Classifications data for England
Classification data is a method for distinguishing the environmental condition or "status" of water bodies and putting them into one category or another.
Find out more information on classifications in the Current condition and environmental objectives document.
To find out more about classifications, see the current condition and environmental objectives document. An explanation of terms is in the glossary.
You can see the water body and classification data on the river basin management plan map viewer.
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 | 2546 | 264 | 1118 | 3928 |
| Lake | 99 | 141 | 324 | 564 |
| Coastal | 34 | 2 | 25 | 61 |
| Estuarine | 25 | 9 | 71 | 105 |
| Groundwater | 271 | 0 | 0 | 271 |
| Total | 2975 | 416 | 1538 | 4929 |
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 | 137 | 794 | 2962 | 754 | 4 | 4651 |
| Number of water body elements | 637 | 2505 | 5019 | 5650 | 27150 | 40961 |
Chemical status for surface waters
Table summarises the current chemical status of water bodies. These are classified as being at good or fail.
| Chemical status | Fail | Good | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of water bodies | 4649 | 0 | 4649 |
| Number of water body elements | 10668 | 54540 | 65208 |
Quantitative status for groundwater
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 | 72 | 199 | 271 |
| Number of water body elements | 93 | 991 | 1084 |
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 | 149 | 122 | 271 |
| Number of water body elements | 233 | 1122 | 1355 |
Historic classification data
Data is only summarised on these pages for the latest cycle. This is due to lack of comparability because of changes in water bodies and classification approaches. Historic data for previous cycles, as published, is available from the following downloads: