Water quality in Scotland: the view of the regulator

Abstract

Water quality in Scotland has progressively improved over the past 50 years as the environmental damage, which resulted from the industrial revolution, has been addressed. This paper provides an overview of current water quality in rivers, lochs, estuaries and coastal waters and describes the limited information available on groundwater. The main factors affecting water quality are reviewed, with sewage, diffuse agricultural pollution, acidification and urban drainage identified as the most important. Trends in pollution pressure and levels of investment in pollution control have been used to predict the condition of Scotland's surface water over the next 10 years. Major improvements are expected. However, progress will be slowed by the increased relative importance of diffuse sources of pollution, which are less amenable to legislative controls. Future changes in environmental monitoring are also expected to move the emphasis away from point source pollution. The current freshwater classification schemes are based upon a relatively narrow measure of water quality and are expected to expand to include a wider range of ecological parameters. This will result in an increase in the waters defined as impacted as the effects of other environmental pressures are taken into account. Finally the implications of these changes for the future management of the aquatic environment are assessed.