To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they require all water bodies in England and Wales to achieve the ecology status targets set by the European Union Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) by 2015, for all inland, estuarial and coastal waters. [HL2299]

The Environment Agency published draft river basin management plans for a six-month consultation on 22 December 2008. These draft plans contain programmes of measures to protect and improve the quality of all water bodies (inland, estuarial and coastal) in England and Wales by 2015. The measures in the draft plans will take 28 per cent of water bodies in England and Wales to good ecological status by 2015.

The water framework directive allows member states to extend deadlines to meet good ecological status, or to set a less stringent objective if it is disproportionately costly or technically infeasible to meet the targets by 2015. The directive prescribes two further six-year planning cycles, ending in 2021 and 2027.

The Environment Agency is using the consultation period to increase the ambition of the plans and is calling on stakeholders to help do more, and to help define the evidence base for further action. We and the agency wish this to result, by the time the plans are finalised in December 2009, in a higher level of ambition in relation to what can be achieved at proportionate cost by 2015, and a clearer vision of what we aim to achieve by 2021 and 2027. An important part of the first cycle will be further monitoring to ensure that action and expenditure is targeted where it will have the biggest impact.