Water Framework Directive: 2018 Surface Water Status for Northern Ireland

2018 interim classifications for surface water bodies in Northern Ireland, reported under the EU Water Framework Directive's 2nd Cycle. The dataset covers rivers, lakes, coastal, and transitional waters, providing a regulatory status assessment. It was compiled under the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017, with subsequent legislation adjusting reporting requirements post-EU Exit.

Use Cases

• Monitoring compliance with Water Framework Directive standards for surface water bodies.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of water quality status across river, lake, coastal, and transitional water types.
• Informing environmental policy and management actions within the 6-year planning cycles defined by the legislation.

Strengths

• Provides official regulatory status classifications for surface waters, mandated by EU and national law.
• Covers multiple water body types (rivers, lakes, coastal, transitional) for a complete jurisdictional assessment.
• Cross-platform presence on UK and EU open data portals indicates established importance and accessibility.

Limitations

• Metadata is incomplete: specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided in any source.
• Limited temporal scope to a single year (2018) as an interim classification, not a continuous time series.
• Excludes groundwater and superficial groundwater classifications for the reported year.

Provenance

Source

Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) / Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), reported to Europe.

Collection Method

Monitoring and classification undertaken as part of the Water Framework Directive's 2nd Cycle regulatory reporting.

Time Range

2018

Freshness

Last updated: 2026-04-15 (from one source); other sources list no update date.

Geography

Northern Ireland