Easier Said Than Done? The Establishment of Baseline Groundwater Conditions for the Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Spain

The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires EU countries to achieve good status of all their waters by 2015. This should be achieved through the implementation of river basin management plans (RBMPs), which in turn are based on water resources baseline data. While it is too soon to assess the WFD effectiveness, the planning process has contributed to identify possible pitfalls of the WFD design and has provided an opportunity to enhance the knowledge of European water resources. Groundwater plays a strategic role in Spain’s economy and also in the maintenance of its aquatic ecosystems, making that country an excellent testing ground for getting an insight into the definition of baseline groundwater under the WFD mandate. This paper presents the results of compiling the information produced for the RBMPs to attain an overall picture at a national scale. In doing so, it examines some of the methodological and technical choices involved in the definition of a baseline for groundwater, assessing their practical consequences on groundwater management. This paper argues that having baseline figures for the RBMPs required compromises or shortcuts to be taken. Undoubtedly, the process leading to the first WFD Plans has been an extremely enriching learning process, but it leaves questions unanswered. The periodic (6 year) RBMP revision should become an opportunity to revisit and better tune the baseline conditions established during this first planning cycle.     

Implementing the EU Water Framework Directive: Experiences of Participatory Planning in the Ribble Basin,North West England

Abstract

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is potentially the most significant piece of water management legislation to be developed by the European Union (EU) in the last forty years. Whilst water legislation is already regarded by many people as the ‘gold plating’ of EU environmental policy, many of the previous regulations and policies have focussed on specific point and non-point source water quality problems and have stipulated stringent standards to be achieved within specified time limits. In sharp contrast, the WFD aims to establish a planning and management framework for sustainable use of water and the ecological restoration of entire river systems, many of which do not fit neatly within the political or administrative boundaries of the Member States. Public participation in planning and management decisions is a key aspect of the WFD. This paper describes the specific requirements of the WFD for public participation and examines their implementation in the Ribble basin in North West England. The Ribble is part of a EU river basin network designed to test the WFD implementation guidelines issued by the European Commission. Particular challenges associated with engaging stakeholders in WFD implementation are highlighted and recommendations for future practice are offered.     

The Participatory Regime of Water Governance in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

Transparency and public participation are important ingredients to achieve effective water governance. Since the Rio Conference, diverse international instruments advocate access to information and public participation in river basin management. At the European Union level, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) establishes specific obligations for member states to include the public in the planning and management of river basins processes. In addition, the WFD Guideline on Public Participation includes three forms of public participation: active involvement, consultation, and provision of information. At the present moment, Spain has a legal and institutional framework that allows a very limited participatory process: only water users holding an economic stake can participate in the management of Spanish river basins. Concerning transparency, the law establishes the right to accede to information but this right has two different levels: for the general public and for water users. In the Iberian shared river basins regulated by the 1998 Luso-Spanish Convention, mechanisms allowing public participation in the terms of the WFD are not in place yet. It is necessary to reform the legal and institutional framework to facilitate real participation and to achieve effective water governance.     

Identification of significant pressures and impacts upon receiving waters.

This study gives a review on the process of identification of significant pressures and impacts, which is an important part of river basin planning and in particular for implementing the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC). The questions: what is a "significant pressure" in terms of the WFD? which sources and driving forces have to be regarded? which data can be used? which pressure on a water body is significant? and which implications and requirements result from the identification process?--should be considered. The European Commission requires reporting from all Member States about the status of the water bodies within a river basin district and about the risk of failing the environmental objectives by the end of 2004. Therefore, a number of prevailing projects across Europe aim to develop a guideline on a common understanding of the most effective approach towards the identification of significant anthropogenic pressures, and the analysis of potential impacts including the identification of appropriate tools and models. In such a guideline suitable and intelligent criteria have to be developed in order to enable a uniform assessment of the anthropogenic pressures within a river basin district.     

Integrated modelling of nitrate loads to coastal waters and land rent applied to catchment-scale water management.

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires an integrated approach to river basin management in order to meet environmental and ecological objectives. This paper presents concepts and full-scale application of an integrated modelling framework. The Ringkoebing Fjord basin is characterized by intensive agricultural production and leakage of nitrate constitute a major pollution problem with respect groundwater aquifers (drinking water), fresh surface water systems (water quality of lakes) and coastal receiving waters (eutrophication). The case study presented illustrates an advanced modelling approach applied in river basin management. Point sources (e.g. sewage treatment plant discharges) and distributed diffuse sources (nitrate leakage) are included to provide a modelling tool capable of simulating pollution transport from source to recipient to analyse the effects of specific, localized basin water management plans. The paper also includes a land rent modelling approach which can be used to choose the most cost-effective measures and the location of these measures. As a forerunner to the use of basin-scale models in WFD basin water management plans this project demonstrates the potential and limitations of comprehensive, integrated modelling tools.     

