River basin districts and competent authorities#

Last update: 2026-05-14

Purpose and overview#

This section revises the River Basin Districts, Subunits and Competent Authorities classes used in the 3rd cycle of reporting of the Water Framework Directive River Basin Management Plans (Figure 1). It also revises the associated spatial data in the RiverBasinDistrict dataset and SubUnit dataset (Figure 2).

../_images/ClassDiagram_RBDSUCA_2022.png

Figure 1 River Basin Districts, Subunits and Competent Authorities schema - 3rd cycle - Obsolete#

        ---
config:
  class:
    hideEmptyMembersBox: true
  layout: dagre
  theme: default
---
classDiagram
direction LR
namespace GML_2022{
class RiverBasinDistrict["«FeatureType»
RiverBasinDistrict"] {
+ geometry: GM_MultiSurface
+ inspireIdLocalId: String254LeadingLetterOrNum
+ inspireIdNamespace: String254LeadingLetterOrNum
+ inspireIdVersionId: String25Type [0..1]
+ thematicIdIdentifier: FeatureUniqueEUCodeType
+ thematicIdIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme
+ beginLifespanVersion: WiseDateTimeType [0..1]
+ endLifespanVersion: WiseDateTimeType [0..1]
+ predecessorsIdentifier: String254LeadingLetterOrNum [0..1]
+ predecessorsIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme [0..1]
+ successorsIdentifier: String254LeadingLetterOrNum [0..1]
+ successorsIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme [0..1]
+ wiseEvolutionType: WiseEvolutionTypeValue
+ nameTextInternational: String254Latin
+ nameText: String254Type
+ nameLanguage: WiseLanguageCode_Enum
+ designationPeriodBegin: WiseDateTimeType
+ designationPeriodEnd: WiseDateTimeType [0..1]
+ zoneType: ZoneTypeCode
+ legalBasisName: String254LeadingLetterOrNum [0..1]
+ legalBasisLink: URLType [0..1]
+ legalBasisLevel: LegislationLevelValue [0..1]
+ relatedZoneTransboundaryIdentifier: String254LeadingLetterOrNum [0..1]
+ relatedZoneTransboundaryIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme [0..1]
+ sizeValue: PositiveDecimalType [0..1]
+ sizeUom: UomSize [0..1]
+ link: URLType [0..1]
}

class FeatureCollectionRBD["«FeatureType»
FeatureCollection"] {
}

class SubUnit["«FeatureType»
SubUnit"] {
+ geometry: GM_MultiSurface
+ inspireIdLocalId: String254LeadingLetterOrNum
+ inspireIdNamespace: String254LeadingLetterOrNum
+ inspireIdVersionId: String25Type [0..1]
+ thematicIdIdentifier: FeatureUniqueEUCodeType
+ thematicIdIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme
+ beginLifespanVersion: WiseDateTimeType [0..1]
+ endLifespanVersion: WiseDateTimeType [0..1]
+ predecessorsIdentifier: String254LeadingLetterOrNum [0..1]
+ predecessorsIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme [0..1]
+ successorsIdentifier: String254LeadingLetterOrNum [0..1]
+ successorsIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme [0..1]
+ wiseEvolutionType: WiseEvolutionTypeValue
+ nameTextInternational: String254Latin
+ nameText: String254Type
+ nameLanguage: WiseLanguageCode_Enum
+ designationPeriodBegin: WiseDateTimeType
+ designationPeriodEnd: WiseDateTimeType [0..1]
+ zoneType: ZoneTypeCode
+ specialisedZoneType: SpecialisedZoneTypeCode
+ legalBasisName: String254LeadingLetterOrNum [0..1]
+ legalBasisLink: URLType [0..1]
+ legalBasisLevel: LegislationLevelValue [0..1]
+ relatedZoneIdentifier: FeatureUniqueEUCodeType
+ relatedZoneIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme
+ relatedZoneTransboundaryIdentifier: String254LeadingLetterOrNum [0..1]
+ relatedZoneTransboundaryIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme [0..1]
+ sizeValue: PositiveDecimalType [0..1]
+ sizeUom: UomSize [0..1]
+ link: URLType [0..1]
}

class FeatureCollectionSU["«FeatureType»
FeatureCollection"] {
}
}
RiverBasinDistrict "1..*" <-- FeatureCollectionRBD : + featureMember
SubUnit "1..*" <-- FeatureCollectionSU : + featureMember

Figure 2 RiverBasinDistrict and Subunit spatial datasets - 3rd cycle - Obsolete#

A proposal is presented for the electronic reporting in the 4th cycle:

  • The reporting of the units of management (i.e. the River Basin Districts) and of the competent authorities is combined into a single dataflow.

  • The overall structure of the new River Basin Districts and Competent Authorities dataflow is aligned with similar dataflows, e.g. under the Floods Directive [1].

  • Reporting is only requested under the following conditions:

    • If there are changes to the spatial delineation and/or the identifiers of one or more River Basin Districts (since the 3rd cycle), the spatial dataset must be reported.

    • If there are changes to the competent authorities or their roles, the descriptive data must be reported in accordance with Article 3(8) and 3(9) of the WFD.

  • Data providers can specify which datasets are being updated (spatial data, descriptive data, or both).

  • Information about subunits is no longer requested.

  • The reporting of metadata has also been simplified.

Documents dataset - 4th cycle#

The Documents dataset follows the standard structure used in various WISE dataflows (Figure 3):

  • The dcMetadata table is required and contains only one record per delivery (i.e. per country). It provides the basic Dublin Core metadata elements about the delivery.

  • If required by the data providers, and especially if spatial data is being reported, the licenseDocument and the metadataDocument attributes allow the provision of additional information about the dataset.

  • The dcMetadata table also functions as a “manifest file” explaining:

    • if the delivery contains an update of the spatial data: updateSpatialData = 'yes'

    • and/or if the delivery contains an update of the competent authorities or their roles: updateCompetentAuthorities= 'yes'

  • The Document table is standard in the WISE dataflows: it allows the upload of documents (for example, PDFs) or the provision of a hyperlink to a document stored in a publicly accessible national web site.

        ---
config:
  class:
    hideEmptyMembersBox: true
  layout: dagre
  theme: neutral
---
classDiagram
direction LR

class dcMetadata {

«metadata»
  + title: string
  + creatorOrganisationName: string
  + creatorElectronicMailAddress: Email
  + description: string [0..1]
  + created: date [0..1]
  + language: Language [1..n]
  + license: Licence
  + rights: string [0..1]
  + rightsHolder: string [0..1]
  + licenseDocument: documentCode [0..n]
  + metadataDocument: documentCode [0..n]

  «data-delivery-manifest»
  + updateCompetentAuthorities: YesNo
  + updateSpatialData: YesNo
}
class Document {
  + documentCode: wiseIdentifier
  + documentName: string250
  + hyperlink: URL [0..1]
  + documentFile: Attachment [0..1]
}

class Licence{
  <<enumeration>>
  CC0
  CC_BY_4_0
  exactMatch_CC_BY_4_0
  narrowMatch_CC_BY_4_0
}

dcMetadata ..> Document: licenseDocument
dcMetadata ..> Document: metadataDocument
dcMetadata ..> Licence: license

classDef default fill:white,stroke:#000;
classDef forFixing fill:white,stroke:#f00;

Figure 3 River Basin Districts and Competent Authorities - 4th cycle - Documents#

Descriptive dataset - 4th cycle#

The Descriptive dataset contains two tables (Figure 4):

  • The CompetentAuthority table contains basic information about each Competent Authority.

  • The RiverBasinDistrictCompetentAuthority table associates each Competent Authority with a River Basin District and specifies the role(s) of the competent authority in that RBD.

