The EU Water Initiative at 15: origins,processes and assessment

This article examines the activities and achievements of the European Union Water Initiative, a transnational, multi-actor partnership established in 2002 by the European Commission to support water governance reforms around the world. Two regional components of the initiative – (a) Africa and (b) Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia – are studied with a focus on their organizational structures, activities, policies and achievements. The analysis provides evidence for improved regional dialogue and cooperation in the water sector, but also points to persistent weaknesses, in particular a lack of resources, ownership and mutual understanding as to the overall aims of the Initiative.     

Water Services are the Bridgehead for a Return to Publicly Owned Utilities in Europe. A Comparative Analysis

Although for decades all across Europe numerous privatization phenomena have involved utilities, today the European Union appears on the edge of a profound change and water services are undoubtedly the bridgehead of a new model. Firstly, in a comparative perspective the present analysis aims to find some clues of the new trend at the national level. In particular, it moves from a case-based approach in order to carry out a wider exam of the relevant regulatory schemes. It thus focuses on the referenda concerning water supply services that took place in Italy and Germany. Plus, it studies local government decisions on the matter in the context of a debate regarding public companies, as in France. Secondly, the present paper gives an overview of the current water regulatory framework at European level. Directive 2000/60/EC gives a peculiar definition of water as a heritage rather than a commercial product as any other. Directive 2014/23/EU excludes water sector from the scope of the new concession regulatory scheme, given that water is a public good of fundamental value to all Union citizens. Besides, Directive 2014/25/EU clearly states that no by no means Member States are obliged to externalize the provision of water services, if they prefer to organize them in ways alternative to procurement. Eventually, the present article stresses out the new favourable background for re-publicisation processes set forth by the current European Union law.     

The economic impact of water tax charges in China: a static computable general equilibrium analysis

This paper presents a static computable general equilibrium model of the Chinese economy with water as an explicit factor of production. This model is used to assess the broad economic impact of a policy based on water demand management, using water tax charges as a policy-setting tool. It suggests that imposing water taxes can redistribute sectoral water use and lead to shifts in production, consumption, value added, and trade patterns. Another important finding is that water taxes imposed on the agricultural sector drive most of the effects.     

Water Management in the Mediterranean Region: Concepts and Policies

The Mediterranean Region exhibits significant contrasts in its demographic and hydrologic features that have shaped the water management policies of the Mediterranean countries. Although awareness is raising with respect to sustainable water management, the extent to which it is applied in practice is debatable. Use conflicts and non-renewable water extraction in water scarce part of the region like the Southern and Eastern rim countries are exposed as overriding management issues. Furthermore climatic variations are superimposed on natural hydro-stress and water dependency on external resources in most of the cases. Decision-making process needs measurable, comparable and reliable tools in order to be able to make trade-offs when facing conflicting issues. Indicators are valuable tools for understanding the trends and challenges encountered in water resources management. The Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention adopted, in November 2005, the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD). Integrated water resources and demand management constitute the first priority among the range of actions of the adopted strategy. Increasing efficiency by reducing losses and wasteful use is expected to help stabilise water demand in the Southern and Eastern part of the Mediterranean countries. In this paper, an assessment of the existing water management concepts and policies in Mediterranean countries will be presented based on sustainable development indicators related to water management.     

Interactive management of transboundary waters on the external European Union border.

The paper addresses issues specific to planning of water protection measures in transboundary water basins located on the external European Union border. The case study of the Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe, a large transboundary lake shared by Estonia and Russia, is used to demonstrate issues of management of transboundary waters on the Eastern European fringe. The author emphasizes the importance of managing transboundary water basins located on the EU external borders interactively, i.e., through regular communication and consultation among water experts, decision-makers and stakeholders involved in managing waters on transboundary, national and subbasin levels, and discusses difficulties in, and opportunities for, the interactive management of transboundary waters on the EU external borders.     

Potential Significance of the EU Water Framework Directive to China

The European Union Water Framework Directive (EU WFD) is a unique piece of legislation, which may be of great significance to on-going reforms of the water sector in China. First and foremost it unites 27 European member states behind a common goal, which is “to achieve good chemical and ecological status” of all water bodies across the EU. Other significant characteristics of the EU WFD are that (1) it sets a clear timeframe with a number of time-bound actions for member states to achieve the goal, but leaves it to member states to achieve this goal in a decentralised process, which makes allowance for the different socio-economic conditions, (2) it defines the river basin as the management unit for water thus departing with the traditional fragmented management by administrative units and it appoints a single competent authority for water management within each river basin, thus facilitating resolution of sector conflicts, (3) it requires a financial and economic analysis of the costs of implementing the EU WFD to enable decision makers to assess whether the required improvements are affordable to government and to the population within the river basin, and (4) it requires a structured process for information and consultation with stakeholders and the public throughout the planning and implementation process.     

Estimating the Potential Impacts of Irrigation Water Pricing Using Multicriteria Decision Making Modelling. An Application to Northern Greece

A great challenge of the current European water policy is the implementation of volumetric water pricing in the agricultural sector, especially of Mediterranean countries, where irrigation is a necessary precondition of agricultural production and farmers’ income, but also the major consumer of water. The overall aim of the present work is to develop a methodology that will be suitable for the estimation of the potential environmental, economic and social impacts of irrigation water pricing. For this purpose, Multi-Attribute Utility Theory is implemented in order to simulate agricultural decision making at various water pricing scenarios. Water demand functions are then elicited, by means of the best crop and water allocation (farmers’ decisions) in each scenario. The European Water Framework Directive recommends that any issue concerning water resources management (including water pricing policies) should be developed at the river basin level. In this framework, a cluster analysis is performed to partition the river basin area (namely, Loudias River Basin, located in Northern Greece) into a small number of homogeneous sub-regions. The differential impact of water pricing in each region is then analyzed, and finally, an average water demand function is formulated for the whole river basin.     

PROJECTED FLOW ALTERATION AND ECOLOGICAL RISK FOR PAN‐EUROPEAN RIVERS

Projection of future changes in river flow regimes and their impact on river ecosystem health is a major research challenge. This paper assesses the implications of projected future shifts in river flows on in‐stream and riparian ecosystems at the pan‐European scale by developing a new methodology to quantify ecological risk due to flow alteration (ERFA). The river network was modelled as 33 668 cells (5′ longitude × 5′ latitude). For each cell, modelled monthly flows were generated for an ensemble of 10 scenarios for the 2050s and for the study baseline (naturalized flows for 1961–1990). These future scenarios consist of combinations of two climate scenarios and four socio‐economic water‐use scenarios (with a main driver of economy, policy, security or sustainability). Environmental flow implications are assessed using the new ERFA methodology, based on a set of monthly flow regime indicators (MFRIs). Differences in MFRIs between scenarios and baseline are calculated to derive ERFA classes (no, low, medium and high risk), which are based on the number of indicators significantly different from the baseline. ERFA classes are presented as colour‐coded pan‐European maps. Results are consistent between scenarios and show that European river ecosystems are under significant threat with about two‐thirds at medium or high risk of change. Four main zones were identified (from highest to lowest risk severity): (i) Mediterranean rim, southwest part of Eastern Europe and Western Asia; (ii) Northern Europe and northeast part of Eastern Europe; (iii) Western and Eastern Europe; and (iv) inland North Africa. Patterns of flow alteration risk are driven by climate‐induced change, with socio‐economics as a secondary factor. These flow alterations could be manifested as changes to species and communities, and loss of current ecosystem functions and services. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中欧水资源交流平台

中欧水资源交流平台将成为中国-欧盟流域管理项目取得的主要成果之一,旨在2012年7月中国-欧盟流域管理项目期满后,保持中国与欧盟、欧盟成员国与欧洲其他相关国家之间在水资源政策、管理、研究及技术方面的对话交流。中欧水资源交流平台将于2012年3月在法国马赛召开的第六届世界水资源论坛上正式启动。     

用水变化动态结构分解分析模型研究Ⅱ:应用

根据前文提出的用水变化动态结构分解分析(SDA)模型,本文以1997—2007年中国用水为例,编制了中国15个部门水资源投入产出系列表,并对行业用水变化进行结构分解。验证参数和路径结果表明,该模型满足唯一性要求,各因子时间路径模拟效果很好,确保了结果的可靠性。模型成功分解较长期的(11年)用水变化过程并获得了动态化结果。分析结果表明,消费水平是各行业用水增长最重要的驱动力,而节水技术水平和最终需求结构对用水增长具有较强的抑制作用。三者在2002年前后的总体影响比例范围分别为:43.9%~44.2%、32.0%~39.1%和9.2%~18.6%。消费水平与最终需求结构的拉动作用促使第三产业用水增量最大。人口规模和经济系统效率对用水的影响相对较弱。实例研究表明,该模型能有效分解分析部门用水的长期变化,具有良好的适用性。     

Urban wastewater development in Central and Eastern Europe

In the early nineties the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE, more than 1 million km2 and 100 million inhabitants) went through fundamental political, economic and social changes which eventually led to the European integration process. This positively influenced urban water and wastewater management , which had an unbalanced structure and rather low level of development. The paper outlines first the 1990 situation (water supply, sewerage and wastewater treatment (WWT)) and the infrastructure development of the last two decades, on the basis of a comprehensive data collection for six countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia). Austria serves as a reference basis. Alterations of some of the drivers such as GDP (Gross Domestic Product), water tariff, investment funding and legislation are studied in detail. Then, the paper focuses on WWT by analyzing data of 20 large plants. Influent and effluent quality is evaluated. Technology indicators are estimated and assessed. They include plant removal rates and violation ratios assuming the application of the Urban Wastewater Directive, primary clarifier removal rates, actual anoxic volume and sludge age in comparison with the recommendations of the ATV guideline, criteria of secondary settling tanks and energy consumption. Finally, nutrient removal rates and upgrading options are outlined.     

