| Term |
Explanation |
A |
|
| Abstraction |
The deliberate removal of water from a water body, either surface or groundwater. |
| AFBI |
Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute. |
| Agri-environment scheme |
Land management schemes on farmland that are beneficial for example for the environment, natural resources, biodiversity, landscape. |
| Alien species |
Non-native species of plants and animals. Several of these non-native species are invasive and have been causing serious problems to the aquatic and riverine ecology and environment. Problems include detrimental effects on our native species, deoxygenation of water causing fish mortalities, blocking of rivers and drainage channels, predation and competition with our native species, and in some cases pose health risks to the public or livestock. |
| Alternative Objectives |
The term refers to the setting of objectives that deviate from the default objectives because good ecological status cannot be achieved or it is disproportionately costly to do so in the set timeframe. |
| Angiosperms |
The flowering plants. In transitional and coastal waters they include sea grasses and the flowering plants found in salt marshes. |
| Aquifer |
A subsurface layer or layers of rock or other geological strata of sufficient porosity and permeability to allow either a significant flow of groundwater or the abstraction of significant quantities of groundwater. |
| ASSI |
Area of Special Scientific Interest. |
B |
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| Bathing Waters Directive |
European Community legislation - (76/160/EEC) which requires Member States to take all necessary measures to ensure identified bathing waters meet certain quality standards prescribed for the protection of the environment and public health. The new Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC) will repeal the original Bathing Water Directive by end of 2014 at the latest. |
| Benthic invertebrate fauna |
Invertebrate animals living at least for part of their lifecycles on or in the benthic substrates of rivers, lakes, transitional waters or coastal waters. |
| Biodiversity Action Plan |
National, local and sector-specific plans established under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, with the intention of securing the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. |
| Biological element |
A collective term for a particular characteristic group of animals or plants present in an aquatic ecosystem (e.g. phytoplankton; benthic invertebrates; phytobenthos; macrophytes; macroalgae; angiosperms; fish). |
| Biological indicators |
A parameter that can be monitored to estimate the value of a biological quality element. Indicators may include the presence or absence of a particularly sensitive species. |
| Biological quality element |
A characteristic or property of a biological element that is specifically listed in Annex V of the Water Framework Directive for the definition of the ecological status of a water body (e.g. composition of invertebrates; abundance of angiosperms; age structure of fish etc). |
| BOD |
Biochemical Oxygen Demand |
C |
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| CAFRE |
College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise. |
| Catchment |
The area from which precipitation contributes to the flow from a borehole, spring, river or lake. For rivers and lakes this includes tributaries and the areas they drain. |
| CEDA |
Central Dredging Association. |
| CFB |
Central Fisheries Board. |
| Characterisation |
A two-stage assessment of water bodies under the Water Framework Directive. Stage 1 identifies water bodies and describes their natural characteristics. Stage 2 assesses the pressures and impacts from human activities on the water environment. The assessment identifies those water bodies that are at risk of not achieving the environmental objectives set out in the Water Framework Directive. The results are used to prioritise both environmental monitoring and further investigations to identify those water bodies where improvement action is required. |
| Classification |
Method for distinguishing the environmental condition or 'status' of water bodies and putting them into one category or another. |
| COD |
Chemical Oxygen Demand. |
| COGAP |
Code of Good Agricultural Practice. |
| Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) |
A policy that regulates farming activities across the European Union, providing direct subsidies to farmers and land managers. A small part of these funds supports rural development actions that mainly relate to agricultural activities, as well as forestry and environmental improvements on farmland. |
| Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) |
This strategy was agreed by the European Commission, Member States and Norway in 2001. The aim of the strategy is to provide support in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, by developing a common understanding and guidance on key elements of the Directive. |
| Competent Authority |
An authority or authorities identified under Article 3(2) or 3(3) of the Water Framework Directive. The Competent Authority will be responsible for the application of the rules of the Directive within each river basin district lying within its territory. The Department of the Environment has been designated as the Competent Authority for Northern Ireland. |
| Cost-benefit analysis |
