Water Framework Directive Coastal Waterbodies for Cycle 2 in the UK

UK coastal waterbodies defined under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) Cycle 2. The dataset is a polygon Shapefile containing attributes collated for WFD implementation, delineated one nautical mile from the Mean High Water coastline. It is published by the Government Digital Service under the OGL-UK-3.0 license.

Use Cases

• Mapping coastal waterbody boundaries based on the defined one-nautical-mile rule.
• Linking to other WFD data sources like risk and classification using the unique 'EA_WB_ID' identifier.
• Analyzing waterbody distribution and assignment within River Basin Districts.

Strengths

• Includes a unique identifier ('EA_WB_ID') enabling direct linkage to other WFD data sources.
• Geographic delineation is based on a specific, legally defined rule (one nautical mile from baseline).
• Published under a permissive open government license (OGL-UK-3.0).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Collated as defined for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, using OS 1:50K MeridianTM 2 coastline data and Environment Agency transitional waterbody definitions.

Time Range

Cycle 2 of the Water Framework Directive.

Freshness

Cycle 2 data; specific last updated date is unknown.

Geography

United Kingdom coastal waters.