Water is for life:

How the Water Framework Directive helps safeguard Europes resources

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CONTENTS
The importance of water What is the European Unions role? Human pressures on the quality of our waters and impacts on the environment The Water Framework Directive an EU water policy framework Environmental objectives: what is good ecological and chemical status? Defining and monitoring the status of surface andgroundwaters A framework for integrated international cooperation across the catchments and coastal areas Implementing the Water Framework Directive an ongoing process The Water Framework Directive sets out a clear timetable and status of implementation River basin management plans toolbox for integrated management of water Environmental objectives and exemptions A legal framework integrating relevant EU measures in the field of water legislation Implementation support Water information Further reading water.europa.eu/policy 4 6 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 21 24 24 24 25 5

The importance of water

Water is the key to life: a crucial resource for humanity and the rest of the living world. Everyone needs it and not just for drinking. Our rivers, lakes, coastal and marine waters as well as our groundwaters are valuable resources to protect. Society uses water to generate and sustain economic growth and prosperity, through activities such as farming, commercial shing, energy production, manufacturing, transport and tourism. Water is important in deciding where we settle and how we use land. Water can also be a source of geo-political conicts in particular where water shortages occur. For our own well-being, not only clean drinking water but also clean water for hygiene and sanitation is crucial. Water is also used for recreational activities such as bathing, shing or just for enjoying the beauty of coasts, rivers and lakes in nature. We expect clean rivers and coastal waters when we go on holiday, and we expect an unlimited supply on tap for showers and baths, washing machines and dishwashers. Water is at the core of natural ecosystems, and climate regulation. The hydrological cycle is the name for the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth, without beginning or end, changing through liquid, vapour and ice. Although the quantity of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time, the pattern of supply is particularly vulnerable to climate change. During the coming century, scientists warn of reduced access to safe drinking water, as glaciers melt away and drought becomes more frequent in areas like the Mediterranean. This in turn will diminish the supply of water for irrigation and food production. At the same time, rainfall and river ow patterns will change. More frequent ooding especially of increasingly populated ood plains will increase damage to homes, infrastructure and energy supply. Flash oods are expected to become more frequent across Europe. Increased temperatures and reduced availability of water will also reduce waters cooling capacity for industry and power plants. Water pollution and scarcity pose threats to human health and quality of life. But there are also wider ecological considerations. The free ow of water, unaected by pollution, is important to sustaining water-dependent ecosystems. A shortage of good-quality water damages aquatic, wetland and terrestrial environments, putting further pressure on ora and fauna that are already suering the impact of urbanisation and climate change. Experts have drawn attention to the value of the ecosystem services we obtain from the natural world. Water is both a provisioning service a basic material and one of the regulating services that governs climate and weather and keeps our planet functioning. The European Environment Agency estimates that wetlands around the world provide services, such as water purication and carbon absorption, which could be worth 2.5 billion a year. Although humanity has long realised its dependence on water, we in Europe are now also becoming more and more aware that the supply is not innite, and that we need to value it accordingly. Water must be managed and protected. It is not merely a consumer product, but a precious natural resource, vital to future generations as well as our own. Without water, no life can survive.

The Water Framework Directive protect areas used for abstraction of drinking water. Baduen, France

What is the European Unions role?

A river basin or a catchment covers the entire river system, from the sources of small tributaries to the estuary, including its groundwater. The EU and the Member States have divided the river basins and associated coastal areas into 110 river basin districts, 40 of which are international and cross borders, covering about 60% of EU territory. For example, the Vistula and Oder drain more than 95% of Polish territory. But rivers do not stop at national frontiers they ow on through dierent countries to reach the sea. All EU Member States apart from islands like Cyprus and Malta share waters with neighbouring countries. Catchment areas can be very large, or quite small. The Danubes international river basin district (IRBD), for example, is the largest in the EU, spanning 801 463 km and touching ten Member States and nine neighbouring countries. By contrast, the Hrault in the south of France covers 2 900 km. These waters can only be safeguarded if all the countries and regions involved work together and share the responsibility. That is why an EU framework for action in the eld of water policy is needed, and agreement and action at river basin district level is essential. Managing water resources is also a complex process, which involves many dierent players, such as dierent levels of government, dierent economic actors, and the public. Addressing all types of potentially polluting and damaging activities as well as all uses of water is therefore crucial. In 2000, the EU took a groundbreaking step when it adopted the Water Framework Directive, establishing a legal obligation to protect and restore the quality of waters across Europe. The Directive introduced an innovative approach to water management, based not on national administrative or political boundaries, but on natural geographical and hydrological formations: the river basins. It also requires coordination of dierent Community policies in a framework for action. Furthermore, it sets out a precise timetable for action, with 2015 as the target date for getting all EU waters into good condition.

