Operational catchments are a way of grouping WFD waterbodies together for the purposes of economic appraisal. Every waterbody has been assigned to an Operational catchment. They are not always hydrologically correct catchments as the river waterbodies may have been grouped based on pressures and measures than hydrology. The Surface Water Operational Catchments data set also extends to cover transitional and coastal water bodies. It excludes the underlying Groundwater, and linear artificial waters which are published separately. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2014. All rights reserved.
