Regulation No. 1446 on the Framework for Water Management.

The present Regulation establishes a comprehensive legal framework for the protection and sustainable use of water resources in Norway, implementing key principles from EU water law. Its main objective is to ensure that all water bodies — rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and groundwater — achieve at least “good ecological and chemical status,” while preventing further deterioration. This is done through a system of environmental objectives, classification standards, and regular six-year planning cycles. The regulation defines key concepts (such as water bodies, ecological status, and protected areas) and requires monitoring, data collection, and scientific assessment to understand human impacts and environmental conditions.
To achieve these goals, the regulation organizes water management by river basin districts (“water regions”) and assigns responsibilities to regional authorities to develop water management plans and programmes of measures. These plans must identify pressures on water resources, set environmental targets, and outline concrete actions—such as pollution control, water use regulation, and ecosystem restoration. The framework allows for flexibility, including extended deadlines or less stringent objectives where achieving targets is technically difficult or disproportionately costly, but only under strict conditions and with justification. Public participation, coordination across sectors, and international cooperation (especially for shared water basins) are central features of the system.