accessing information in the river basin management plans. This helps different types of users access the RBMP information relevant to them.

View river basin management plans

Find the updated RBMP for each river basin district:

Updates to this page

Published 21 October 2022
Last updated 17 January 2024 + show all updates

  1. Correction to final paragraph of introduction 'Left unchecked we will see a 6% decrease in the percentage of rivers at good ecological status by 2027 unless current interventions are maintained and new interventions introduced to halt further decline'.

  2. Updated tense to reflect that the 2022 river basin management plans are the current plans approved by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in December 2022. Added a link to 'A guide to accessing information in the river basin management plans'.

  3. Added a link to the 'Investment requirements for England’s river basin management plans' report. Also confirmed that the decision to screen out the requirement for a strategic environmental assessment has been reviewed and confirmed appropriate as part of the subsequent habitats regulation report.

  4. First published.

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