The evaluation of an investment project with a long-perspective from the viewpoint of the economy as a whole by comparing the effects of undertaking the project with not doing so. |
| Cost effective |
In the context of the Water Framework Directive, it describes the least cost option for meeting an objective. For example, where there are a number of potential measures that could be implemented to achieve Good Ecological Status for a water body, Cost Effectiveness Analysis is used to compare each of the options and identify which option delivers the objective for the least overall cost. |
| Cost effectiveness analysis |
An analysis of the costs of alternative programmes designed to meet given objectives. The programme which costs least will be the most cost effective. |
| Cross compliance |
A form of conditionality by which, farmers in receipt of public subsidies are required to comply with all legislation affecting their businesses, including European Union environmental legislation. The requirements of cross compliance are: i) an obligation to maintain agricultural land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition and ii) an obligation to comply with specified Statutory Management Requirements according to European Union legislation, for example the Nitrates Directive, Groundwater Directive. |
D |
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| DARD |
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. |
| DC |
District Council. |
| DCAL |
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. |
| DEFRA |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. |
| DEHLG |
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. |
| Delineation (of water bodies) |
Identifying the type and defining the boundary of a water body for rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters and groundwater under the Water Framework Directive. |
| DETI |
Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment. |
| Diffuse Source Pollution |
Pollution which originates from various activities, and which cannot be traced to a single source and originates from a spatially extensive land use (e.g. agriculture, settlements, transport, industry). Examples of diffuse source pollution are atmospheric deposition, run-off from agriculture, erosion, drainage and groundwater flow. |
| Discharge |
The release of polluting substances from individual point or diffuse sources directly or indirectly into water bodies. |
| Disproportionate cost |
The determination of disproportionate cost requires a decision making procedure that assesses whether the benefits of meeting good status in a water body are outweighed by the costs. |
| DOE |
Department of the Environment. |
| DRD |
Department for Regional Development. |
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| Ecological Potential |
The status of a heavily modified water body measured against the maximum ecological quality it could achieve given the constraints imposed upon it by those heavily modified characteristics necessary for its use. |
| Ecological Status |
Ecological status applies to surface water bodies and is based on the following quality elements: biological quality, general chemical and physico-chemical quality, water quality with respect to specific pollutants (synthetic and non-synthetic) and hydromorphological quality. Ecological status and chemical status together define the overall status of a water body. |
| ECOPACT |
Environmental Code of Practice for Aquaculture Companies and Traders. |
| EIA |
Environmental Impact Assessment. |
| ELV |
End of life vehicle. |
| Emissions |
The direct or indirect release of polluting substances from individual or diffuse sources to air, water or land. |
| Eutrophication |
The enrichment of waters by inorganic plant nutrients that results in increased production of algae and/or other aquatic plants, which can affect the quality of the water and disturb the balance of organisms present within it. |
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| FCILC |
Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission. |
| FEPA |
Food and Environment Protection Act. |
| FNMS |
Farm Nutrient Management Scheme. |
| FWPS |
Farm Woodland Premium Scheme. |
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| GAEC |
Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition. |
| GIS |
Geographical Information System. |
| Good chemical status |
Means that concentrations of pollutants (priority substances and priority hazardous substances) in the water body do not exceed the environmental limit values specified in the Water Framework Directive Article 16 daughter Directive. |
| Good ecological potential (GEP) |
Those surface waters which are identified as Heavily Modified Water Bodies must achieve ‘good ecological potential’ (good potential is a recognition that changes to morphology may make good ecological status very difficult to meet). In the first cycle of river basin planning good potential may be defined in relation to the mitigation measures required to achieve it. |
| Good ecological status (GES) |
The objective for a surface water body to have biological, structural and chemical characteristics similar to those expected under nearly undisturbed conditions. |
| Good status |
Is a term meaning the status achieved by a surface water body when both the ecological status and its chemical status are at least good or, for groundwater, when both its quantitative status and chemical status are at least good and show no signs of deterioration. |
