The James Hutton Institute
This page is no longer updated. The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute joined forces with SCRI on 1 April 2011 to create The James Hutton Institute.
THE STATE OF SCOTLAND'S FARMED ENVIRONMENT 2005
15. THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE
Evaluation
The WFD covers all water bodies and wetlands directly dependant on a body of surface water or a body of groundwater in Scotland potentially providing a range of environmental benefits and having significant impact on agricultural activities. Agriculture has a role to play in delivering good ecological status and sustainable flood management, but this will not occur without costs. The farming sector will be required to comply with the CAR, in particular water abstraction, engineering regimes and at later stage, also diffuse pollution regime. The Scottish Executive is in the process of releasing for public consultation its proposals for the regulation of diffuse pollution from the land use sector. However, stronger integration with other policy frameworks, in particular CAP, would increase environmental benefits of the WFD and help towards achieving its objectives. For example, stronger integration of WFD objectives in specific prescription and measures in agri-environment and forestry schemes, together with flood alleviation schemes, could increase environmental benefits through the transformation of agricultural land to wetland, riparian woodlands and floodplains and would also contribute to flood prevention. Agriculture has the potential to deliver a wide range of environmental benefits including environmentally-sensitive flood alleviation on agricultural land. Moreover, promoting agri-environment prescriptions targeting diffuse water pollution from agriculture would contribute to WFD objectives. Axis 2 “improving the environment and countryside through land management” of the new Rural Development Regulation provides a direct link to support EU environmental objectives such as water quality through CAP and rural development. With sufficient funding and integrated in LMCs such a link between WFD and CAP could potentially synthesis environmental benefits.
Water Framework Directive - Sources >>