Hydrographical conditions - Marine online assessment tool

The extent to which Good Environmental Status has been achieved

Whilst no formal assessment is offered in this consultation, we assert that Hydrographical conditions (D7) has met Good Environmental Status (GES), based on the same premise presented in the 2019 assessment. This drew on evidence from case studies that examined existing or potential future planning applications. The current regulatory regime continues to be sufficiently robust to ensure that any significant long-term impacts to the criteria listed for this descriptor are mitigated.

Progress since previous assessments

Marine plans, and their associated planning, licensing and consenting regimes, are now complete across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In some instances, these marine plans are in the process of being updated: Scotland is preparing a new National Marine Plan (NMP2), England is updating Marine Plan East, and Northern Ireland has recently produced a ‘Statement of Public Participation’ underpinning an update to their two marine plans: inshore and offshore. The completion of the marine planning governance frameworks around the UK provides an assurance that hydrographical conditions are being considered at the licensing and consenting stages of the planning process. The UK approach to measuring and managing cumulative impacts on hydrographical conditions is in line with advice generated within the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) and countries such as the Netherlands.

Assessment Overview

No formal assessment of D7 Hydrographic Conditions was conducted for this update to the UK Marine Strategy (UKMS). We are therefore basing the information below on the same premise as was used for previous assessments (see UK Marine Strategy Part 1 2019). An overview of the assessment status for the existing criteria, associated target and indicator is provided in Table 1.

Table1: Summary overview of the status assessment for Hydrographic conditions (D7).

Criteria 1	Permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions
2019 Target	All significant marine infrastructure developments must meet licensing conditions to ensure they do not adversely affect the marine ecosystem.
Indicator	Whilst this descriptor does not have specific indicators at present, a number of indicators, such as sea surface temperature, salinity, turbidity, species and habitat condition are available to assess the likely impacts of infrastructure developments.
Greater North Sea	Met
Celtic Seas	Met

Impacts of climate change on pressures and state

Climate change is having a direct and indirect impact on the hydrographical condition of our seas. Coastal erosion, rising sea temperatures, increased stratification, increased storminess and changes in ecosystem components resulting from altered oceanic currents and conditions are all direct consequences of climate change.

Climate change is also having an indirect impact by driving increased development and industrialisation of the seafloor through our commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050 (2045 in Scotland), and the accompanying increase in offshore windfarms and associated ‘industrialisation’ of the seabed.

Management actions taken

The actions we are taking to achieve GES for Hydrographical Conditions are set out in the UK Marine Strategy Part 3 2025: Programme of Measures. 

Technical Detail: Good Environmental Status for Eutrophication for the next cycle

Overarching target
The nature and scale of any permanent changes to hydrographical conditions resulting from anthropogenic activities do not have significant long-term impacts on UK habitats and species.
Criteria	2024-2030 GES target		Comment		Indicators
Permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions	All significant marine infrastructure developments must meet licensing conditions to ensure they do not adversely affect the marine ecosystem.	No formal assessment of D7 Hydrographic Conditions was conducted for this update to the UKMS. We are therefore basing the information below on the same premise as was used for previous assessments (see UK Marine Strategy Part 1 2019)		Whilst this descriptor does not have specific indicators at present, a number of indicators, such as sea surface temperature, salinity, turbidity, species and habitat condition are available to assess the likely impacts of infrastructure developments.