| Groundwater |
All water which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil. |
| Groundwater chemical status |
Groundwater chemical status is an expression of the overall quality of the groundwater body and its impact on those receptors identified in the Water Framework Directive and Groundwater Daughter Directive. |
| GWDD |
Groundwater Daughter Directive. |
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| Habitat Action Plans |
See “Biodiversity Action Plan” above. |
| Heavily Modified Water Body (HMWB) |
A surface water body that does not achieve good ecological status because of substantial changes to its physical character resulting from physical alterations caused by human use, and which has been designated, in accordance with criteria specified in the Water Framework Directive, as ‘heavily modified’. |
| High ecological status |
Is a state, in a surface water body, where the values of the hydromorphological, physico-chemical, and biological quality elements correspond to conditions undisturbed by anthropogenic activities. |
| HSE |
Health and Safety Executive. |
| Hydromorphology |
Describes the hydrological and geomorphological processes and attributes of surface water bodies. For example, for rivers, Hydromorphology describes the form and function of the channel as well as its connectivity (upstream and downstream, and with groundwater) and flow regime, which defines its ability to allow migration of aquatic organisms and maintain natural continuity of sediment transport through the fluvial system. The Water Framework Directive requires surface waters to be managed in such a way as to safeguard their hydrology and geomorphology so that ecology is protected. |
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| IADC |
International Association of Dredging Companies. |
| ICES |
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. |
| IMO |
International Maritime Organisation. |
| Improvement measures |
Measures intended to improve the status of water bodies or the condition of protected areas. |
| Intercalibration |
An exercise facilitated by the Commission to ensure that the high/good and good/moderate class boundaries are consistent with Annex V Section 1.2 of the Water Framework Directive and comparable between Member States. |
| INTERREG III |
INTERREG III is an EC Community Initiative to promote trans-national co-operation on spatial planning by encouraging harmonious and balanced development of the European territory. The overall aim is to ensure that national borders are not a barrier to balanced development and the integration of Europe and to strengthen co-operation of areas to their mutual advantage. |
| IPPC |
Integrated Pollution Prevention Control. |
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K |
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L |
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| LA |
Loughs Agency. |
| LERAP |
Local Environmental Risk Assessment for Pesticides. |
| Less stringent objectives |
Under certain circumstances, and subject to detailed conditions, the Water Framework Directive allows for the setting of objectives that give a lower standard of environmental protection. ‘Less stringent objectives’ can apply to water bodies where achievement of Directive objectives would be technically infeasible or disproportionately expensive because the water body is so affected by human activity or because of its natural condition. |
| Load |
The transfer of material, dissolved or particulate, associated with a flow of water. |
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| Macroalgae |
Multicellular algae such as seaweed. |
| Macrophyte |
Larger plants, typically including flowering plants, mosses and larger algae but not including single-celled phytoplankton or diatoms. |
| Marine Bill |
A bill to ensure greater protection of marine resources and to deliver sustainable development in the marine and coastal environment by addressing both the use and protection of marine resources. |
| MCA |
Maritime and Coastguard Agency. |
| Measure |
This term is used in the Water Framework Directive to mean an action that will be taken on the ground to help achieve Water Framework Directive objectives. |
| Mechanisms |
The policy, legal and financial tools which are used to bring about actions (measures). Mechanisms include for example: legislation, economic instruments; codes of good practice; negotiated agreements; promotion of water efficiency; educational projects; research; development and demonstration projects. |
| METS |
Manure Efficiency Technology Scheme. |
| MiMAS |
Morphological Impact Assessment |
| Morphology |
Describes the physical form and condition of a water body, for example the width, depth and perimeter of a river channel, the structure and condition of the riverbed and bank. |
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| NAP |
Nitrates Action Programme. |
| NASCO |
North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation. |
| Natura 2000 Sites |
Protected Areas established for the protection of habitats or species under the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC) (Special Protection Areas) and the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) (Special Areas of Conservation). |
| NIAUR |
Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation. |
| NICMS |