Disentangling Water Usage in the European Union: A Decomposition Analysis

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) defines common objectives for water resources throughout the European Union (EU). Given this general approach to water preservation and water policy, the objective of this paper is to analyse whether common patterns of water consumption exist within Europe. In particular, our study uses two methods to reveal the reasons behind sectoral water use in all EU countries. The first method is based on an accounting indicator that calculates the water intensity of an economy as the sum of sectoral water intensities. The second method is a subsystem input-output model that divides total water use into different income channels within the production system. The application uses data for the years 2005 and 2009 on water consumption in the production system of the 27 countries of the EU. From our analysis it emerges that EU countries are characterized by very different patterns of water consumption. In particular water consumption by the agriculture sector is extremely high in Central/Eastern Europe, relative to the rest of Europe. In most countries, the water used by the fuel, power and water sector is consumed to satisfy domestic final demand. However, our analysis shows that for some countries exports from this sector are an important driver of water consumption. Focusing on the agricultural sector, the decomposition analysis suggests that water usage in Mediterranean countries is mainly driven by final demand for, and exports of, agricultural products. In Central/Eastern Europe domestic final demand is the main driver of water consumption, but in this region the proportion of water use driven by demand for exports is increasing over time. Given these heterogeneous water consumption patterns, our analysis suggests that Mediterranean and Central/Eastern European countries should adopt specific water policies in order to achieve efficient levels of water consumption in the European Union.     

Public Participation in European Water Management: from Theory to Practice

Public and stakeholder participation in water management is a crucial element in the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Theoretically, the WFD identifies several advantages of public participation, such as the better use of knowledge and experiences from different stakeholders, increases in public acceptance and reduced litigation, delays, and inefficiencies in implementation. However, few studies have gone as deep, in practical terms, as the existing difficulty to introduce public participation in water management. The aim of this study was to cover this issue. It aims to conduct a literature review on public participation looking for successful social innovation experiences by the EU member states and also for the main limitations and difficulties of implementation detailing the study of the Spanish case.     

Water Quantity and Quality Models Applied to the Jucar River Basin,Spain

Traditionally, water quality modelling has focused on modelling individual water bodies. However, water quality management problems must be analyzed at the basin scale. European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires introducing physical, chemical and biological aspects into the management of water resources systems. Water quality modelling at a basin scale presents the advantage of incorporating in a dynamic way the relationships between the different elements and water bodies. Currently, there are few tools to deal with water modelling of water quality and management at the basin scale. This paper presents the development of a water quantity model and a water quality model for a very complex water resources system: the Júcar River Basin (Spain). The basin is characterized by a high degree of use of the water and by many water problems related to point and diffuse pollution, on top of a complex water quantity management of the basin. To deal with this problem, SIMGES (water allocation) and GESCAL (water quality) basin scale models have been used. Both are part of the Decision Support System AQUATOOL, one of the main instruments used in Spain in order to analyze water quantity and quality aspects of water resources systems for the compliance with WFD, as shown for the case of study.     

A SDSS-based Ecological-economic Modelling Approach for Integrated River Basin Management on Different Scale Levels – The Project FLUMAGIS

Spatial and planning support for the implementation of the European water framework directive (WFD) requires interdisciplinary approaches for assessment, deficit analysis, and scenario investigation. To support the implementation of the WFD, the paper presents the innovative spatial decision support system (SDSS) approach from the FLUMAGIS project which is based on the integration of methods for ecological and socio-economic assessment, scale-specific modelling, knowledge processing and techniques for visualization. The project has developed an interactive tool for the assessment and (three-dimensional) visualization of the hydrological and ecological conditions in river basins and economic aspects of river basin management measures. The tool is designed to increase awareness of catchment scale hydrological and ecological issues. The paper presents the structure of the FLUMAGIS prototype and provides examples of scale-specific recommendations for management measures to improve water quality and hydrologic conditions in the Upper Ems river basin (Northwest Germany).     

The WFD Implementation in the European Member States

The Water Framework Directive (WFD), one of the most influential pieces of European water legislation, presents a general framework for integrated river basin management in Europe to meet the environmental objectives. More than 16 years after the WFD adoption and after the end of the first management cycle (in 2015), it is time for a screening assessment of the implementation of the WFD in the different Member States (MSs). This article provides a global overview about the evolution of WFD implementation in MSs, highlighting the progression of the European water bodies status, as well as, some of the main challenges of WFD implementation: ecological flows, pricing policies/economic analysis, climate change, exemptions, public participation and transboundary issues. The paper examines these different topic, drawing up their situation in different MSs. For that purpose, not only the foreseen second cycle of the River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) is analysed as also, at a larger scale, the expectations and challenges for the future set by the WFD are examined.     

