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The Anglian river basin district covers 27,900km2 and extends from Lincolnshire in the north to Essex in the south and from Northamptonshire in the west to the east Anglian coast.
In total over 7.1 million people live and work within the district and it includes the urban centres of Lincoln, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Chelmsford.
The Anglian river basin district has a rich diversity of wildlife and habitats, supporting many species of global and national importance. It is recognised as a rich region for wetland wildlife, with the Norfolk Broads being Britain's largest nationally protected wetland and is important for wintering wildfowl.
The management catchments that make up the river basin district include many interconnected rivers, lakes, groundwater and coastal waters. These range from chalk and limestone ridges to the extensive lowlands of the Fens and East Anglian coastal estuaries and marshes.
The river basin district is a predominantly rural catchment, with more than 50% of land used for agriculture and horticulture. East Anglia is a tourist destination, particularly for water recreation including boaters, beach goers and anglers. The Norfolk Broads contributes significantly to the economy of the district.
Classifications data for Anglian 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
175
41
306
522
Lake
10
19
17
46
Coastal
4
1
8
13
Estuarine
3
0
15
18
Groundwater
31
0
0
31
Total
223
61
346
630
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
21
103
428
47
0
599
Number of water body elements
110
405
658
826
3124
5123
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
14
17
31
Number of water body elements
15
109
124
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
15
16
31
Number of water body elements
23
132
155
Challenges data for Anglian 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
47
0
234
0
791
1
0
Domestic general public
0
0
1
0
0
14
4
Industry
7
0
7
0
0
38
3
Local & central government
4
0
186
0
0
0
4
Mining and quarrying
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Navigation
0
0
18
0
0
0
0
No sector responsible
0
43
2
0
0
2
0
Other
3
0
60
0
0
0
4
Recreation
0
0
35
0
0
1
0
Sector under investigation
1
0
46
0
0
0
0
Urban and transport
0
0
48
0
0
114
0
Waste treatment and disposal
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
Water Industry
38
0
15
0
0
1
486
Total
100
43
652
0
791
172
501
Objectives data for Anglian 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
13
187
50
0
251
By 2021
0
1
10
20
0
31
By 2027
0
2
28
282
0
312
By 2033
0
0
0
2
0
2
By 2060
0
0
0
3
0
3
Total
1
16
225
357
0
599
Chemical status objectives for surface water bodies
Including those with less stringent objectives and extended deadlines
Status
Fail
Good
Total
By 2063
0
599
599
Total
0
599
599
Quantitative status objectives for groundwater
Including those with less stringent objectives and extended deadlines
Status
Poor
Good
Total
By 2015
1
14
15
By 2021
0
5
5
By 2027
0
11
11
Total
1
30
31
Chemical status objectives for groundwater
Including those with less stringent objectives and extended deadlines
Status
Poor
Good
Total
By 2015
11
14
25
By 2021
0
1
1
By 2027
0
3
3
By 2033
0
1
1
By 2060
0
1
1
Total
11
20
31
Protected Areas data for Anglian 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
37
31
Does not apply to surface waters
Groundwater
31
15
9
Shellfish water protected areas current status and objectives
Number of shellfish waters
Objective
Number currently achieving standard
Number not sampled due to lack of commercial activity
22
Endeavour to observe the Shellfish Directions standard of ≤300 E.coli/100ml shellfish flesh and intravalvular liquid
5
2
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
39
At least sufficient classification
38
37
2
There are 0 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
79
2,077,758
75
High nitrates in groundwater
21
1,340,876
48
Eutrophication in lakes or reservoirs
11
189,319
7
Nutrient sensitive areas (Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations)
Reason for designation
Number of Sensitive areas
Length (KM)/Area (km2) designated
Eutrophication in rivers
24
1483
Eutrophication in lakes or reservoirs
13
33.56
High nitrate in surface fresh water
7
580
Habitats site (European site) protected areas*
Site type
Number of sites
Ramsar Site
28
Special Area of Conservation
26
Special Protection Area
26
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 Anglian 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
7%
13%
0%
15%
8%
% of biological elements, phys-chem elements and specific pollutants at good or better status
75%
59%
75%
75%
74%
% of water bodies with an objective of good ecological status/potential or better
61%
63%
17%
31%
60%
% of biological elements, phys-chem elements and Specific Pollutants with an objective of good status or better
90%
91%
88%
86%
90%
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
85%
85%
87%
85%
85%
% of water bodies at good chemical status without uPBT
97%
100%
100%
100%
97%
% of chemical elements at good status without uPBT
Greater than 99%
100%
100%
100%
Greater than 99%
% of water bodies with an objective of good chemical status
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
% 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
52%
% of groundwater chemical elements at good status
85%
% of water bodies with an objective of good chemical (GW) status
65%
% of groundwater chemical elements with an objective of good
90%
% of water bodies at good quantitative status
55%
% of groundwater quantitative elements at good status
88%
% of water bodies with an objective of good quantitative status
97%
% of groundwater quantitative elements with an objective of good
