Water

Water Level Management Plans

A Water Level Management Plan (WLMP) is a written statement of the water level management objectives for a given area, and considers the means by which the objectives may be achieved. It considers the water level requirements for a range of activities, including agriculture, flood defence and conservation, and how these can be reconciled and integrated.

WLMPs are prepared by the Environment Agency, Internal Drainage Boards and certain local authorities. Priority is given to preparing plans for Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), i.e. sites of national nature conservation importance. The main requirement for these sites is to maintain or restore the feature for which they were designated.

Grant aid for WLMPs

Grant aid may be provided, through the Environment Agency, for works arising out of WLMPs. Preliminary studies may also be eligible for grant depending on the authority and importance of the site. Grant rates range from 45% to 100% of eligible costs depending on the authority and the status of the site. Applications for grant should be made to the Agency following its normal procedures.  Funding is dependent on Natural England agreeing that the proposed works are necessary to achieve favourable condition of the site.

From 2005 to 2007 operating authorities agreed remedies for SSSIs current in unfavourable condition with Natural England and submitted costed action plans to bring sites into target condition by 2010 to the Environment Agency.  The priority is now to deliver those measures with a view to bringing as many sites  as possible into target condition by December 2010. Funding will be targeted to achieving this goal.   

Priority WLMP Sites

As a result of a joint Defra/English Nature report below, published in 2004, a list of Priority WLMP sites was drawn up, where water level management was key to achieving favourable status on the SSSI:

  • Appendix 1 Water Level Management Plan Framework and Funding
  • Appendix 2 Water Level Management Plan Questionnaire
  • Appendix 3 All SSSIs Requiring WLMPs
  • Appendix 4 All SSSIs Requiring WLMPs by English Nature Team
  • Appendix 5 WLMP SSSIs in Unfavourable Condition: Priority and Secondary Sites
  • Appendix 6 Priority and Secondary Sites by English Nature Team
  • Appendix 7 Priority Sites by Operating Authority
  • Appendix 8 WLMP Priority Sites Datasheets
  • Appendix 9 WLMP Secondary Sites Datasheets
  • Appendix 10 Agri-environment Schemes Operating on Priority Sites

During 2005, English Nature completed its Remedies Project to identify mechanisms for securing favourable condition on sites that are currently unfavourable. As was expected, this project identified a small number of additional SSSIs which should be classed as Priority WLMP sites, together with four sites which, following investigation, were found to be suitable for removal from the list as no site units were still recorded as being unfavourable due to inappropriate water level management.

The current list of Priority WLMP sites can be found here.Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat documents

Defra Guidance

Defra has published the following guidance on WLMPs:

Copies of these publications can be obtained by emailing rceg.admin@defra.gsi.gov.uk.

Please note that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was incorporated into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in 2001. References to MAFF should be read as referring to Defra.

Page last modified: 7 August 2008
Page published: 14 October 2004

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs