Surface water bodies and their catchment areas, 2022-2027

Vectorial stocks delimiting surface water bodies and their catchment areas. In implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and the Flemish Decree on Integrated Water Policy (18 July 2003), surface water bodies are delineated in the river basin management plans. These are evaluated every 6 years. A surface water body is a distinct (part of a) stream, river, canal or transitional water or a stagnant water such as a lake or a water basin. The map layers contain the axes of rivers, transitional waters and lakes, as well as the polygons of the lakes and transitional waters. In addition, the individual catchment areas of the upper water bodies are also determined. The files are a derivative of the Flemish Hydrographic Atlas. In the current river basin management plans, the navigable watercourses and the unnavigable watercourses of categories 1, 2 and 3 from the VHA atlas are further divided into separate water bodies. All uncategorized watercourses, designated by the term ‘canals’ (‘G’), are also local water bodies but are not demarcated in the river basin management plans.