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Carry out a Stage 1 Water Framework Directive screening assessment

You will need to carry out a Stage 1 Water Framework Directive screening assessment if you...

Follow these steps to identify if you need to carry out more detailed Stage 2 scoping for your proposal. Where is this guidance?

What to include in your assessment

Your assessment must include:

  • a summary of your proposal
  • baseline information on water bodies at risk
  • a risk screening for any water bodies at potential risk of impact from your proposal

1. A summary of your proposal

You will need to include:

  • your application reference number
  • the applicant's details
  • a description of the proposal
  • any other permissions, for example abstraction and impoundment licence
  • location: grid reference, site name or longitude and latitude
  • estimated extent of the impact of the works, for example a new weir may only take up a short amount of channel length but the impounding effects of the weir may be a much larger extent of the water body
  • application documents (what does this mean?)
  • ongoing maintenance requirements, for example repointing, maintenance dredge, tidal flap clearance
  • date of works
  • pre-application details (what does this mean?)
  • name and role of person completing assessment
  • date of your assessment

2. Baseline information on water bodies at risk

  1. Go to Water Watch Wales
  2. Select WFD Cycle 3 2021 map (always use the most up to date WFD classification data)
  3. Select data layers that are relevant to your proposal

For bodies of water not listed on Water Watch Wales, assume that they are at ‘good’ status. Any deterioration from ‘good status’ should be assessed as a result of a new activity.

You must collate baseline information on all water bodies at risk from the proposal.

Step 1: State the date of classification information, for example Cycle 3 2021 classification.

Step 2: For each water body include:

  • water body ID, for example 'GB110059032310'
  • water body name, for example 'Loughor - confluence with Aman to tidal limit'
  • water body type, for example 'river'
  • whether it is a heavily modified water body (HMWB)
  • overall water body status, for example 'moderate'
  • morphology status (where there is no information, or a null value, then assume it is at good status for morphology (or hydromorphology for TraC water bodies). If the water body is designated HMWB the morphological status is not applicable - these water bodies are still sensitive to physical modifications.
  • relevance to the proposal, for example 'hydrologically linked - potential risk'

Step 3: List any other water bodies you initially considered but immediately ruled out.

3. Risk screen

You must complete a risk screening for each water body listed in Step 2 that has potential risk of impact from the proposal.

For each water body you must:

  • state the water body name and ID
  • list the activities you propose to carry out, for example dredging or vegetation control 
  • against each activity ask the following three questions:

    • Is the proposal in a water body at high status or high status for morphology or hydromorphology?
    • Is the proposed activity listed a high risk activity?
    • Are there any potential cumulative/in combination impacts?

If you answer 'yes' to any of these questions, you must move to Stage 2 scoping to complete a detailed assessment.

Water bodies you must include

Your Stage 1 assessment must include:

  • all surface water bodies directly impacted by the activity (for example the water bodies in which the activity is proposed)
  • any surface water bodies that are hydrologically connected that could be indirectly impacted by the activity (for example tributaries joining the watercourse in which the activity is proposed)
  • any groundwater bodies that underlie the proposed project area
  • the scale of impact - for larger developments in transitional and coastal water bodies the zone of influence needs to be defined by hydrodynamic modelling

You must also consider bodies of water that are not listed as water bodies on Water Watch Wales.

Some stretches of water are too small to be identified as a formal water body such as some reens, ditches, streams, or brackish lagoons. These are still legally protected from pollution, modification and abstraction and can indirectly impact on water bodies.

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