Exporting water from the desert? An analysis of the virtual water content of Saudi Arabian agricultural exports

This study applies input-output analysis to evaluate and trace Saudi Arabia’s virtual water exports arising from exports of agricultural products. Saudi Arabia’s total virtual exports in 2011 were around 2.42 km³, mainly to neighbouring Arab countries. This amount is enough to meet the water demand of the country’s entire population. Agricultural exports seem economically beneficial only because they rely on groundwater; however, since the indirect cost of desalinating equivalent amounts of water for domestic purposes is much higher, a better strategy would have been to direct those water resources towards domestic needs.     

Regional Socio-economic and Environmental Changes and their Impacts on Water Resources on Example of Odra and Elbe Basins

During the last two decades significant socio-economic and environmental changes took place in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including collapse of the old socio-economic systems and climate change. The main objective of the paper is to analyse changes in water resources in the region and to relate them either to ongoing climate change or to socio-economic changes in the region, where possible. Two basins located in the Eastern part of Germany and in the Western part of Poland were taken as case study areas. An attempt to compare changes of water resources triggered by socio-economic and environmental (therein climate) changes was undertaken, including quantitative assessment of relative magnitudes of impacts, where feasible. The impacts on both water quantity and water quality aspects were investigated, considering changes in river discharge, groundwater dynamics, water demand, point and non-point source pollution in both basins under study. Where necessary, the analysis of data was supported by modelling results. The analysis reported confirms that until now the changes in socio-economic systems have impacted regional water resources in a more significant way than the climate change. However, the impacts of climate change on water resources in the study regions are likely to increase in the future, warmer climate, as projected by the existing scenarios.     

An assessment of the Spanish national hydrological plan

The paper is a comprehensive review of the Spanish National Hydrological Plan, which proposes to transfer water from the lower part of the Ebro River up to the Levante basins, around 912 km away. The National Hydrological Plan is a conventional, static plan, which focuses primarily on supply management. The plan is based on the explicit assumption that the world will change only incrementally during its entire economic life of 100-200 years. The analysis indicates that much of the increased water demands forecasted are unlikely to materialize due to increasing emphasis on demand management practices, major structural changes in the agricultural sector that will occur by 2020 and the requirements of the Water Directive of the European Union, which must be fulfilled by 2010. Even now, the cost per cubic metre of water delivered at the end of the transfer is nearly twice the cost of desalinated water. The National Hydrological Plan in its present form cannot be justified for economic, environmental and social reasons. In addition, the plan will not be necessary if demand management practices are implemented.     

Are the Consumers Always Ready to Pay? A Quasi-Almost Ideal Demand System for the Italian Water Sector

Although drinking water amounts to 1.03% of the total water available daily for Italian consumers, this service is not easily replaced with other goods. Water is a basic need, and its consumption should be ensured for everyone. Yet the scarcity of this resource implies that any loss should be strongly discouraged. These countervailing incentives regarding water consumption should be considered by the regulator when determining the optimal final tariff. I estimate a complete quasi—almost ideal demand system using Italian households data from 1999 to 2005 in order to verify the effects—on different types of Italian consumers—of a 1% rise in water tariffs. First, the results demonstrate that the mean of water elasticity (with respect to price and income) for Italian consumers is aligned with consumers in other European countries. Second, the paper establishes that a rise in the water tariff leads to a small contraction in expenditures on personal care and non essential goods. Finally, this paper shows that a change in the water tariff affects senior citizens and the population of southern Italy more than other consumer types. The regulator should consider all these effects when determining the final pricing policy.     

Water Use and Climate Stressors in a Multiuser River Basin Setting: Who Benefits from Adaptation?