Northern Ireland Countryside Management Scheme. |
| NIRDP |
Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme. |
| NIW |
Northern Ireland Water. |
| No deterioration (in water body status) |
None of the quality elements used in the classification of water body status deteriorates to the extent that the overall status is reduced. |
| No deterioration measures |
Measures intended to prevent deterioration in water body status. |
| Non-native species |
See Alien species. |
| NPWS |
National Parks and Wildlife Service. |
| NVZ |
Nitrate Vulnerable Zone. |
NS SHARE (North-South Shared Aquatic Resources) |
The North-South Share River Basin District Project is the vehicle for delivering the objectives of the Water Framework Directive within the North South Share River Basin District. This project is supported by the EU INTERREG IIIA Programme for Ireland/Northern Ireland. The North South Share Project comprises of three river basin districts: - North Western International River Basin District
- Neagh Bann International River Basin District
- North Eastern River Basin District
|
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| OFS |
Organic Farming Scheme. |
| OWWTS |
On-site Waste Water Treatment Systems. |
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| P |
Phosphorus. |
| PC |
Price Control. |
| PD |
Permitted Development. |
| PEPG |
Planning and Environmental Policy Group. |
| Physical alterations |
Modifications of the hydromorphology of a water body by human activity. |
| Phytobenthos |
Bottom-dwelling multi-cellular and unicellular aquatic plants such as some species of diatom. |
| Phytoplankton |
Unicellular algae and cyanobacteria, both solitary and colonial that live, at least for part of their lifecycle, in the water column. |
| Planning Policy Statements |
Planning Policy Statements contain policies on land use and other planning matters, for example telecommunications or the built heritage, and apply to the whole of Northern Ireland. They set out the main planning considerations that the Department of the Environment takes into account in assessing proposals for the various forms of development and are also often relevant to the preparation of development plans. |
| POCA |
Proceeds of Crime Act. |
| Point source pollution |
Pollution arising from an identifiable and localised area, structure or facility, such as a discharge pipe or landfill. |
| Pollution |
The direct or indirect introduction, as a result of human activity, of substances or heat into the air, water or land which: i) may be harmful to human health or the quality of aquatic ecosystems or terrestrial ecosystems directly depending on aquatic ecosystems; ii) result in damage to material property; or iii) impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the environment. |
| POM |
Programme of Measures |
| PPC |
Pollution Prevention and Control. |
| PPG |
Pollution Prevention Guidelines. |
| PPP |
Public Private Partnership |
| Pressures |
Human activities such as abstraction, effluent discharges or engineering works that have the potential to have adverse effects on the water environment. |
| Priority substances |
A pollutant or group of pollutants, presenting a significant risk to or via the aquatic environment that has been identified at Community level under Article 16 of the Directive. They include ‘priority hazardous substances’. |
| Programme of measures |
A Programme of Measures, as used in the Water Framework Directive, is a group of actions designed to improve the environment in a river basin district and meet the objectives of the Directive. |
| Protected areas |
Areas that have been designated as requiring special protection under Community legislation for the protection of their surface water and groundwater or for the protection of habitats and species directly depending on water. |
| PS |
Planning Service. |
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| Quality element |
A feature of an aquatic ecosystem that can be described as a number for the purposes of calculating an ecological quality ratio, such as the concentration of a pollutant; the number of species of a type of plant. |
| Quantitative status for groundwater |
An expression of the degree to which a body of groundwater is affected by direct and indirect abstractions. If this complies with Directive requirements the status is good. |
| QUB |
Queen’s University Belfast. |
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| RA |
Rivers Agency. |
| RBMP |
River Basin Management Plan. |
| REACH |
Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals. |
| Reference conditions |
The benchmark against which the effects on surface water ecosystems of human activities can be measured and reported in the relevant classification scheme. For waters not designated as heavily modified, the reference conditions are synonymous with the high ecological status class. For waters designated as heavily modified, they are synonymous with the maximum ecological potential class. |
| RHAT |
River Hydromorphological Technique. |
| River basin |
A river basin is the area of land from which all surface run-off and spring water flows through a sequence of streams, lakes and rivers into the sea at a single river mouth, estuary or delta. It comprises one or more individual catchments. |
| River basin district |
A river basin or several river basin districts, together with associated coastal waters. |
| River basin management plan |