Delta in the Sarek National Park, Sweden

Europes river basin districts (pink denotes international river basin district)
30W 20W 10W 0 10E 20E 30E 40E 50E 60E
Azores (PT)

National and International River Basin Districts

Submissions in accordance with Article 3 of the Water Framework Directive
Version 22/03/2007 National River Basin Districts (1) Loire (within EU27) National River Basin Districts (1) Agder (outside EU27) International River Basin Districts (2) Ems (within EU27) International River Basin Districts (3) (outside EU27)
an

100 km

Finnmark
FI NO

Madeira (PT)

Troms
FI

TenojokiNaatamojokiPaatsjoki RU Kemijoki
FI

ki ionjo Torn

RU

100 km

Coastal Waters(4) RBD boundary Country border EU27 boundary

60N
Map produced by WRc, UK on behalf of European Commission c , DG Environment, March 2007.

No

SE

SE

OulujokiIijoki

Tro Co end un ela tie g s

NO FI
0 100 km

Moere and Romsdal

Bothnian Sea
SE SE

Vuoksi
RU

Guadeloupe (FR)

Glomma
Hordaland, NO Sogn and Fjordane Buskerud, Vestfold and Telemark Agder Counties and Rogaland
O s lo

Aland

EE SE
Northern Baltic Sea West Estonia

North Sea
Northern Irish RBDs
1 North Western 2 Neagh Bann 3 North Eastern 4 Shannon Scotland

Ea st E
ia on st
EE RU

25 km

Skagerrak and
Southern Baltic Sea

Martinique (FR)
RU

Gauja
LV LV LT

Kattegat
Danish RBDs
1 4 2 3

LV LV

Venta Lielupe LT Baltic Sea

Jarft Swieza
PL PL

Da

ug

RU

a va
BY
0 25 km

4 UK
We ste rn

IE UK
1

UK
3

Solway Tweed Northumbria

th W

no

Wale

Western

South Western

Sh

Nor

IE

an

Humber

South Eastern

Eider Schlei/ Trave

DE NL

DE

PL

BY

Dee

Warnow/ Peene

DE

Ucker
PL

50N

Severn

Anglian

BY PL
Weser

NL
Thames

V i s t u l a
PL UA

South West

NL
South East

DE NL

DE

O d r a

100 km

FR

Me us

ldt BE he Sc Sambre BE
FR BE

e
DE

Elbe
PL CZ CZ
AT

Reunion (FR)

BE

LU

FR

R h i n e
DE

CZ SK SK

PL UA

Dniestr
UA
0 25 km

Seine
FR FR

Atlantic Ocean

Loire

AT CH FR CH AT CH

HU

MD

a
SI SI HR

b
RO

Malta

Eastern Alps IT

Po
Rh on e

Norte
ES

Basque country

RS BG
RS

Black Sea

Galicia ES

Adour-Garonne
FR

Adriatic
Serchio
n er s rth ine No pen Ap

BA

PT M
Ca v
ad o

ES

ES

RS

PT

40N

Vouga

Ebro
ES

ES

Corsica

D o u r o

Cata

lon

ia

Central Appenines

AL
Sou App thern enin es

C MK Mac entral edo MK nia

EL

East Aegean
BG
2 1
EL

BG

TR

EL

PT

ES
Sado
Alga

G u a d i a n a
A An tla da ntic lu cia

Jucar
Bale

PT
rv e

aric

Isla

nd s

Sardinia

Western Mac AL edonia AL Ep 5 4 iru s 6

EL

3 EL

7 10

8 9 14

Guadalquivir

Segura

Greek RBDs
Mediterranean Sea
Sicily 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

ntic ia Mediterranean Andalucia Atla aluc And

Malta

Thrace 11 12 Eastern Macedonia Central Macedonia Western Macedonia Epirus Thessalia Western Sterea Ellada Eastern Sterea Ellada Attica Northern Peloponnese Western Peloponnese Eastern Peloponnese Crete Aegean Islands

