WFD Catchment Management: Reasons for Failure in England

AfA318 WFD Catchment Management Information England - Reasons for Failure is a retired dataset from the UK Environment Agency. It identifies the causes of less than good water body classifications under the Water Framework Directive, using a defined set of reasons for failure. The dataset covers England and includes sites in Wales where they cross the border.

Use Cases

• Identify pollution sources and sectors responsible for water quality failures based on the defined reasons for failure.
• Support catchment management planning by linking classification outcomes to specific activities and sources.
• Analyze trends in reasons for failure across different water bodies and operational catchments.

Strengths

• Data is structured around the official Water Framework Directive management units (River Basin Districts, Management Catchments, Operational Catchments).
• Reasons for failure are recorded using a defined, standardized set of categories for activity, source, and sector.

Limitations

• The dataset has been retired and superseded by a newer record, indicating it is not the current version.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency

Collection Method

Likely compiled from regulatory assessments and investigations under the Water Framework Directive.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-17 15:07:38.240938; freshness should be verified as the dataset is retired.

Geography

England, with inclusion of sites in Wales where they cross the border.