Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to implement the EU Water Framework Directive.

The Environment Agency is the competent authority for implementing the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in England. On the basis of Ministerial river basin planning guidance, the Environment Agency produces river basin management plans which set the policy framework for decision making by everyone with a stake in the water environment for each six-year planning period.

The Environment Agency has been reviewing the 2009 river basin management plans over the last three years. This has involved direct engagement with organisations with an interest in management and protection of the water environment, such as water undertakers, land managers, and planners, and three public consultations. Draft updated plans will shortly be submitted for approval to the Secretary of State and published.

Since the river basin plans were first published in 2009 the Environment Agency has worked with partners on projects to improve and protect over 15,000km of rivers, 52 bathing waters and more than 1,000 square kilometres of lakes. These projects include the installation of over 200 fish passes and almost 500 eel passes, which have opened up more than 12,000km of river to fish.