Water Environment and Diffuse Pollution Regulation

The Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 provides the statutory basis for protecting Scotland’s water environment and river basin management planning. The current Scottish River Basin Management Plans cover 2021–2027, with a target for 81% of water bodies to reach good status by 2027. SEPA’s River Basin Management Plan approach includes work on diffuse pollution priority catchments, using farm visits, compliance checks and enforcement where needed to reduce nutrient and soil loss and improve bathing water and environmental quality.

SEPA also treats rural land-use General Binding Rules(GBR) as a statutory baseline for preventing diffuse pollution. These rules are linked to practical good practice guidance for farming and water protection.