Environment Agency   ‘As many of you will be aware from previous correspondence and an earlier email from the Environment Agency’s Chief Executive, today we have launched consultations on draft updates to the river basin management plans and draft flood risk management plans. These consultations seek your views on proposals for improving the water environment and protecting communities from flood risk in England.

River basin management plans set out long term objectives for the quality of the water environment. They identify the ecological condition of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters and the pressures on them. The plans provide evidence that will help those with an interest in the water environment to agree where improvements can be made.

Flood risk management plans describe the risk of flooding from rivers, the sea, surface water, groundwater and reservoirs. They set out how the Environment Agency, local councils and water companies will work together, with communities, to manage flood risk.

• You can respond to the draft updated river basin management plan consultations at:  www.gov.uk/government/consultations/update-to-the-draft-river-basin-management-plans
• You can respond to the draft flood risk management plan consultations at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/draft-flood-risk-management-plansThe formal closing date for the flood risk management plan consultation is 31 January 2015, while the river basin management plan consultations will run for six months, ending on 10 April 2015. Estuarine and coastal waters are considered throughout the formal consultations. To aid your engagement we have produced an estuarine and coastal national engagement summary.  It provides an estuarine and coastal flavour of the draft updated river basin management plans, highlighting how the WFD is implemented in estuarine and coastal waters. It offers a high level overview of the current state, the challenges and the choices within estuarine and coastal waters, while sign-posting to where additional data can be found within the consultation documents. The summary can be downloaded here.I would like to get as many people as possible to engage with the consultations and I would really appreciate it if you could help by encouraging others to get involved through your regular communications. We welcome your comments online or in writing.  I’d like to thank everyone who is working with us to deliver improvements to the water environment and address the risk of flooding across England. David Baxter Deputy Director, Water Framework Directive, Environment Agency

These links will also explain how to respond to consultations in river basin districts which cross borders with Scotland and Wales.