WFD River and Lake Monitoring Sites for Northern Ireland

Monitoring sites for rivers and lakes in Northern Ireland, used for classification under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) regulations. The attribute table includes the years each site was used for classification, with data updated from the 2nd cycle 2016 submission to the European Environment Agency. Each site is a fixed point with a GPS accuracy of less than 10 meters.

Use Cases

• Tracking compliance with the Water Framework Directive based on monitoring site locations and usage years.
• Analyzing spatial distribution of water quality monitoring for rivers and lakes in Northern Ireland.
• Planning environmental monitoring cycles using the six-year legislative framework defined for the region.
• Conducting geospatial analysis of surface water bodies using point data with sub-10-meter accuracy.

Strengths

• Data is tied to specific legislation (The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017), providing a clear regulatory context.
• Geospatial accuracy is specified as less than 10 meters, based on handheld GPS units used for site surveys.
• The dataset is updated from a specific, documented submission cycle (2nd cycle 2016 to the EEA).
• Available on multiple government platforms (eu_open_data, uk_data), indicating official use and importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and specific data formats are listed as 'unknown' or 'None' across all sources.
• Conflicting or incomplete update information: one source lists a last updated date of 2026-04-15, while others list 'None'.
• The description is repeated verbatim across all platform entries, suggesting potential lack of detailed, platform-specific documentation.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service (via eu_open_data), likely originating from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) or the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

Collection Method

Points were collected via handheld GPS units during site surveys for environmental monitoring.

Time Range

The dataset is based on the 2nd monitoring cycle submission from 2016. The attribute table includes years sites were used, but the specific range is not provided.

Freshness

2026-04-15 14:22:14.100411

Geography

Northern Ireland, focusing on river and lake monitoring sites.