Updated water quality targets for Welsh river SACs 2022
Changes to water quality guidance from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee have led us to review the Conservation Objectives for river Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in Wales.
There are nine SACs designated for one or more river features in Wales. These are:
- Afon Eden – Cors Goch Trawsfynydd
- Afon Gwyrfai a Llyn Cwellyn
- Afon Teifi
- AfonTywi
- Afonydd Cleddau
- Meirionnydd Oakwoods and Bat Sites (the Afon Glaslyn)
- River Dee & Bala Lake
- River Usk
- River Wye
Last year we published revised phosphorus targets for the 9 SAC rivers, along with a compliance assessment against those targets.
Read the phosphorus targets report.
We are now publishing the targets for seven other water quality indicators which are:
- Total Ammonia
- Unionised Ammonia
- Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
- Dissolved Oxygen
- pH
- Acid Neutralising Capacity (ANC)
- Trophic Diatom Index (TDI)
Each SAC river is divided into water bodies (areas we assess). For the 9 river SACs there is a total of 127 water bodies and the targets for each water quality indicator are provided in the spreadsheet below.
These water quality targets have been incorporated into the Conservation Objectives for each SAC river, as published in the Core Management Plans (CMPs) for each site.