        ---
config:
  class:
    hideEmptyMembersBox: true
  layout: dagre
  theme: neutral
---
classDiagram
direction LR
class CompetentAuthority {
  + euCACode: wiseIdentifier
  + competentAuthorityName: string100
  + competentAuthorityNameNL: string100
  + competentAuthorityNameNLLanguage: Language
  + acronym: string100 [0..1]
  + street: string100
  + city: string100
  + country: string100
  + postCode: string50 [0..1]
  + url: URL
}
class RiverBasinDistrictCompetentAuthority {
  + euRBDCode: wiseIdentifier
  + euCACode: wiseIdentifier
  + roleCode: Role [1..*]
}

CompetentAuthority "1" -- "1..*" RiverBasinDistrictCompetentAuthority

classDef default fill:white,stroke:#000;
classDef forFixing fill:white,stroke:#f00;

Figure 4 River Basin Districts and Competent Authorities - 4th cycle - Descriptive Data#

        ---
config:
  class:
    hideEmptyMembersBox: true
  layout: dagre
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---
classDiagram
direction LR

class Role{
<<enumeration>>
pressureAndImpactAnalysis
economicAnalysis
monitoringOfSurfaceWater
monitoringOfGroundwater
assessmentOfStatusOfSurfaceWater
assessmentOfStatusOfGroundwater
preparationOfRBMP
preparationOfProgrammeOfMeasures
implementationOfMeasures
publicParticipation
enforcementOfRegulations
coordinationOfImplementation
reportingToTheEuropeanCommission
}

classDef default fill:white,stroke:#000;
classDef forFixing fill:white,stroke:#f00;

Figure 5 Codelist - 4th cycle - Role#

Spatial dataset - 4th cycle#

RiverBasinDistrict spatial data - 4th cycle#

The Spatial dataset contains only the RiverBasinDistrict spatial data (Figure 6).
As stated before, Subunits are no longer requested in the 4th cycle of reporting.

The following changes have been made to the RiverBasinDistrict spatial table (in comparison to the 3rd cycle of reporting):

  • The attributes sizeValue and sizeUom were removed, because they can be derived from the reported geometry.

  • Two attributes relatedTransboundaryIdentifier and relatedTransboundaryIdentifierScheme were removed, because they are not required at EU level.

  • All the date values are requested as YYYY-MM-DD, because that was the format used by the data providers in the previous cycles (and therefore it is not necessary to maintain more variants). This applies to beginLifespanVersion, endLifespanVersion, designationPeriodBegin, designationPeriodEnd.

  • One attribute was moved from the descriptive dataset into the spatial dataset.
    The specialisedZoneType now accepts the options 'internationalRiverBasinDistrict' and 'nationalRiverBasinDistrict'.

  • The attributes thematicIdIdentifierScheme and zoneType have been kept for clarity’s sake. However, all records in the RiverBasinDistrict dataset have a constant value for these attributes.

  • The attributes successorsIdentifier and successorsIdentifierScheme have been kept for clarity’s sake. In the reported datasets, the value of these attributes will always be NULL. The appropriate value will be derived and included in the published WISE datasets for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycle RiverBasinDistrict datasets.

        ---
config:
  class:
    hideEmptyMembersBox: true
  layout: dagre
  theme: neutral
---
classDiagram
direction LR
class RiverBasinDistrict {
  + geometry_polygon: MultiPolygon
  + inspireIdLocalId: string254
  + inspireIdNamespace: string254
  + inspireIdVersionId: string25 [0..1]
  + thematicIdIdentifier: wiseIdentifier
  + thematicIdIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme
  + beginLifespanVersion: date [0..1]
  + endLifespanVersion: date [0..1]
  + predecessorsIdentifier: wiseIdentifier [0..n]
  + predecessorsIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme [0..1]
  + successorsIdentifier: wiseIdentifier [0..n]
  + successorsIdentifierScheme: IdentifierScheme [0..1]
  + wiseEvolutionType: WiseEvolutionType
  + nameTextInternational: string254
  + nameText: string254
  + nameLanguage: Language
  + designationPeriodBegin: date
  + designationPeriodEnd: date [0..1]
  + zoneType: ZoneType
  + specialisedZoneType: SpecialisedZoneType
  + legalBasisName: string254 [0..1]
  + legalBasisLink: URL [0..1]
  + legalBasisLevel: LegislationLevelValue [0..1]
  + link: URL [0..1]
}

classDef default fill:white,stroke:#000;
classDef forFixing fill:white,stroke:#f00;

Figure 6 Spatial dataset - RiverBasinDistrict - 4th cycle#

Annexes - Data analysis - 3rd cycle#

This section contains some of the exploratory data analysis that supported the revision of the data model.

