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Water Framework Directive (WFD) River, Canal, and Surface Water Transfer Water Bodies Cycle 3 Classification 2019 (Full Resolution)

Publisher
Environment Agency
Updated
7 April 2026
Topic
Not set

Summary

This is a polyline dataset showing Water Framework Directive (WFD) River, Canal, and Surface Water Transfer Water Bodies. River centrelines represent the official river water body definition for the WFD. This dataset provides attribution relating to the 2019 classification results, as well as other relevant information and data about each river, canal, and surface water transfer water body. The data identifies the river water bodies managed under the WFD, and any related programmes. This includes canals and surface water transfers which are reported to Europe as artificial rivers. In these scenarios, the field in the dataset called 'water_body_type' has a value of either 'Surface Water Transfer', or 'Canal'. These water bodies are represented by their centreline, and can be linked to other WFD data using the value in the 'water_body_id' field. The river centrelines are defined using geometry taken from the EA Detailed River Network, which has Ordnance Survey rights. There are three layer files associated with this dataset. There is a layer file called WFD_River_Canal_and_SWT_Water_Bodies_Cycle_3_Classification_2019_Chemical_Class.lyrx, a layer file called WFD_River_Canal_and_SWT_Water_Bodies_Cycle_3_Classification_2019_Chemical_Class_ex_uPBT.lyrx, and a layer file called WFD_River_Canal_and_SWT_Water_Bodies_Cycle_3_Classification_2019_Ecological_Class.lyrx. The layer files display the chemical class, and the ecological class or potential for each river, canal, and surface water transfer water body. Please note that there are limitations with the shapefile format of the data. The data applies to Cycle 3 of the WFD. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2024. All rights reserved. Contains OS data © Crown copyright [and database right] [2024].

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
04 February 2026
Harvest GUID
925db33a-3b21-410e-b2a7-1246a6d2a755
Extent (Latitude)
55.8111151497005° to 49.8647926358421°
Extent (Longitude)
-6.41866722959945° to 1.76370560966352°
Spatial reference system
http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/27700
Dataset reference date (creation)
2024-03-01
Dataset reference date (publication)
2025-06-23
Dataset reference date (revision)
2026-02-04
Frequency of update
notPlanned
Access constraints
There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the licence identified.
Responsible party
Environment Agency (pointOfContact)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng