Statutory Main Rivers Map is a spatial (polyline) dataset that defines statutory watercourses in England designated as Main Rivers by the Environment Agency.

Watercourses designated as ‘main river’ are generally the larger arterial watercourses. The Environment Agency has permissive powers, but not a duty, to carry out maintenance, improvement or construction work on designated main rivers.

All other open water courses in England are determined by statute as an ‘ordinary watercourse’. On these watercourses the Lead Local flood Authority or, if within an Internal Drainage District, the Internal Drainage Board have similar permissive powers to maintain and improve.

This is a view service of the CEH 1:50k rivers dataset. This is a river centreline network, based originally on OS 1:50,000 mapping. There are four layer: rivers; canals; surface pipes (man-made channels such as aqueducts and leats) and miscellaneous channels (including estuary and lake centre-lines and some underground channels).The dataset was produced within a long-term project of the Institute of Hydrology (now CEH) between the mid-1970s and the late 1990s. The project digitised, (either manually or using 'laser scanners') the "blue line" layer of the Ordnance Survey's 1:50,000 2nd series (Landranger) maps. The dataset consists of all the single blue lines from the source maps, plus centre-lines from double sided rivers, lakes and estuaries. All gaps in the source material have been closed, using local knowledge where necessary, to give a river network that is continuous from source to mouth

Web Map containing Statutory Main River Map, Statutory Main River Map Variations 2022 and Statutory Main River Variations pre 2021 feature layers.Created for use by Web Mapping Application: Main River Map

This dataset comprises river centrelines, digitised from OS 1:50,000 mapping. It consists of four components: rivers; canals; surface pipes (man-made channels for transporting water such as aqueducts and leats); and miscellaneous channels (including estuary and lake centre-lines and some underground channels). This dataset is a representation of the river network in Great Britain as a set of line segments, i.e. it does not comprise a geometric network.

Watercourses which have been designated as ‘main’ are generally the larger arterial watercourses. The Environment Agency has permissive powers, but not a duty, to carry out maintenance, improvement or construction work on designated main rivers.

Data shows the location of Priority Habitat Chalk rivers and Streams. Replaces the existing 1:50,000 scale data.Based on Environment Agency Detailed River Network (DRN) version 3. All fields from DRN have been retained. This subset of chalk rivers uses the old 1:50,000 Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) chalk river data, BGS geology, WWF report "The State of England’s Chalk Streams" and stakeholder knowledge to produce an updated chalk river network for England.Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk (to follow).

The Statutory Main River Map Variations dataset defines proposed changes to the Statutory Main River Map.

Statutory Main Rivers Map defines statutory watercourses in England designated as Main Rivers by Environment Agency.

Watercourses designated as ‘main river’ are generally the larger arterial watercourses. The Environment Agency has permissive powers, but not a duty, to carry out maintenance, improvement or construction work on designated main rivers.

All other open water courses in England are determined by statute as an ‘ordinary watercourse’. On these watercourses the Lead Local flood Authority or, if within an Internal Drainage District, the Internal Drainage Board have similar permissive powers to maintain and improve.

The Environment Agency notifies the public and interested parties of our intentions to make a change to the statutory main river map and decides which watercourses are designated as Main Rivers following a legal process to determine and publish changes.

The change, or variation, to the Statutory Main River Map is either a deletion (also known as a demainment) or an addition (also known as an enmainment).

There are two reasons for a change to the Statutory Main River Map - Designation and Factual.

Designation changes are required when we make a decision to lengthen or shorten the section of a river designated as a 'main river'. These changes will determine which risk management authority may carry out maintenance, improvement or construction work on the watercourse. These changes result also in differing legislation applying to the riparian owner and others with an interest.

Factual changes may be required to update the map to represent the real position of the watercourse. They do not involve any changes of authority or management. Typical examples of factual changes are when: a watercourse has changed course naturally, a watercourse has been diverted or a survey of a culvert shows a different alignment.

A change to the Statutory Main River Map goes through the following stages (identified as Status within the data):

• Draft
• Consultation
• Pending Determination
• Determination
• Appeals
• Pending Appeals
• Pending Implementation
• Implemented (Month and Year)

"One of the two datasets that make up the Priority River Habitat Map. Consists of rivers and streams that exhibit a high degree of naturalness. The naturalness classification used to map priority river habitat is based on recent work to review the river SSSI series. It evaluates four main components of habitat integrity: hydrological, physical, physico-chemical (water quality) and biological. An additional classification of the naturalness of headwaters (defined as streams with a catchment area of <10km2 to coincide with WFD typology boundaries) uses land cover data as a surrogate for direct information on river habitat condition (information which is generally lacking on headwaters). Streams and rivers operating under natural processes, free from anthropogenic impact and with a characteristic and dynamic mosaic of small-scale habitats that supports characteristic species assemblages (including priority species), are the best and most sustainable expression of river ecosystems. Key elements are: a natural flow regime; natural nutrient and sediment delivery regimes; minimal physical modifications to the channel, banks and riparian zone; natural longitudinal and lateral hydrological and biological connectivity; an absence of non-native species; low intensity fishery activities. These conditions provide the best defence against climate change, maximising the ability of riverine ecosystems to adapt to changing conditions. They also provide the most valuable and effective transitional links with other priority habitats, including lakes, mires and coastal habitats. In English rivers and streams, high levels of naturalness are rare. "

The objective of the priority habitat map in England is to:• help organisations protect the most natural remaining examples of rivers from further impacts on natural processes, and • highlight any aspects of habitat integrity (hydrological, chemical, physical, biological) that could most usefully be improved. The priority river habitat map that has been produced is an English interpretation of the UK definition of priority river habitat, focusing on naturalness as the principal criterion in recognition of the vital importance of natural processes in delivering sustainable riverine habitats and supporting characteristic biodiversity.Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.

The Flood Map for Planning (Rivers and Sea) includes several layers of information. This layer and documentation covers Flood Zone 2. It is the Environment Agency's best estimate of the areas of land at risk of flooding, when he presence of flood defences are ignored and covers land between Zone 3 and the extent of the flooding from rivers or the sea with a 1 in 1000 (0.1%) chance of flooding each year. This dataset also includes those areas defined in Flood Zone 3.This dataset is designed to support flood risk assessments in line with Planning Practice Guidance ; and raise awareness of the likelihood of flooding to encourage people living and working in areas prone to flooding to find out more and take appropriate action. This dataset is republished by the West of England Combined Authority for supplementing information within our Local Nature Recovery Strategy. If you are using it for statutory purposes, you should refer to the Environment Agency's canonical version, linked in the Attributions field below as this is likely to be more current.

This is a collection of simple maps in PDF format that are designed to be printed off and used in the classroom. The include maps of Great Britain that show the location of major rivers, cities and mountains as well as maps of continents and the World. There is very little information on the maps to allow teachers to download them and add their own content to fit with their lesson plans. Customise one print out then photocopy them for your lesson. data not available yet, holding data set (7th August). Other. This dataset was first accessioned in the EDINA ShareGeo Open repository on 2012-08-07 and migrated to Edinburgh DataShare on 2017-02-22.