Adapting to new climate conditions will require an intricate mix of knowledge, planning, coordination, and foresight. There is increasing sectoral evidence on the implementation of successful adaptation actions. However, the success of these actions when we consider the interdependencies among sectors remains debatable. This paper aims to assess who benefits from implementing adaptation options in a multiuser river basin to both climate-induced and demographic stress on water use. Our analysis relies on a hydro-economic model that considers two sets of water users: agriculture and urban households. We innovate in our modelling approach by analyzing and explicitly integrating the household-level economic behavior through its water demand. We assess the cross-user consequences of autonomous and planned adaptation actions. We provide insights into the different trade-offs at the basin level, demonstrating the compatibilities and divergences between agriculture and household-level water demand. We found different consequences of implementing either autonomous or planned adaptation measures. For instance, a decentralized scheme would drive negative implications for the entire basin, although the less water-intensive sector will be better off. On the other hand, different policy interventions would drive positive consequences for the entire basin, with the most water-intensive sector benefiting the most. These results highlight the distributional consequences across users of different adaptation measures.

     

水生态文明建设背景下长江经济带水足迹变化研究

水生态文明是生态文明的重要组成和基础保障。在水生态文明建设背景下,调查2007年、2012年和2017年长江经济带各省市生产、生活、生态用水量和进出口贸易等数据,核算区域水足迹总量构成及变化,分析区域水足迹供需结构演变,评价区域水资源压力和用水效率。结果表明,水生态文明建设后,长江经济带水足迹增速下降明显,水足迹总量得到了有效控制,其中中部三省的节水效果最为明显。水足迹存在明显的人口和经济规模效应。农业用水是水足迹的主体部分,生态用水所占比重较小,虚拟水贸易的消减效应逐渐减弱。工业用水的节水效应较为明显,而农业和生活用水的效率需进一步提高。区域水资源以自给为主,东部省市水资源进口依赖度高于西部和中部省市。区域水资源需求量稳中有升,需求结构保持相对平稳。区域水资源压力总体较小,水资源承压情况由西向东逐渐增加。区域用水效率逐步提升,中部和西部省市用水效率明显改善。该研究能够作为最严格水资源管理制度“三条红线”的补充,为长江经济带水资源开发利用和保护提供参照。     

Estimating Water Rights Demand and Supply: Are Non-market Factors Important?

Water rights demand and supply in the upper Maipo river basin (Metropolitan Region of Chile) are estimated for the period July 1998 to June 2003, as well as a reduced form model for the equilibrium water rights price based on supply and demand determinants, as well as characteristics of the participating agents such as the economic sector of each agent and their individual market experience. Results show that the main participants in the market are both agriculture and real estate sectors (developers); agriculture buying 57 % and selling 68 % of transactions. The estimated supply and demand system shows that market forces indeed drive market water right prices. Demand is inelastic to price while supply is highly elastic. Furthermore, supplied and demanded water rights quantities are functions of water right price as well as the economic sector of buyer and sellers, sectoral profits, and geographic location of the water right. Additionally, the agent’s previous water rights market-experience is an important determinant of water rights demands and supply.     

Coping with Urban & Agriculture Water Demand Uncertainty in Water Management Plan Design: the Interest of Participatory Scenario Analysis

Managing water scarcity is a major challenge for regions all over the world. In the European Union, robust methodologies are needed to establish effective programmes of measures aimed at achieving the “good status” of water bodies according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD). These programmes often target the current gap between the actual status of water bodies and the “good” status without accounting for uncertainty in water demand. We develop a new methodological framework that enable to account for uncertainty in future water demand and design programmes in order to increase their likelihood of attaining the good quantitative status. The foresight approach enables to construct and quantify future water demand scenarios hand-in-hand with stakeholders during workshops. They consist in identifying drivers, debating pre-constructed scenarios, reconstructing scenarios and estimating water demand. The impact of the co-constructed scenarios is simulated with a resource-demand balance model for all water resources and a cost-effectiveness analysis makes it possible to construct programmes that target the estimated future water deficits at least cost. The methodology is illustrated with an application to Reunion Island (Indian Ocean, France) considering agriculture (Ag) and urban water (Uw) demand. Three combinations of sector scenarios (Uw, Ag) were produced and coherence was eventually ensured by fitting the land use parameter. This solution can accommodate case studies faced with a binding land constraint for housing and agriculture. As each scenario implies significantly different programmes of measure in terms of intensity and spatial distribution, results demonstrate the importance of taking uncertainty on water demand into account.     

Flood hazard maps in the European context

The implementation of the EU Floods Directive by water authorities across Europe has generated a lack of consistency in the present situation, especially regarding the scales adopted, the hydrological scenarios and the elements represented on flood hazard and risk maps. From the EU-funded project HYTECH, this article presents a general overview of Floods Directive implementation in eight European countries, highlighting the differences between them, with particular attention to flood hazard maps. For the implementation cycle that started at the beginning of 2016, a minimization of such differences is necessary in order to manage flood risk in a better and more integrated way.