Water for life and livelihoods: draft River Basin Management Plans
Water in rivers, estuaries and other wetlands will improve under measures set out in River Basin Management Plans, drawn up for catchments across England and Wales under the Water Framework Directive. 
River Basin Management Plans are the nation’s plans for improving water and wetlands, they contain the main issues for the River Basin District and the actions we all need to take to deal with them. Everyone uses water in their daily lives, whether for recreational activities, industry, agriculture or as a water consumer.
A public consultation was held on the draft River Basin Management Plans between 22 December 2008 - 22 June 2009.
The consultation is now closed.
The comments we have received during the consultation will be used to inform the development of the first River Basin Management Plans. These plans will be submitted to Ministers on 22 September, be accessible on our website and finally published on 22 December 2009.
We will be publishing a formal response to the consultation on 22 September 2009. These documents will contain an overview of the comments received and the action taken to further develop the plans.
To view the draft River Basin Management Plan for your river basin district plus the accompanying environmental report, visit the links below.
Covering letter (PDF, 107KB) from Defra, Welsh Assembly Government and the Environment Agency
