UK Coastal and Estuarine Water Body Classifications for 2019

UK transitional and coastal water bodies are classified for ecological and chemical status under the Water Framework Directive Cycle 3. The dataset contains polygon geometries simplified for web mapping, provided by the UK Environment Agency. It reflects the 2019 classification results.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of ecological status classifications across estuarine water bodies.
• Compare chemical status results between coastal and transitional water body polygons.
• Assess water quality compliance by River Basin District using the assigned geographic attributes.
• Map the boundaries of defined transitional waters against Mean High Water coastline data.

Strengths

• Data is derived from authoritative sources including OS OpenMap - Local and Environment Agency boundaries.
• Provides distinct classifications for both ecological status and chemical status.

Limitations

• Geometric detail is reduced from the full-resolution version for faster web display.
• The shapefile format has noted limitations which may affect data handling.
• Data applies only to Cycle 3 (2019) and may not reflect current conditions.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency (UK), incorporating Ordnance Survey (OS) data.

Collection Method

Water bodies defined from OS Mean High Water boundaries and Agency estuarine/UWWTD boundaries.

Time Range

2019 (Cycle 3 classification).

Freshness

Dataset reflects 2019 classifications; metadata was updated in April 2026.

Geography

United Kingdom coastal and transitional (estuarine) waters.