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The Humber river basin district covers an area of 26,100km2 and extends from the West Midlands in the south, northwards to North Yorkshire and from Staffordshire in the west to part of Lincolnshire and the Humber Estuary in the east.
In total more than 10.8 million people live and work in towns and cities within the district, with the main urban centres being Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Hull and Grimsby.
The Humber river basin district has a rich diversity of wildlife and habitats, supporting many species of global and national importance.
The management catchments that make up the river basin district include many interconnected rivers, lakes, groundwater and coastal waters. The catchments range from the uplands of the Peak District to fertile river valleys of the Trent to chalk aquifers of the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Wolds and vary from rural catchments to others heavily influenced by urban and industrial land use.
The main economic sectors in the region include business services, health, wholesale and distribution. Manufacturing contributes to the economy along with some mineral abstraction, including some deep coal mines, potash mines and numerous gravel workings. Agriculture is critical for the rural economy of the district and supports natural and cultural assets that help underpin both the region's tourism and quality of life for those who live and work in the district.
Classifications data for Humber River Basin District
Number of water bodies
The number of water bodies in the river basin district. It shows
whether these are natural, artificial (such as canals and reservoirs) or
have been modified ('heavily modified') for particular uses.
Water body categories
Natural
Artificial
Heavily modified
Total
River, canals and surface water transfers
468
104
271
843
Lake
12
18
103
133
Coastal
0
0
2
2
Estuarine
1
2
4
7
Groundwater
51
0
0
51
Total
532
124
380
1036
Ecological status for surface waters
Table summarises the current ecological status
of surface water bodies. Water bodies are
classified as being at high, good, moderate, poor
or bad ecological status or potential.
Ecological status or potential
Bad
Poor
Moderate
Good
High
Total
Number of water bodies
27
159
646
150
0
982
Number of water body elements
155
549
1077
1178
5513
8472
Chemical status for surface waters
Table summarises the current chemical status of
water bodies. These are classified as being at
good or fail.
Table summarises the quantitative status of
groundwater water bodies. These are classified as
being at good or poor.
Quantitative status
Poor
Good
Total
Number of water bodies
10
41
51
Number of water body elements
15
189
204
Chemical status for groundwater
Table summarises the chemical status of
groundwater water bodies. These are classified as
being at good or poor.
Chemical status
Poor
Good
Total
Number of water bodies
26
25
51
Number of water body elements
41
214
255
Challenges data for Humber River Basin District
Reasons for not achieving good status by business sector
The issues preventing waters reaching good status and the sectors
identified as contributing to them. The numbers in the table are
individual counts of the reasons for not achieving good status with a
confidence status of 'confirmed' and 'probable', where the latest
classification is less than good status. There may be more than one
reason in a single water body. Note, table does not include reasons for
deterioration.
Significant water management issue
Changes to the natural flow and level of water
Invasive non-native species
Physical modifications
Pollution from abandoned mines
Pollution from rural areas
Pollution from towns, cities and transport
Pollution from waste water
Agriculture and rural land management
21
0
223
0
721
0
2
Domestic general public
0
0
4
0
0
107
6
Industry
5
0
39
0
0
61
3
Local & central government
0
0
212
0
0
0
1
Mining and quarrying
0
0
2
71
0
3
0
Navigation
4
0
15
0
0
1
0
No sector responsible
0
9
0
0
0
0
0
Other
3
0
24
0
0
3
0
Recreation
0
0
14
0
0
5
0
Sector under investigation
1
0
45
0
0
0
0
Urban and transport
0
0
211
0
0
294
0
Waste treatment and disposal
0
0
0
0
0
13
0
Water Industry
49
0
143
0
0
0
789
Total
83
9
932
71
721
487
801
Objectives data for Humber River Basin District
Ecological status or potential objectives for surface water bodies
Table summarises the ecological status and ecological potential
objectives set for water bodies in the river basin management
plan. Each water body is only counted once in this table. Each water
body objective consists of a target status and a date when it was, or
is expected to be, met.