Towards a rights-based approach in EU international river basin governance? Lessons from the Scheldt and Ems Basins

ABSTRACT

This article finds that the introduction of a rights-based approach in EU transboundary river basin management to remedy observed systemic difficulties and to better achieve legal water quality standards could be a next step in achieving integrated river basin management. However, its effectiveness largely depends on the willingness of member states to share river basin districts to subordinate their separate socio-economic interests to ecological needs, as well as to grant a clear mandate and partly transfer responsibilities and powers to a competent supranational authority.     

European Union policy for improving drought preparedness and mitigation

The European Water Framework Directive 2000/60 (WFD), does not appear fully adequate to address drought risk. A Group on Drought and Water Scarcity has developed some proposals to improve the strategy for coping with drought and water scarcity issues. The main proposal consists in supplementing the River Basin Management indicated by the WFD with a specific Drought Management (sub)Plan aimed at minimizing the negative drought impacts on the economy, society and the environment. Also a list of indicators to identify prolonged droughts which permit a temporary suspension of the requirements of good ecological status in water bodies has been proposed. Some specific recommendations that the EU should issue to national governments, are discussed. Several criteria are suggested to achieve an effective drought management strategy.     

中、美流域水资源管理机制比较

萨斯奎哈纳流域管理委员会的委员由美国联邦政府和其流域内纽约、宾夕法尼亚、马里兰三个州的代表组成。在《萨斯奎哈纳流域协议》（联邦法律）的授权下。该委员会有权处理流域内的任何水资源问题。相比之下．国内的流域机构没有流域内省（自治区、直辖市）的代表作为委员，流域水行政管理的职能还不能满足流域内社会经济发展的实际需要。因此，形成和完善以流域为单元的水资源管理法律框架是有效保护、开发和管理流域水资源的基础，建立包括流域内省（自治区、直辖市）为代表的流域管理委员会可以提供一个有代表性、长效的管理机构。流域管理委员会应着重加强流域水资源保护、开发和管理的综合规划，注重流域的公共利益和社会服务．重视水质、湿地、洄游鱼类、珍稀物种和文化遗产保护．切实担当起河流代言人和保护神的角色。     

Lake management in Italy: the implications of the Water Framework Directive

This paper constitutes the first consideration of the implications of the lake management in Italy arising from the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), in comparison to the provisions of existing national legislation. As a matter of fact, the Italian decrees anticipated the principles of the WFD and have substantially modified the legislation in the field of water in Italy. Important changes were introduced, both in the monitoring systems and in the classification methods for surface waters. The environmental quality status will be determined not only by monitoring the aqueous matrix, but also the sediment and the biota. The new WFD is the major piece of European Union (EU) legislation with environment at its core; it will guide the efforts for attaining a sustainable aquatic environment in the years to come. In the WFD one can see elements from all the different forces that guided the reform of EU water policy: environmental protection, deregulation and subsidiarity. Moreover, elements of the economic instruments approach (introduction of the cost recovery principle), quantitative concerns (setting of minimum flow objectives for rivers and abstraction limits for ground waters) and the quest for integration (river basin management with representation of all stakeholders) are all reflected in the WFD. The paper summarizes the present condition of the most important lakes in the Italian lake district and also highlights the case of Lake Varese, representing a unique case of lake management in Italy. Preliminary results show that there are very few examples dealing with the elements thought appropriate to lake water assessment as required by the WFD. The application of the objectives of the type specified is a largely unknown issue.     

Towards good ecological status of surface waters in Europe--interpretation and harmonisation of the concept.

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is a new legislative framework to manage, use, protect, and restore surface water and groundwater resources and coastal waters in the European Union (EU). The aim is to ensure sustainable water management and to reach good water quality by 2015. The assessment of the ecological status and setting of the practical management goals require several steps. The process has started with the characterisation of the river basins including identification of surface water bodies and types, and identification of significant anthropogenic pressures and impacts. The water bodies will be classified in five quality classes (high, good, moderate, poor, bad) based on the Ecological Quality Ratio, which is a ratio between reference conditions and measured status of the biological quality elements. The normative criteria for high, good and moderate ecological status described in the WFD need to be made operational because those will be used to set the practical quality targets for surface water management. National ecological assessment systems and classifications will be harmonised through the WFD intercalibration exercise in order to ensure an equal level of ambition in achieving good surface waters status all over Europe.     