Cy

us pr

13

10E

20E

30E

Footnotes: 1) Map based largely on submissions of digital River Basin Districts (RBDs) from EU Member States and Norway. 2) Some of the international RBDs shown on this map were not identified as being international by the Member States, i.e. the Adour-Garonne, Rhone and Seine in France; the Vistula in Poland; the Kemijoki and Vuoksi in Finland. Both the German Eider and Schlei/Trave RBDs are shared with the Danish International RBD. Part of the Italian Eastern Alps RBD is shared with the Slovenian Adriatic RBD. It is understood that the Tornionjoki international RBD in Finland is shared with Sweden, most likely with part of the Bothnian Bay international RBD. As the Bothnian Bay covers several river catchments, the Tornionjoki and Bothnian Bay have been kept separate in this map. The delineation of the Finnmark RBD between Norway and Finland is currently under review. 3) These are the boundaries of the river catchments extending beyond the EU27 border. They have been derived from the Catchment Characterisation and Modelling (CCM) database, developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), except the boundaries for the Danube international RBD which were supplied by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). 4) Coastal waters are defined in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) as extending 1 nautical mile from the coastline. However, some Member States have included a larger part of their coastal waters within the RBD boundaries.

30N

100 200 300 400 km

40N

o inh

Black Sea

25 km

50N

Pr eg

es

IE
Ea
stern

1 Jutland and Funen 2 Zealand 3 Bornholm 4 Danish International RBD

RU
RURU

Nem
ola
PL

LT LT

RU

unas

French Guiana (FR)

60N

rdl

Bothnian Bay

Canaries (ES)

-Gulf ijoki K ym
of Finla
nd

injok mae SeaKoke pelagoSea Archithnian Bo

Em

ea eg tA es W

Human pressures on the quality of our waters and impacts on the environment
Signicant water management issues
With Within the EU, water is distributed unevenly due to geographical and cliuneve matic variations. Irelands lush greenery is the result of frequent rainfall sweeping in from the Atlantic, whereas Mediterranean countries can suer months of summer drought, creating the conditions for dangerous forest res. Europe is also starting to confront changed and intensied patterns of ooding, for instance ash oods. Expected sea level rise will put further pressure on coastal areas. Demand for water is growing everywhere: in the house and garden, for industry, agriculture and irrigation, leisure and tourism. In the south, rapid tourist development has increased pressure on water, leading to over-exploitation, and sometimes to desertication and salt-water intrusion in coastal freshwater zones. Pressures on water quality come mainly from households, industry, and agriculture, which uses and discharges polluting chemicals and nutrients. Key driving forces, for instance, are urban developments, ood defences, power generation (e.g. hydropower), navigation, recreation, wastewater discharge, coastal defences, freshwater shing, mining, and forestry. Water scarcity: Europe is not widely regarded as an arid continent, so it may be surprising to know that nearly half the EUs population lives in water-stressed countries, where the abstraction of water from existing freshwater sources is too high. Water scarcity aects 33 EU river basins. Pollution is another serious problem. Hazardous chemicals nd their way into European waters from a variety of point or diuse sources, including industrial plants, farmland, and landll sites. Endocrine disruptors are especially worrying as they can interfere with the hormonal

