Water Resource Availability at Q30 (High Flows)

The Environment Agency monitors water resource availability as part of the Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy. A technical assessment is carried out to determine the water available in each river catchment. This is compared to the Environmental Flow Indicator (EFI) - minimum amount of water required to achieve healthy ecological status - in order to identify where resources demands from industry, agriculture or public water supply are compromising water quality and availability. Water resource availability at different flow levels can be investigated in detail: ■ There is more water available than is required to meets the needs of the environment. ■ If all licensed abstractions are carried out in full, there is not enough water to support the environment. ■ Flows are below the EFI and there is not enough water to support good ecological status. This layer shows the availability of water resources at high flows (Q30). You can also see availability at: Average/moderate flows (Q50) Low flows (Q70) Very low flows (Q95)