Participatory dam systems modelling: a case study of the transboundary Guadiana River in the Iberian Peninsula.

Modelling tools have been widely used to investigate best management practices. But in contrast to the plethora of modelling studies, the practical implementation of outcomes is comparatively small. There is an urgent need to implement results and to show the practical validation of the concept developed, especially against the context of water stress mitigation. The participative development of modelling studies as a joint effort of stakeholders and modellers is seen as a key to achieve a wider identification, acceptance, trust and applicability of results. Participatory planning in the water sector is also increasingly requested in water management, where tasks have been for clarified decades through different institutional arrangements and national laws. Stakeholder involvement in water resources management have been limited to what was long time seen as participation, merely information on action to be taken. In the last decade the need for participation has been reflected in different ways. In Europe, the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) under Art. 14, requires all the European countries to involve stakeholders in decision making processes on water resource management. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the research framework and possible results of investigating dam modelling through participatory systems modelling. We introduce a structured approach to use participatory modelling (PM) for stimulating the integration of modelling and decision making, also as a way of implementation of some articles of the WFD. The results and the framing of this paper are part of the AQUASTRESS Project. The conceptual modelling has been developed by a multidisciplinary research team, local stakeholders and local experts. Some results are discussed and recommendations made.     

Analysis and evaluation of large‐scale river restoration planning in Germany to better link river research and management

In December 2008, the draft programmes of measures (PoM) have been published in the EU member states, which list the measures that will be taken to enhance the ecological status of surface and groundwater bodies, and to reach the environmental objectives of the EU‐Water Framework Directive (WFD). We have analysed the German PoM to identify the main pressures and the restoration measures water managers planned to implement in streams and rivers. The objective was to evaluate the PoM and to identify the main, practically relevant knowledge gaps in river management on which applied river research should focus on. In general, the selection of measures in the PoM was reasonable. In accordance with the analysis of pressures and impacts in Germany, the PoM focussed on measures addressing morphological alterations and river continuity, and the results indicated that diffuse source pollution and fine sediment input were additional main pressures in Central European streams and rivers. Although point source pollution was not a main pressure in most rivers, respective point source measures have been selected for many water bodies. Apparently, these were so‐called basic measures that have to be taken due to other EU‐Directives or national laws. Therefore, although in line with the WFD, it seemed doubtful if the point source measures would help to substantially enhance the ecological status. Furthermore, the results indicated that there was a general lack of knowledge on the effect of restoration measures and a specific knowledge gap in how to enhance the ecological state of heavily modified water bodies (HMWB) in the lowland region with a high land‐use pressure, which was reflected by the high share of water bodies for which conceptual measures have been selected (e.g. developing management plans). Based on the analysis of the PoM and a literature review, we identified the following, practically relevant knowledge gaps in river management: (i) the morphodynamics of river reaches where natural channel dynamics have been restored, (ii) the combined effect of measures addressing diffuse nutrient and fine sediment input at different spatial scales (e.g. riparian buffer strips and land‐use changes), (iii) methods to identify suitable and efficient measures and to define environmental objectives for HMWB and (iv) the effect of measures on less well‐studied biological groups like macrophytes and phytoplankton. There is a strong need to summarize recent research results on these issues, to identify the knowledge gaps and research needs in detail, and to make the results of such a comprehensive literature review or meta‐analysis available for the next 6‐year management cycle and second WFD management plans. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Model-Supported Impact Assessment for the Water Sector in Central Germany Under Climate Change—A Case Study

Climate change challenges water managers and researchers to find sustainable management solutions, in order to avoid undesirable impacts on water resources, environment and water-dependent sectors. Needed are projections into the future for the main driving forces, the resulting pressures on water resources, and quantification of the impacts. Modeling studies can play an important role in investigating, quantifying, and communicating possible impacts of climate change, with account of uncertainty of the results. However, climate change related impacts and a need for adaptation still play a minor role in current river basin management plans that have to comply e.g. with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). One important reason is that climate impact assessment is generally done in research institutes, while management plans are designed by practitioners working in national and regional environmental agencies and water supply companies. Knowledge transfer from science to practice and visa versa is often missing. In the present study, we propose a methodology and a case study for model-supported decision making in the water sector applicable to a participatory water resources planning process. The methodology is applied in a case study investigating climate change impacts on water resources. The case study area is the German State of Saxony-Anhalt, where the task was to develop a climate change impact assessment including possible adaptation measures as basis for a federal adaptation directive.