The Water Framework Directive (WFD) calls for the protection of surface and groundwater. For this purpose, the ten river basin communities in Germany draw up management plans and programmes of measures every six years. The German Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection have evaluated these reports and present the results in this joint brochure. You will learn how we use water bodies; what pressures result from this and how they affect water bodies. You will be informed about the current status of water bodies and what measures are planned to improve the status.