8.4. Definition of significant pressures and impacts

A key part of the characterisation of groundwater bodies is the assessment of the risk that a groundwater body may fail (in 2015) the objectives of the WFD unless appropriate measures are taken. The results of the risk assessment inform the monitoring of groundwater bodies and the subsequent classification of status. It is crucial that methodologies used in risk assessment are fit for purpose in the sense of being able to identify and quantify all significant pressures within the RBD and their potential impact on status of groundwater bodies (CIS Guidance Document 3). If not, (expensive) measures may be incorrectly targeted and objectives may (unexpectedly) not be met.

Class GWPressures

1. Please include here any comments which apply to all the schema elements in this Class.
2. In addition to those general schema element level comments, we welcome your views on: a) whether you think this Class can be simplified;  and b) whether you think the linkages with other reporting Classes or Schemas can be improved, and how;

gwPressuresNotAssessed - Required.(SignificantPressureType_Enum)

Select any pressure types from the enumeration list that have not been assessed (i.e. pressure types that have not been considered because they were not deemed to be important in the RBD, no information was available, or any other reason). If all pressures have been assessed report ‘Not applicable’. The option ‘No significant pressure’ is not valid.

gwSignificantPressurePointSourceTools - Required.(SignificantPressureTools_Enum)

Report the tools that have been used to define significant pressures from point sources. ‘Numerical tools’ includes modelling tools.  

gwSignificantPressureDiffuseSourceTools - Required.(SignificantPressureTools_Enum)

Report the tools that have been used to define significant pressures from diffuse sources. ‘Numerical tools’ includes modelling tools.  

gwSignificantPressureWaterAbstractionTools - Required.(SignificantPressureTools_Enum)

Report the tools that have been used to define significant pressures from water abstractions. ‘Numerical tools’ includes modelling tools.  

gwSignificantPressureArtificialRecharge - Required.(SignificantPressureTools_Enum)

Report the tools that have been used to define significant pressures from artificial recharge. ‘Numerical tools’ includes modelling tools. 

gwSignificantPressureOtherSourceTools - Required.(SignificantPressureTools_Enum)

Report the tools that have been used to define significant pressures from other sources. ‘Numerical tools’ includes modelling tools. 

gwSignificanceDefinition - Required.(YesNoCode_Enum)

Indicate whether significance has been defined in terms of thresholds. 

gwSignificanceLinkFailure - Required.(YesNoCode_Enum)

Indicate whether the definition of significance is linked to the potential failure of good status.  

gwPressuresReference - Required.(ReferenceType)

Provide references or hyperlinks to the documents and sections where any relevant information relating to pressure types can be found. Guidance on what should be included in this document is provided in Section 8.4.3.3

Guidance on contents of RBMPs/background documents

(Please see the full text of this sub-section in the WFD Reporting Guidance 2016 or above chapter)

Include here any comments that relate to the information contained in this sub-section of the Reporting Guidance, namely concerning information you think could/should be reported electronically and information which you believe should not be included in the River Basin Management Plans or background documents.