Key facts on water

In Europe: Only 30% of surface water and 25% of groundwater is not at serious risk from pollution and other changes 60% of European cities over-exploit their groundwater resources 50% of wetlands are endangered due to over-exploitation of groundwater Since 1985, the area of irrigated land in southern Europe has risen by 20%

systems of living organisms, including humans. Other pollutants include organophosphorus compounds, metals and materials in suspension. High concentrations of sewage or fertilisers in water systems can cause eutrophication, promoting the growth of weeds that disrupt normal ecosystems, deprive sh of oxygen and interfere with water treatment. Waters choked with algae turn cloudy and discoloured, losing their aesthetic appeal and recreational function as well as posing risks to health. There are signs of eutrophication in some 40% of European rivers and lakes, as well as coastal waters. Morphological changes such as the building of dams, reservoirs and irrigation systems can also cause damage by changing water levels, placing obstacles in the way of the natural ow of the rivers and thereby destroying ecosystems or cutting o natural ood plains from water courses. Other examples of ecological impacts are temperature changes, for instance due to the use of water for cooling purposes, and the increasing presence of alien species in our waters.
Pressure on water resources is increasing the risk of drought in some areas

Solving the problems

There is much that can be done to improve the quality and quantity of our water. Measures range from inuencing consumer behaviour so as to minimise the use of chemicals and save resources, to changing land use and agricultural practices governing crop choices and irrigation, pollution control, restoring wetlands, and other mitigation measures. The Water Framework Directive requires Member States to identify signicant water management issues and hold extensive consultations with the public and interested parties to identify rst the problems, and then the solutions, to be included in river basin management plans.

The Water Framework Directive an EU water policy framework

History
European water legislation dates back to the latter half of the 1970s, when the rst wave of laws set standards and targets for discharges of dangerous substances, drinking water, shing waters, shellsh waters, bathing waters and groundwater, designed to protect human health and the environment. A 1988 review identied gaps to be lled, leading to further measures obliging Member States to control sewage from urban areas, nitrogen fertilisers from farmland, and pollution from factories and industrial plants: 1991: Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and Nitrates Directive 1996: Directive for Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control (IPPC) 1998: Drinking Water Directive Nonetheless, it was becoming clear that the EU needed a more coherent approach to water policy. So the Commission launched an ambitious consultation process, gathering the opinions not only of Member States, the European Parliament and experts, but also of local and regional authorities, NGOs and environmentalists, industry and utility providers, community groups and individuals. The outcome was the 2000 Water Framework Directive (WFD), one of the most ambitious and comprehensive pieces of EU legislation ever. Subsequently, a number of acts have been adopted to complete the legal framework: on chemical pollution of surface waters, groundwater protection, and how to establish ecological status. Two other important pieces of legislation extend the scope of holistic and integrated water policy: the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC).

Main objectives
The Framework Directive is built on four main pillars: 1. Coordinated action to achieve good status for all EU waters, including surface and groundwater, by 2015. 2. Setting up a water-management system based on natural river basin districts, crossing regional and national boundaries. 3. Integrated water management, bringing dierent water management issues into one framework. 4. Active involvement of interested parties and consultation of the public. It covers groundwater and all surface waters including rivers, lakes, coastal waters and transitional waters, such as estuaries that connect fresh and saltwater. It sets a less ambitious objective good potential for articial and heavily modied bodies of water such as canals and reservoirs, or industrial ports. It also streamlines EU legislation by replacing seven of the rst wave Directives, and incorporating their provisions into a more coherent framework.

10

11

Environmental objectives: what is good ecological and chemical status?

T The denition of ecological status is based on the quality of the biolo logical community, naturally varying in dierent parts of the EU. It takes into acco account specic aspects such as the abundance of aquatic ora or sh fauna. Quality o elements aecting sh and aquatic ora, such as the availa ability of nutrients, as well as elements like salinity, temperature and pollution by other chemical pollutants have to be monitored. Importantly, morphological features like quantity, water ow, water depths and structures of the river beds are also part of what denes ecological status. The WFD classication scheme for surface water ecological status includes ve status categories: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. High status is dened as the biological, chemical and morphological conditions associated with no or very low human pressure. This is also called the reference condition as it is the best status achievable the benchmark. Reference conditions vary for dierent types of rivers, lakes or coastal waters. Quality is assessed by the extent of deviation from these reference conditions. Good status means slight deviation, moderate status means moderate deviation, and so on. According to the Article 5 reports (2004), a total of 70 000 surface water bodies were identied in the EU: 80% of them rivers, 15% lakes and 5% coastal and transitional waters. Member States can designate dierent water bodies along the same river, since the status of the water may change. The diagram below applies to a river with high-quality water at its source, which gradually becomes more polluted downstream.
High status Good status Moderate status

