River Water Body Catchments With 2019 Environmental Classifications

Polygon data delineates river water body catchments and coastal drainage areas for England and Wales. The dataset includes attribution from the 2019 Water Framework Directive classification cycle. It was created by the Environment Agency using hydrological models based on LiDAR and river network data.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial relationship between 'water_body_type' (e.g., 'Coastal Catchment') and associated land areas for coastal management.
• Map river network health by joining catchment polygons with classification results from the 2019 WFD cycle.
• Identify small watersheds under 10km2 using the 'Coastal Catchment' designation for studies on diffuse pollution sources.
• Model surface runoff pathways to specific confluences using the defined catchment boundaries.

Strengths

• Includes both river water body catchments and distinct coastal drainage areas.
• Provides official 2019 Water Framework Directive classification attribution for regulatory analysis.
• Created using authoritative Environment Agency LiDAR and Detailed River Network data.

Limitations

• Specific row count and spatial resolution details are not provided in the metadata.
• The shapefile format is noted to have inherent limitations for data handling.
• Data applies only to Cycle 3 of the WFD, with potential for newer classification cycles.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency (UK).

Collection Method

Created using hydrological models based on EA LiDAR data informed by the Detailed River Network.

Time Range

Classification data from the 2019 Cycle 3 assessment.

Freshness

Last platform update was 2026-04-07, though the core classification data is from 2019.

Geography

Catchments for river water bodies and coastal areas in England and Wales.