Status
Bad
Poor
Moderate
Good
High
Total
By 2015
1
10
179
133
0
323
By 2021
0
10
39
38
0
87
By 2027
0
3
35
532
0
570
By 2033
0
0
0
2
0
2
Total
1
23
253
705
0
982
Chemical status objectives for surface water bodies
Including those with less stringent objectives and extended deadlines
Status
Fail
Good
Total
By 2063
0
982
982
Total
0
982
982
Quantitative status objectives for groundwater
Including those with less stringent objectives and extended deadlines
Status
Poor
Good
Total
By 2015
9
38
47
By 2021
0
4
4
Total
9
42
51
Chemical status objectives for groundwater
Including those with less stringent objectives and extended deadlines
Status
Poor
Good
Total
By 2015
7
26
33
By 2021
0
6
6
By 2027
0
10
10
By 2050
0
1
1
By 2060
0
1
1
Total
7
44
51
Protected Areas data for Humber River Basin District
Drinking water protected areas current status and at risk
Water body type
Number of drinking water protected areas
Number ‘at risk’
Number at poor chemical status for drinking water protected area objectives
Surface water
119
67
Does not apply to surface waters
Groundwater
51
24
14
Shellfish water protected areas current status and objectives
No data to show
Bathing water protected areas current status and objectives
Number of bathing waters
Objective
Number which met at least the sufficient classification in 2021
Number expected to achieve at least sufficient in 2022
Number at risk of not achieving sufficient in 2022
23
At least sufficient classification
21
19
3
There are 1 unassessed bathing waters
Nutrient sensitive areas (nitrate vulnerable zones)
Reason for designation
Number of NVZs
Land area (ha) covered by NVZ type
% of river basin district covered by NVZ type
High nitrates in surface waters
106
1,488,188
57
High nitrates in groundwater
21
529,954
20
Eutrophication in lakes or reservoirs
7
57,903
2
Nutrient sensitive areas (Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations)
Reason for designation
Number of Sensitive areas
Length (KM)/Area (km2) designated
Eutrophication in rivers
26
1302
Eutrophication in lakes or reservoirs
6
4.15
Eutrophication in canals
3
100
High nitrate in surface fresh water
1
27.00
Habitats site (European site) protected areas*
Site type
Number of sites
Ramsar Site
5
Special Area of Conservation
27
Special Protection Area
9
Condition of underlying water-dependent Site of Special Scientific
Interest units**
*Ramsar sites are not protected areas under the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations 2017. However they are treated in line with Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Areas (SPA) as a matter of Government policy. Most Ramsar sites coincide with SACs and/or SPAs, but a small number are designated as Ramsar sites only. These are included in the water-dependent site condition data.
**Includes SSSI units underlying European sites and Ramsar sites where the habitat is water-dependent. The "RBMP-favourable" category in these tables includes units where any reasons for not being in "favourable condition", as far as can be ascertained, do not relate to the water-dependent features. As a result, all condition categories have the prefix "RBMP" to distinguish these from conventional SSSI condition reporting, in which pressures not relevant to river basin planning are included in determining site condition. Data retrieved 2019. Methodology changes mean this data does not form a continuous series with data reported in 2015.
Summary Statistics data for Humber River Basin District
Ecological status and potential
Summary statistic
Rivers, Canals and SWTs
Lakes
Estuaries
Coastal
Surface Waters Combined
% of water bodies at good or better ecological status/potential
16%
9%
29%
0%
15%
% of biological elements, phys-chem elements and specific pollutants at good or better status
78%
58%
89%
100%
78%
% of water bodies with an objective of good ecological status/potential or better
73%
64%
57%
100%
72%
% of biological elements, phys-chem elements and Specific Pollutants with an objective of good status or better
93%
86%
96%
100%
93%
Chemical
Summary statistic
Rivers, Canals and SWTs
Lakes
Estuaries
Coastal
Surface Waters Combined
% of water bodies at good chemical status
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
% of chemical elements at good status
83%
75%
84%
82%
82%
% of water bodies at good chemical status without uPBT
91%
100%
57%
100%
92%
% of chemical elements at good status without uPBT
98%
100%
97%
100%
98%
% of water bodies with an objective of good chemical status
100%
98%
100%
100%
Greater than 99%
% of chemical elements with an objective of good
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
% of water bodies with an objective of good chemical status without uPBT
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
% of chemical elements with an objective of good without uPBTs
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Groundwater
Summary statistic
Ground water
% of water bodies at good chemical (GW) status
49%
% of groundwater chemical elements at good status
84%
% of water bodies with an objective of good chemical (GW) status
86%
% of groundwater chemical elements with an objective of good
96%
% of water bodies at good quantitative status
80%
% of groundwater quantitative elements at good status
93%
% of water bodies with an objective of good quantitative status
82%
% of groundwater quantitative elements with an objective of good