To dene good chemical status, environmental quality standards have been established for 33 new priority substances, and eight previously regulated substances, to be measured in water, sediment or biota. These are the chemical pollutants identied to be of high concern across the EU. In this context the WFD is backed up by other EU environmental legislation on pollution control, such as the REACH regulation and the IPPC. The Commission will regularly review the list of substances, and new substances may be added in the future. The rules for groundwater are slightly dierent. Member States must use geological data to identify distinct volumes of water in underground aquifers. Quantity is a major issue, and the law limits abstraction to a portion of the annual recharge. Groundwater should not be polluted at all, so the WFD adopts a precautionary approach to protecting groundwater from contamination by prohibiting direct discharges. Any increase in pollution must be detected and measures taken to prevent it. One of the Directives environmental objectives is that the status of water bodies shall not deteriorate.

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Dening and monitoring the status of surface and groundwaters

Monitoring is the main tool for gauging the status of waters. The WFD obliged Member States to set obl up or adapt monitoring procedures by December 2006. It is a complex task, comprising three elements: Surveillance monitoring tracks longterm trends Operational monitoring measures progress in improving water quality Investigative monitoring entails deeper research, for example on specic hazards. In addition, monitoring hydromorphology means tracing the physical shape and ow of river systems. Across the EU there are more than 54 000 surface-water monitoring stations, and over 51 000 for groundwater. However, the density varies considerably between Member States. To lay the foundations for comparing data, in 2003-2007, EU scientists undertook an intercalibration exercise. This uniquely ambitious and complex project sets the boundaries for good status, by making comparable results of dierent countries assessment systems.
-30 W -20 W -10 W 0 10 E 20 E 30 E 40 E 50 E 60 E

Surface water monitoring stations

Submissions in accordance with Article 8 of the Water Framework Directive
Version March 2009 River monitoring stations Lake monitoring stations Transitional water monitoring stations Coastal water monitoring stations No report
(1)

Azores (PT)

River Basin Districts (within EU27) Coastal waters

(4) (5)

(3) (3)
0 100 km

River Basin Districts (outside EU27) Country border EU27 extent

Madeira (PT)

c Map produced by WRc plc on behalf of the European Commission , DG Environment, 2009

100 km

Canaries (ES)

60 N

60 N
0 100 km

Guadeloupe (FR)

30 km

Martinique (FR)

25 km

50 N

French Guiana (FR)

50 N

100 km

Reunion (FR)

25 km

Malta
40 N

40 N
0 25 km

100

200

300

400 km 0 10 E 20 E 30 E

Footnotes:
(1) (2)

Greece has not reported on its monitoring programmes under Article 8. Malta has not reported on its surface water monitoring programmes under Article 8. The boundaries for all River Basin Districts are displayed using the WISE River Basin Districts dataset, available from the European Environment Agency: http://dataservice.eea.europa.eu/dataservice/metadetails.asp?id=1041. International and National River Basin Districts have been reported by EU Member States and Norway under Article 3 of the Water Framework Directive.
(4)

River catchments extending beyond the EU27 border have been derived from the Catchment Characterisation and Modelling (CCM) database, developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The boundaries for the Danube International RBD were supplied by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). Coastal waters are defined in the Water Framework Directive as extending 1 nautical mile from the coastline. However, some Member States have included a larger part of their coastal waters within the RBD boundaries. The country border data was provided by Eurostat and is derived from EGM at a scale of 1:3 million.

