ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
The Environment Agency (EAUK) is a non-departmental public body established in 1996 and it is tasked by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in England to protect and improve the environment and make it a better place for people and wildlife. The primary mission of the Environment Agency is to reduce the risk to people and properties from flooding and to regulate water dependant activities in order to ensure there is enough water for people and the environment. EA employs around 11,200 staff and it is organised into eight directorates that report to the chief executive. The Environment Agency own and manage a vast number of structures on all the rivers in England and have a network of gauging stations to carry out a very large routine monitoring programme of river and estuarine ecology, including fish, invertebrates, water quality and other elements as required by the WFD and other legislation. The EA also carry out river restoration projects, run hundreds of fish passes, and work very closely with land owners. They will provide wide and qualified competencies on aquatic invertebrates, coarse, salmonid fish and eels, and on hydro geomorphology modelling.
