Water Framework Directive - Article 5 economic analysis
Article 5 of the Directive requires the following to be carried out for each river basin district:
- an analysis of its characteristics
- a review of the impact of human activity
- and an economic analysis of water use.
This work has been done in accordance with the technical requirements of Annexes II and III to the Directive. The Environment Agency has undertaken the analysis of river basins' characteristics and reviewed the impacts of human activity. Defra and the Welsh Assembly government as appropriate, have undertaken the economic analysis of water use. All this work must be reviewed and updated as the Directive requires.
Economic supportive documents
Defra and WAG have produced Economic Supportive Documents in collaboration with the Economic Advisory Stakeholder Group (EASG) that provide contextual economic and cost recovery background information to the Article 5 Reports for each RBD. The documents consist of ten reports, one for each designated RBDs in England, Wales and Scotland.
Areas covered in the ten Defra/WAG reports include:
- The socio-economic importance of water uses;
- An assessment of the current level of cost recovery for water services;
- Information relating to how the cost recovery analysis was carried out and how it may be improved in the future; and
- A summary of the work completed to date to establish a base-line economic analysis including details of work required in the future, particularly covering more complex sectors.
These documents should be read in conjunction with the Article 5 reports
Please find below the final economic supporting documents (in Adobe Acrobat PDF pdf format) for:
- Anglian RBC (528 KB)
- Humber RBC (1 MB - large file)
- North West RBC (485 KB)
- Northumbria RBC (429 KB)
- South East RBC (449 KB)
- South West RBC (356 KB)
- Thames RBC (816 KB - large file)
- Dee RBC (767 KB - large file)
- Severn RBC (511 KB)
- Western Wales RBC (320 KB)
These supporting documents build on analysis undertaken for the Economic Steering Group and the Economic Advisory Stakeholder Groups. Detailed guidance on the economic analysis required by the Directive has been provided through the EU Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) and can be found on the European Commission's Circa website. Guidance documents include:
Economics and the Environment - The Implementation Challenge of the Water Framework Directive (also known as the WATECO guidance) and four information sheets produced by the CIS Working Group 2B, as follows:
- Information sheet on the methodology to prepare a baseline scenario
- Information sheet on Assessment of the Recovery of Costs for Water Services for the 2004 River Basin Characterisation Report (Art 9)
- Information sheet on River Basin characterisation: analysis of water uses (Art 5 Annex III)
- Information sheet on the Assessment of Environmental and Resource Costs in the Water Framework Directive
The five main elements of the economic analysis of water use are:
- An assessment of the economic importance of water uses
- An investigation of the dynamics of the river basin and economic input into the development of a baseline scenario
- An assessment of levels of recovery of the costs of water services
- Preparation for the cost-effectiveness analysis
- Proposal of activities for enhancing the information and knowledge base.
Reports commissioned to support the preparation of the Article 5 report
In January 2004 Defra commissioned three studies to prepare for the Article 5 reporting requirements in relation to the economic analysis. These were:
- Report on the Economic Importance and Dynamics of Use for River Basin characterisation
- Report on Cost Recovery and Incentive Pricing
- Report on Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Developing a Methodology for Assessing Disproportionate Costs
The production of these reports was overseen by a UK wide Economics Steering Group (ESG) and England and Wales Economic Advisory Stakeholder Group (EASG). A Progress Report for the ESG/EASG (England and Wales) summarises the findings of these studies. Defra consulted on an approach to meeting the requirements Article 5 Economic Analysis of the in September 2004, In parallel with the Environment Agency's external Review of the River Basin Characterisation Results. Drafts of the Article 5 supporting documents were then developed in close collaboration with the Economic Advisory Stakeholder Group.
-
Progress Report from the Economics Steering Group and Economic Advisory Stakeholder Groups (PDF 150 KB)
- The final versions of the four background reports commissioned to support the preparation of the Article 5 Report, below:
(All the reports below are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format - note large file sizes)
Report on the Economic Importance and Dynamics of Use for River Basin Characterisation |
Main report |
Annexes |
|
Report on Cost Recovery and Incentive Pricing |
Main report |
Annexes |
Rectification note |
Report on Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Developing a Methodology for Assessing Disproportionate Costs |
Main report |
Annexes |
|
Report on Private Water Services |
Main Report (available shortly) |
Annexes (available shortly) |
|
Contact
Email: kevin.andrews@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Further information
Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat PDF documents.
Page last modified:14 November 2005
Page published: 23 March 2001