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The River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) is the main tool for the water management of all surface and groundwater bodies within a specified RBD and the contents of the RBMP are outlined in WFD Annex VII. With respect to water governance, the RBMP shall contain: a general description of the RBD; a summary of the significant pressures and impacts on surface and groundwater bodies; a summary of the measures intended to mitigate the impacts identified; a register of any more detailed plans proposed for sub-basins, sectors, management issues or water categories; a summary of public consultation; and, a list of the Competent Authorities including their relationship with other authorities co-ordinated within a Member State, and a summary of institutional relationships established to ensure co-ordination in international RBDs.

Importantly, the WFD sets Environmental Objectives for Member States to attain for surface and groundwater bodies, the default being ‘good status’ by 2015 (unless an exemption applies or the surface water body meets the conditions for an Artificial or Heavily Modified Water Body). The RBMP is the key tool by which the process to achieve such legally binding Environmental Objectives can be formally set out as a roadmap to implementation and be subject to review.

The WFD sets out a stepwise approach for the development of the RBMP, and if one requirement is not complete or correctly carried out, it may pose obstacles for subsequent steps in the implementation process.

A clear and complete RBMP is also important for accountability as it is also the main tool for communicating to interested parties, including the public, how integrated water management is, or will be, carried out. Complete draft RBMPs including, as appropriate, draft background documents, should be made available in a timely manner through the public consultation process, in order to ensure that interested parties are given sufficient information to enable them to express their views in a meaningful way.