Classifications data for Big Ribble Operational Catchment

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 categoriesNaturalArtificialHeavily modifiedTotal
River, canals and surface water transfers2013
Lake0000
Coastal0000
Estuarine0000
Groundwater0000
Total2013

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 potentialBadPoorModerateGoodHighTotal
Number of water bodies003003
Number of water body elements01652133

Chemical status for surface waters

Table summarises the current chemical status of water bodies. These are classified as being at good or fail.

Chemical statusFailGoodTotal
Number of water bodies303
Number of water body elements64349

Why do all water bodies have a chemical status of fail?

Quantitative status for groundwater

Table summarises the quantitative status of groundwater water bodies. These are classified as being at good or poor.

Quantitative statusPoorGoodTotal
Number of water bodies000
Number of water body elements000

Chemical status for groundwater

Table summarises the chemical status of groundwater water bodies. These are classified as being at good or poor.

Chemical statusPoorGoodTotal
Number of water bodies000
Number of water body elements000

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:

Historic classifications data (XLSX)