Following a consultation that ended on 28th February 2013, UKTAG has finalised its recommendations on 1) biological standards for rivers, lakes, coastal and estuaries and 2) phosphorus standards for rivers.
Final recommmendations on new and updated biological standards
Final recommendations on phosphorus standards for rivers
Some minor amendments have been made since November, detailed in the change log. The final recommendations documents have been updated accordingly.
PLEASE NOTE: the method statements outlined in the annex of the biological standards recommendations have been superseded by updated versions. Please navigate to Resources / Biological Standard Methods to access the latest versions.
The revised 2013 Phosphorus Standards for Rivers benefits from improvements in understanding of the relationship between phosphorus concentrations and the response of river plant communities. They have been derived using a new approach to setting phosphorus standards that produces site-specific estimates of natural phosphorus concentrations, taking account of a site’s alkalinity and altitude.
Stakeholder comments in response to the reviews of a) Phophorus and b) Biological Standards
The review was open from 10th December 2012 and finished on 28th February 2013.
The Biological Standards Consultation Response document can be viewed here.
The Phosphorus Standards Consultation Response document can be viewed here.
The individual responses are detailed below.
|
Ref |
Name |
Organisation |
Phosphorus |
Biology |
|
1 |
Martin Ross |
South West Water |
Yes Attached |
Yes Attached |
|
2 |
Jonathan Westlake |
Thames Water |
Yes Attached |
No |
|
3 |
Penny Johnes |
University of Reading |
Yes Attached |
No |
|
4 |
Michael Payne |
NFU |
Yes Attached |
No |
|
5 |
Brian Cox |
Atkins |
Yes Attached |
No |
|
6 |
Joff Edevane |
Anglian Water |
Yes Attached |
Yes Attached |
|
7 |
Diego Sanchez-Lopez |
EDF Energy |
Yes Attached |
No |
|
8 |
Benoit Demars |
James Hutton Institute |
Yes Attached |
No |
|
9 |
Iwan Jones and James Pretty |
Queen Mary University London |
No |
Yes Attached |
|
10 |
Luke Pearson |
United Utilities |
Yes Attached |
Yes |
|
11 |
Paul Henderson |
Welsh Water |
Yes Attached |
Yes |
|
12 |
Steve Nadin |
Northumbrian Water |
Yes Attached |
No |
|
13 |
Marion Whitelaw |
SNH |
Yes Attached |
Yes |
|
14 |
Alastair Burn |
Natural England |
Yes Attached |
Yes |
|
15 |
Ben Bickle |
Scottish Water |
Yes Attached 1 Attached 2 |
No |
|
16 |
Kerry Rogers |
CCW |
Yes Attached |
Yes |
|
17 |
Andy Limbrick |
Energy UK |
Yes Attached |
Yes |
|
18 |
Kate Hand |
Wildlife and Countryside Link |
Yes Attached |
Yes |
|
19 |
Michael Payne |
NFU Watercress Association |
Yes Attached |
No |
|
20
21 |
Roger Proudfoot
Axel Rossberg |
Healthy Biologically Diverse Seas Evidence Group
CEFAS
|
No
No |
Yes Attached
Yes Attached |
Phosphorus
You can access the draft proposals on phosphorus standards for rivers here
The UKTAG background document which supports the phosphorus review can be accessed here.
Biology
You can access the draft proposals on biological standards here
The following technical documents explain in more detail the biological methods described in the report.
All of these technical documents were relevant for the consultation only. They have now been superseded by updated method statements. Please navigate to Resources/Biological Standard Methods to access the latest versions.
- Annex 1 Rivers Macrophytes and Phytobenthos, LEAFPACS
- Annex 2 Rivers Macrophytes & Phytobenthos, DARLEQ
- Annex 3 Rivers Macrophytes & Phytobenthos, Combined
- Annex 4 Rivers Invertebrates, WHPT
- Annex 5 Rivers Invertebrates, WFD–AWIC
- Annex 6 Rivers Fish, FCS2 & Fish Barrier
- Annex 7 Rivers & Lakes, Ecological Indicators for Hydromorphology
- Annex 8 Lakes Phytoplankton, PLUTO
- Annex 9 Lakes Macrophytes & Phytobenthos, LEAFPACS
- Annex 10 Lakes Macrophytes & Phytobenthos, DARLEQ
- Annex 11 Lakes Macrophytes & Phytobenthos, Combined
- Annex 12 Lakes Invertebrates, CPET & LAMM
- Annex 13 Lakes Fish, FCS2
- Annex 14 Coastal waters Phytoplankton, Phytoplankton
- Annex 15 Transitional and coastal waters Macroalgae, Opportunistic macroalgal blooming tool
- Annex 16 Transitional and coastal waters Angiosperms, Intertidal Seagrass
- Annex 17 Transitional and coastal waters Angiosperms, Saltmarsh Index
- Annex 18 Transitional and coastal waters Invertebrates, IQI
- Annex 19 Transitional waters Phytoplankton, Phytoplankton
- Annex 20 Transitional waters Macroalgae, Fucoid Extent
- Annex 21 Transitional waters Fish, TFCI
The two annexes below have not changed since 2009 and are listed for information