(3)

(5)

13

A framework for integrated international cooperation across the catchments and coastal areas
The river basin approach is the best and most cost-eective way to manage water. Longstanding international cooperation stan in the Elbe, Danube and Rhine basins where countries worked together to meet joint objectives has demonstrated its potential. Isolated measures to improve water quality cannot be successful without taking account of what happens upstream and downstream. Integrated river basin management adopts a holistic approach to protecting the whole body of water, its source, tributaries, delta and river mouth. It tackles pressures and risks through a coordinated strategy, generating solidarity and involving all the interested parties in decision-making. Indeed, public participation is a cornerstone of the WFD, so European citizens are playing a crucial role in planning and implementing measures. The Directive also links other important water-relevant policies into one integrated framework, covering issues such as industrial pollution, major accidents, and impact assessments.

Case study: the Danube River

The Danube river basin district illustrates the variety of waters within one river basin. It includes mountain streams in the Carpathians and the Alps, groundwater bodies, a vast delta, and the Black Sea coastal waters. International cooperation around this crucial waterway has a long tradition. The rst free navigation treaty was concluded in 1856, and in 1994, 14 countries and the EU got together to sign the International Convention on the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). The ICPDR published a river basin management plan for all of the Danube in December 2009 (http://www.icpdr. org/participate/danube_river_basin_management_plan), the so-called Roof Report for the river basin, and Parties to the Convention are expected to provide more detailed national plans. To prepare this, the ICPDR Secretariat based in Vienna (Austria) helped coordinate Danube-wide expert groups on issues such as river basin planning, pressures and measures, monitoring and assessment, information management, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and economics, as well as on oods. Key water management issues in the Danube are nutrient pollution as well as organic pollution. To tackle eutrophication the Danube plan proposed a basin-wide ban on phosphate in detergents, and in particular in the lower region, continued development of wastewater treatment is crucial. Morphological changes, to facilitate navigation, ood defence and power generation, are also causing a problem for migrating sh along the river, notably the sturgeon. The Danube is facing increasing problems with ooding, water scarcity and droughts too.

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Implementing the Water Framework Directive an ongoing process

The Directive is implemented through six-year recurring cycles, the rst of which covers the period 2009-2015. After the Directive came 200 into force, Member States had to dene their river basin districts geographically, and identify the authorities responsible for water management (2003). The next task was to undertake a joint economic and environmental analysis of these areas characteristics (2004), and to identify water bodies at risk of not achieving the 2015 target. By 2006, countries had to launch water monitoring networks. In 2007, in the rst WFD implementation report1, the Commission issued its rst assessment of progress in implementing the Directive, looking at the way Member States transposed it into national law, the administrative arrangements, and the river basin district analyses. In 2009, a second WFD implementation report assessed progress on establishing monitoring networks. 22 December 2009 marked a crucial milestone in European water management, as it was the deadline for Member States to draw up river basin management plans (RBMPs) for each one of the 110 river basin districts across the EU. Each plan must include a programme of measures to meet the WFDs objectives. The preparation schedule included a comprehensive, three-stage consultation process, which required Member States to involve the public and interested parties in water management. It had to be launched at the latest by the end of 2006, with a consultation on signicant water management issues (by end 2007), and a broad consultation lasting at least six months on draft river basin management plans (by end 2008). (Art. 14) All European waters have to achieve good ecological and chemical status by 2015. That means not only low levels of chemical pollution but also and this is the innovative element sustaining healthy aquatic ecosystems. It is possible to ask for water-body specic exemptions from the achievement of the objectives, if duly justied, for instance due to technical infeasibility, natural conditions or disproportionate costs. In these cases, a later deadline can be set to achieve the objectives, or the environmental objectives can be lowered under strict circumstances. In the event of new modication of water bodies, exemption can also be made for overriding public reasons, also under strict conditions. Extreme events can also be a justication for temporary exemptions. 2010 is the deadline for water pricing policies to be introduced. Water pricing has to contribute to the environmental objective of the WFD, providing incentives for sustainable water use. The principles of cost recovery and polluter pays should be applied to all water services. Pricing and cost recovery will have to take account of local economic, social and environmental conditions. A one-size-ts-all approach may not be appropriate. By 2012, Member States have to ensure that their programmes of measures are operational. By 2015, the end of the rst management cycle, the RBMPs should be delivering their objectives. The second round of management plans needs to be put into place by 2015, coupled with Member States rst flood risk management plans (FRMPs).