It is not relevant for the understanding of the proposed model, but may be informative for data providers involved in the testing phase of the 4th cycle dataflows.

About the EEA discodata service

The example queries can be executed interactively in the EEA discodata service.
Note that some queries may timeout.
If you need to analyse the entire European dataset, download it in CSV format.
For example, the link https://discodata.eea.europa.eu/download/WISE_WFD/v2r1/GWB_GroundWaterBody downloads the data of the [WISE_WFD].[v2r1].[GWB_GroundWaterBody] table.

National and international RBDs#

The query below retrieves the information reporting during the 3rd cycle.
If the information is correct, and the delineation of the River Basin Districts did not change, then it is not necessary to report the RiverBasinDistrict dataset again.

Show code
Example 1 National and international RBDs - 3rd cycle#
1-- https://discodata.eea.europa.eu/
2
3SELECT [countryCode]
4    ,[euRBDCode] AS [thematicIdIdentifier]
5    ,'euRBDCode' AS [thematicIdIdentifierScheme]
6    ,IIF([internationalRBD] = 'Yes', 'internationalRiverBasinDistrict', 'nationalRiverBasinDistrict')
7      AS [specialisedZoneType]
8FROM [WISE_WFD].[v2r1].[RBDSUCA_RBD]
9WHERE [cYear] = 2022

Competent authorities and their roles#

The query below retrieves the information reporting during the 3rd cycle.
If the information is correct, and the competent authorities and their roles have not changed, then it is not necessary to report the information again.

Show code
Example 2 Competent authorities and their roles - 3rd cycle#
 1-- https://discodata.eea.europa.eu/
 2SELECT [countryCode],
 3    [euRBDCode], 
 4    [primeCompetentAuthority] AS [euCACode], 
 5    [roleCode]
 6FROM [WISE_WFD]. [v2r1]. [RBDSUCA_RBD_primeCompetentAuthority] vBase
 7
 8JOIN 
 9
10    ( SELECT [euCACode],STRING_AGG(b.[roleCode], ',') AS [roleCode]
11      FROM
12
13        (SELECT [euCACode], [otherRole] AS [roleCode] 
14        FROM [WISE_WFD]. [latest]. [RBDSUCA_CompetentAuthority_otherRole] 
15        WHERE [cYear] = 2022 AND [otherRole] IS NOT NULL
16
17        UNION
18
19        SELECT [euCACode], [mainRole] AS [roleCode] 
20        FROM [WISE_WFD]. [latest]. [RBDSUCA_CompetentAuthority_mainRole] 
21        WHERE [cYear] = 2022 AND [mainRole] IS NOT NULL ) 
22        
23        AS vUnion
24
25        JOIN 
26    
27        (SELECT *
28        FROM (VALUES
29        ('1 - Pressure and impact analysis',  'pressureAndImpactAnalysis'),
30        ('2 - Economic analysis',  'economicAnalysis'),
31        ('3 - Monitoring of surface water',  'monitoringOfSurfaceWater'),
32        ('4 - Monitoring of groundwater',  'monitoringOfGroundwater'),
33        ('5 - Assessment of status of surface water',  'assessmentOfStatusOfSurfaceWater'),
34        ('6 - Assessment of status of groundwater',  'assessmentOfStatusOfGroundwater'),
35        ('7 - Preparation of RBMP',  'preparationOfRBMP'),
36        ('8 - Preparation of PoM',  'preparationOfPoM'),
37        ('9 - Implementation of measures',  'implementationOfMeasures'),
38        ('10 - Public participation', 'publicParticipation'),
39        ('11 - Enforcement of regulations', 'enforcementOfRegulations'),
40        ('12 - Co-ordination of implementation', 'coordinationOfImplementation'),
41        ('13 - Reporting to the European Commission', 'reportingToTheEuropeanCommission')
42        ) AS t(originalValue, roleCode)) AS b
43
44        ON vUnion.roleCode = b.originalValue
45
46    GROUP BY [euCACode] ) AS vRoles
47    ON vBase.primeCompetentAuthority = vRoles.euCACode
48    WHERE [cYear] = 2022

References#

Warning

The original document containing this revised model can still be downloaded but should no longer be used.
See PROPOSAL - Version 2026.02.13 PDF