The CEH Water Programme (delivering science for the sustainable management of catchments and water resources ) will maintain and enhance activities in observing the long-term status of water systems including the morphology, biology and chemistry of lowland and upland rivers and lakes. The data will be used for trend detection, model evaluation and model construction. Priority areas include the establishment of new experimental and field facilities such as: experimental wetland, fish mesocosms, the River Lambourn Observatory, and ‘Source to Sea’ monitored catchments. These will provide a focus for integrated environmental science and ‘laboratories’ for the determination of processes and linkages. Examples of Water research include: Bioenergy / energy crops, Energy and the Environment, Hydropower, Lake ecosystems, UK lake restoration, Deep lakes and climate change, Scottish freshwater ecosystems, Micro-organics, Prediction and modelling of hydrological extremes, Response of river biota to climate, flows and habitat, Rainfall forecasting, Water balance of peri-urban systems, Source to sea observatories – Conwy, Ribble and Wyre, Tay, Water quality, Wetlands.