1 Towards Sustainable Water Management in the European Union, COM(2007)128 nal and SEC(2007)362.

15

The Water Framework Directive sets out a clear timetable and status of implementation
2007 Commission issued its rst implementation report on Articles 3 (administrative arrangements), 5 (characteristics of the river basin, impact and economic analysis), and transposition Art. 18.3 (WFD) First European Water Conference: WISE Water Information System for Europe launched Floods Directive adopted Art. 18.5 (WFD) Start consultation on Signicant Water Management Issues Art. 14.1.b

2009 Finalise river basin management plan including programme of measures Arts. 13 & 11 (WFD) 2009 Commission issued its second implementation report on Article 8 - Monitoring networks Art. 18.3 (WFD) Second European Water Conference: Plunge Into The Debate Art. 18.5 (WFD)

2004 Characterisation of river basin: pressures, impacts and economic analysis Identication of water bodies, assessment of which water bodies are at risk and where measures are needed to reach good status Art. 5

2000 Directive entered into force Art. 25

2000 2004

2007

2009

2006 2003
2006 2003 Transposition into national legislation Art. 24 Identication of river basin districts and authorities Art. 3 Establishment of monitoring network Art. 8 Start public consultation process (at the latest) Art. 14 2008

2010 2008
2010 Introduce pricing policies Art. 9 (WFD) 22 March: Deadline for reporting river basin management plans to the Commission Commissions assessment of received plans started Art. 18 (WFD)

Draft river basin management plans presented by Member States Art. 14 2008

2006 Groundwater Directive adopted (2006/118/EC)

Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) and the Environmental Quality Standard Directive (2008/105/ EC) adopted

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Monitoring the implementation of the Directive

2012 Make programmes of measures operational Art. 11(WFD) 2012 Third implementation report from the Commission on the WFD, policy review on water scarcity and droughts and assessment of vulnerability of EU water in the Blueprint for Safeguarding Europes water Art. 18.1 (WFD)

The Commission monitors each step of the implementation of the Directive and has issued two implementation reports (2007, 2009) with an assessment of the rst stages of implementation of the Directive. The Directive foresees that the Commission shall prepare its third implementation report by 2012, including a review of progress in the implementation of the Directive, a review of the status of EU waters, and a survey of the river basin management plans, including suggestions for the improvement of future plans.
2021 Second management cycle ends Achievement of good environmental status under the Marine Strategy Directive Arts. 4 & 13 Third river basin management plans (WFD), second ood risk management plans (FD)

2021 2012

2015
2015 Meet environmental objectives Art. 4 (WFD) First management cycle ends Second river basin management plan Art. 13.7 (WFD) First ood risk management plan Art. 7 (FD) Marine Strategy Directive programmes of measures (MSFD) 2027

2027
Third management cycle ends, nal deadline for meeting objectives Arts. 4 & 13

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River basin management plans toolbox for integrated management of water

The river basin management plans are the key tools for the implementation of the Directive in the river basin districts, and are valid for a sixbas year period, after which they need to be revised. They have to contain a summary of the earlier implementation stages, such as an assessment of the status of water bodies, the objective to be reached by 2015 in each water body and, if that is not possible, Member States need to explain and justify how they intend to rely on the available exemptions. The plans must also include a programme of measures, that details which measures will be undertaken, where, and by when.2
Wetlands, Norfolk (UK)

What should be in a river basin management plan?

A description of the river basin district, including maps A summary of the main signicant pressures and environmental impacts of human activities A map of specially protected areas (e.g. drinking, natural habitats) A map of monitoring networks, and results of the monitoring A list of environmental objectives or targets A summary of the programme of measures to maintain or improve water status A summary of public consultations and their inuence A list of competent authorities and contacts.

2 The river basin management plans for the rst cycle can be downloaded in the respective language of the Member States by following the links on this page: http://water.europa.eu/policy

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Articial lake/hydropowerdam, Lac St-Croix, France

What should be in a programme of measures?