PLEASE NOTE: This dataset has been retired. It has been superseded by https://environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/04532375-a198-476e-985e-0579a0a11b47.The Flood Map for Planning (Rivers and Sea) includes several layers of information. This dataset covers Flood Zone 2 and should not be used without Flood Zone 3. It is our best estimate of the areas of land at risk of flooding, when the presence of flood defences are ignored and covers land between Zone 3 and the extent of the flooding from rivers or the sea with a 1 in 1000 (0.1%) chance of flooding each year. This dataset also includes those areas defined in Flood Zone 3.This dataset is designed to support flood risk assessments in line with Planning Practice Guidance ; and raise awareness of the likelihood of flooding to encourage people living and working in areas prone to flooding to find out more and take appropriate action.The information provided is largely based on modelled data and is therefore indicative rather than specific. Locations may also be at risk from other sources of flooding, such as high groundwater levels, overland run off from heavy rain, or failure of infrastructure such as sewers and storm drains.The information indicates the flood risk to areas of land and is not sufficiently detailed to show whether an individual property is at risk of flooding, therefore properties may not always face the same chance of flooding as the areas that surround them. This is because we do not hold details about properties and their floor levels. Information on flood depth, speed or volume of flow is not included.NOTE: We have paused quarterly updates of this dataset. Please visit the “Pause to Updates of Flood Risk Maps” announcement on our support pages for further information. We will provide notifications on the Flood Map for Planning website to indicate where we have new flood risk information. Other data related to the Flood Map for Planning will continue to be updated, including data relating to flood history, flood defences, and water storage areas.

Priority habitats form part of the UK’s commitment to the International Convention on Biodiversity. Each country who signed up to to the Convention is required to define a range of habitats (and individual species) where action is a priority to protect and restore biodiversity, and then to take the necessary action. The UK’s list of priority habitats includes both river and lake habitats. Existing nationally generated maps of river/stream and lake restoration priorities are now being refined with stakeholders to become a mechanism for highlighting local priorities for different sorts of restoration of natural habitat function – hydrological, physical, chemical and biological. Any site that falls under the UK river and lake priority habitat definitions (which essentially means any river, stream or lake), and therefore warrants specific consideration, can be highlighted as a priority for restoration action, if the action restores natural function. Restoration of natural habitat function of rivers and streams can involve many different practical measures – 21 measures are explicitly itemised within the river and stream restoration priorities layer. These arePhysical RestorationEstablish riparian zone of natural vegetationEstablish at least patchy cover of native riparian treesAllow natural delivery and retention of woody materialRestore natural mire-stream transition zoneRestore natural lateral movement of the channelRemove in-channel structuresRestore natural channel bed levelsRemove flood embankmentsRe-establish alluvial woodlandRestore natural floodplain wetland mosaicHydrological RestorationRestore natural springflows to headwater streamsRestore natural flow regimeRemove land drainageChemical RestorationTarget critical pollution source areas of the catchmentEstablish naturally functioning habitat mosaics on critical areasEstablish effective soil/nutrient conservation regimes on critical areasBiological RestorationStrategic area-based control of non-native speciesReduce intensity of/halt fish stockingHalt fishery-driven removal of non-target native fish speciesReduce/halt in-channel and marginal weed cuttingEliminate heavy grazing of riparian vegetationThis dataset is in the early stages of development and will grow as more partners and stakeholders add their local knowledge. See the Priority Habitat data portal for more information on priority river (including streams) and lake habitats in England, how you can get involved in their protection and restoration, and in particular how you can provide information on the sites you visit to help prioritise conservation action. Other parts of the UK have their own approaches to conserving priority habitats as part of their separate biodiversity strategies.You can also view this data via the Data Display app on the Priority Habitat Data Portal which allows you to easily visualise the different measures being recommended at each site.

The Historic Flood Map is a GIS layer showing the maximum extent of individual Recorded Flood Outlines from river, the sea and groundwater springs that meet a set criteria. It shows areas of land that have previously been subject to flooding in England. This excludes flooding from surface water, except in areas where it is impossible to determine whether the source is fluvial or surface water but the dominant source is fluvial.

The majority of records began in 1946 when predecessor bodies to the Environment Agency started collecting detailed information about flooding incidents, although we hold limited details about flooding incidents prior to this date.

If an area is not covered by the Historic Flood Map it does not mean that the area has never flooded, only that we do not currently have records of flooding in this area that meet the criteria for inclusion. It is also possible that the pattern of flooding in this area has changed and that this area would now flood or not flood under different circumstances. Outlines that don’t meet this criteria are stored in the Recorded Flood Outlines dataset.

The Historic Flood Map takes into account the presence of defences, structures, and other infrastructure where they existed at the time of flooding. It will include flood extents that may have been affected by overtopping, breaches or blockages.

Flooding is shown to the land and does not necessarily indicate that properties were flooded internally.

Location of manmade barriers, mostly weirs, and natural features, such as waterfalls, on river courses in England and Wales. This dataset is known as 'Potential Sites of Hydropower Opportunity' and has been created under the EA project 'Opportunity and environmental sensitivity mapping for hydropower in England and Wales'. The dataset shows the location of opportunities for hydropower and the basic environmental sensitivity, which considers the presence of fish species and whether the site has been designated as Special Area of Conservation (SAC), associated with exploiting them. Besides their location, the dataset includes information on river level height, up and downstream the barrier.

This dataset consists of an interactive map (and supporting guidance) containing background information that informs how we understand flood risk across the Severn River Basin District. The map shows the River Basin District, component river basins and the coastline together with layers showing land use and topography.

This dataset together with equivalent datasets for each River Basin District, supports the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment for England report which has been written to meet the requirements of the Flood Risk Regulations (2009) - to complete an assessment of flood risk and produce supporting maps of river catchments.

Large-scale, accurate and fully attributed digital river centreline covering England and Wales. The dataset has full-feature network geometry cross-referenced with OS MasterMap following Digital National Framework principles. The dataset has full-feature network geometry cross-referenced with OS MasterMap following Digital National Framework. It is made of the three following layers: - Links: lines representing the river network. It is a river centreline dataset, based on OS MasterMap for surface features and Environment Agency culvert surveys for underground features (where available). There are many attributes associated with this dataset to enable it to be used for many different business purposes. It is topologically correct to allow it's use in network tracing tasks. - Offline Drainage: lines representing the sections of river and drains that do not obviously connect to the main online drainage network represented by the DRN. Sections with uncertain flow direction and connectivity are presented here, although in reality some may connect to the main DRN, and be added to it as more information becomes available. - Nodes: points representing the junctions between discrete stretches of the online DRN. It is used to assist in connectivity and flow direction, as every DRN stretch is attributed with the 'from' and 'to' nodes. Nodes are also included where line features cross, but do not intersect, such as an aqueduct passing over a river. Nodes have types to determine whether they are at for example junction or at a change in river type.

One of the two datasets that make up the Priority River Habitat Map. Under the UK BAP definition all headwaters potentially form part of the priority habitat definition. The headwater resource can be a significant proportion of the river habitat network, accounting for the large majority of total river length. The headwater areas selected as most natural by land cover comprise a relatively large proportion of the upland headwater resource but a very small proportion of the lowland resource. The headwater analysis is the least certain component of the naturalness analysis – for example, highly natural headwater streams running through very small catchment areas, often wooded, would not be detectable by the analysis that has been undertaken. Equally, land cover is a crude measure of naturalness and various types of impact on river habitat are not well correlated with it (e.g. abstraction pressure, point source pollution). These issues can only be addressed through local interpretation of the final priority habitat map. Attribution statement: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right [year].

The Flood Map for Planning (Rivers and Sea) includes several layers of information. This dataset covers Water Storage Areas. It shows those areas that act as a balancing reservoir, storage basin or balancing pond. Their purpose is to attenuate an incoming flood peak to a flow level that can be accepted by the downstream channel. It may also delay the timing of a flood peak so that its volume is discharged over a longer time interval. We have assumed that water storage areas act perfectly and give the same level of protection as when our assessment of the area was carried out. Water storage areas do not completely remove the chance of flooding and can be overtopped or fail in extreme weather conditions.

This dataset is designed to raise awareness of the likelihood of flooding and to encourage people living and working in areas prone to flooding to find out more and take appropriate action.

Click on the map below to start exploring. Click on a river to see more information. Or filter to show a single river catchment.