For each River Basin District, the Water Framework Directive requires a River Basin Management Plan to be published. The Plans set out how the environmental objectives for all the water bodies within the River Basin District will be achieved. The plans will be based upon a detailed analysis of the pressures on the water bodies and an assessment of their impacts. The Plans must be reviewed and updated every six years. |
| ROI |
Republic of Ireland. |
| ROMP |
Review of Old Mineral Permission. |
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| Saturated zone |
Subsurface rock or other geological strata within which the pore spaces between the particles of rock or other strata, and the cracks in those strata are filled with water. |
| sCMP |
Salmon Catchment Management Plan. |
| Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER) |
SNIFFER manages environmental research on behalf of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the Scottish Executive, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Forestry Commission - and other stakeholders. |
| SEP |
Special Environmental Project. |
| SEPA |
Scottish Environment Protection Agency. |
| Significant Water Management Issues |
Significant water management issues in each River Basin District which will need to be addressed to achieve environmental objectives under the Water Framework Directive. |
| SLA |
Service Level Agreement. |
| SMR |
Statutory Management Requirements. |
| Spatial planning |
Spatial planning moves focus from a land-use planning approach based on regulation and control of land to a wider more far-ranging approach that aims to ensure the best use of land by assessing competing demands. Social, economic and environmental factors are taken into account in producing a decision that is more conducive to sustainable development. |
| Special Area of Conservation (SAC) |
Natura 2000 sites that are designated under the Habitats Directive. |
| Special Protection Area (SPA) |
Natura 2000 sites that are designated under the Birds Directive. |
| SR |
Statutory Rule. |
| SSAFO |
Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil. |
| Stakeholder |
Individuals or groups that are or could become interested in, involved in or affected by our policies and activities. Our stakeholders include statutory bodies, professional organisations, local organisations and members of the public. |
| Stakeholder forum |
A group of interested parties to guide and advice on river basin planning and management. |
| Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (2001/42/EC) |
European environmental legislation which requires an ‘environmental assessment’ to be carried out for certain plans and programmes whose formal preparation began after 21 July 2004 (or are prepared but not adopted or submitted by a legislative procedure by 21 July 2006), and which are considered likely to have significant effects on the environment. The term 'SEA' is used in UK guidance to mean an environmental assessment under this Directive. |
| SuDS |
Sustainable Drainage Systems. |
| SWMP |
Site Waste Management Plan |
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| Technical feasibility |
Is determined through the assessment of whether the implementation of a measure or programme of measures, designed to achieve the WFD objectives, is technically possible either at the national and local level and includes the consideration of uncertainty as well as environmental and socio economic feasibility. Technical feasibility depends upon the availability of - a technical solution
- information on the cause of the problem and hence the identification of the solution
- natural conditions that will allow for a timely improvement in the status of the water body
|
| TraC |
Transitional and Coastal. |
| Transitional water |
A Water Framework Directive term for waters that are intermediate between fresh and marine water. Transitional waters include estuaries and saline lagoons. |
| Typology |
The means by which the Water Framework Directive requires surface water bodies to be differentiated according to their physical and physico-chemical characteristics. |
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| UKTAG |
UK Technical Advisory Group. |
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| VI |
Voluntary Initiative. |
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| Water body |
A manageable unit of surface water, being the whole (or part) of a stream, river or canal, lake or reservoir, transitional water (estuary) or stretch of coastal water. A ‘body of groundwater’ is a distinct volume of underground water within an aquifer. |
| Water Framework Directive (WFD) |
European Union legislation - Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) - establishing a framework for European Community action in the field of water policy. |
| Water Framework Directive objectives |
The objectives set out in Article 4 of the Water Framework Directive together with objectives set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 7 of the Directive and which are required to be met. |
| Water table |
The upper limit of the saturation zone. |
| WCL |
Waste and Contaminated Land. |
| WGS |
Woodland Grant Scheme. |
| WML |
Waste Management Licensing. |
| WMU |
Water Management Unit. |
| WRAP |
Waste and Resources Action Programme. |
| WWTW |
Waste Water Treatment Works. |
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