The measuring authority is the organisation responsible for the provision of river flow data to the National River Flow Archive.

Responsibility for the collection and processing of hydrometric data in the UK rests primarily with the Measuring Authorities who operate the river flow monitoring network. The principle Measuring Authorities in each of the component parts of the UK are: the Environment Agency (EA) in England, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in Wales, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland and for Northern Ireland, the Department for Infrastructure - Rivers (DfIR). Additional flow measurement is carried out by a variety of public and private bodies and research organisations (including UKCEH). The Environment Agency, NRW and SEPA areas are subdivided into regions (see map below).

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Measuring Authority Regions
Measuring AuthorityRegion AbbreviationRegion
DfIR  NINorthern Ireland
EACLCumbria and Lancashire
EADCDevon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
EAEAEast Anglia
EAEMEast Midlands
EAGMMCGreater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire
EAHNLHertfordshire and North London
EAKSLKent, South London and East Sussex
EALNLincolnshire and Northamptonshire
EANENorth East
EASSDSolent and South Downs
EATThames
EAWMWest Midlands
EAWXWessex
EAYYorkshire
NRWWales NNorth Wales
NRWWales SSouth Wales
NRWWales SWSouth West Wales
SEPASEPA NNorth Scotland
SEPASEPA EEast Scotland
SEPASEPA SSouth Scotland

 

Measuring agency contact points

Primary measuring authorities

For queries regarding ongoing flood or drought incidents or for reporting environmental incidents, please contact the relevant Measuring Authority as listed in the table below:

NRFA CodeCountryMeasuring AUTHORITY
EAEnglandEnvironment Agency
NRWWalesNatural Resources Wales (Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru)
SEPAScotlandScottish Environment Protection Agency
DfIRNorthern IrelandDepartment for Infrastructure - Rivers

 
Other measuring agencies

NRFA CodeMeasuring Agency
CRTCanal & River Trust
CEHUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
ESWEssex & Suffolk Water plc
GSNIGeological Survey of Northern Ireland
DOENINorthern Ireland Environment Agency
NEWNorthumbrian Water Limited
SWAScottish Water
SWSouthern Water
NWWUnited Utilities
YWYorkshire Water