Minimum requirements include measures to: Promote ecient and sustainable water use Implement water-pricing polices, applying cost recovery and incentive pricing for water services Safeguard water quality in order to reduce the level of purication treatment required for the production of drinking water Control abstraction of fresh surface water and groundwater Control articial recharge or augmentation of groundwater bodies Control point source discharges liable to cause pollution prior to authorisation of water abstraction Prevent or control the input of pollutants from diuse sources Ensure that the hydromorphological conditions of bodies of water are consistent with required ecological status or good ecological potential Prohibit direct discharges of pollutants into groundwater, subject to certain conditions. Supplementary measures are needed if the basic measures above are not sucient to reach the objectives, and these could include: Codes of good practice Recreation and restoration of wetlands areas Demand management schemes such as low water-requiring crops in areas aected by drought Promotion of water-ecient technologies in industry and water-saving irrigation techniques Desalination plants Rehabilitation projects Articial recharge of aquifers Educational, research, development and demonstration projects.

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Environmental objectives and exemptions

Member States can apply exemptions from the objective of reaching tion good ecological and chemical status of surface water, and good quantitative and chemical status of groundwater by 2015. Exemptions can be applied for individual water bodies on the following grounds: Delay achievement of the objectives to 2021, or at the latest 2027, with a phased implementation. Reasons can be technical infeasibility, disproportionate costs or natural conditions that make achievement by 2015 impossible. (Art. 4.4) Lowering of the objectives can be granted if the water body is so aected by human activity, or indeed due to its natural condition, that achieving the objectives would be unfeasible or disproportionately expensive. (Art. 4.5) Temporary derogation due to exceptional events which could not have been foreseen, such as extreme oods or prolonged droughts. (Art. 4.6) New modification to water bodies, for new sustainable human development activities, or other changes, provided that there is an overriding public interest in the change or benets for human health, maintaining human safety or sustainable development that outweigh the benets of achieving the objective of the Directive. In this case, the best environmental option that is not disproportionately expensive or technically unfeasible needs to be taken. (Art. 4.7) This means that the Water

Recreational waters are part of the protected areas of relevance for the Water Framework Directive

Framework Directive provides for a procedure whereby the right balance can be found between dierent environmental and societal need, for instance for the production of renewable energy through hydropower and the building of ood defence infrastructure. All relevant information in relation to the application of exemptions needs to be included in the river basin management plans. The Commission will assess the justications provided by Member States for applying these exemptions, to verify if they are acceptable.

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A legal framework integrating relevant EU measures in the eld of water legislation

Complementing the legal framework
The W Water Framework Directive has been complemented by measures contained in a series of subsequent laws the so-called daughter directives laying down further details on how to achieve good chemical status: The Groundwater Directive: the WFD set out clear objectives for groundwater quantity and repealed the old groundwater Directive, but left some issues of chemical status criteria to be dened. The new Directive, adopted in December 2006, establishes criteria for good chemical status of groundwaters, claries the identication and reversal of pollution trends and requires preventing or limiting inputs of pollutants into groundwater. (Art. 17) The Environmental Quality Standards Directive: since 2008, this limits concentrations in surface waters of 33 priority substances and eight other pollutants. They include11 priority hazardous substances, which are toxic, persistent, and accumulate in animal and plant tissues to pose a long-term risk. Discharges must be phased out within 20 years. The list will be reviewed in 2011. (Art. 16) Two Commission Decisions, adopted in 2005 and 2008, also provided further details on how to establish ecological status, identied sites and published the results of the intercalibration exercise.
Eutrophication in the Stockholm archipelago

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Other measures in the context of integrated river basin management

The WFD also provides a framework for integrating a number of other thematic pieces of water legislation in its implementation, and the following Directives set out what are considered to be so-called basic measures: The Urban Wastewater Directive (1991) applies to 22 000 urban areas across the EU. It sets down standards for the collection, treatment and discharge of wastewater from homes and certain industrial sectors. The Nitrates Directive (1991) aims to stop nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground- and surface waters, through codes of good practice for farmers. It is proving eective: from 2000 to 2003, nitrate concentrations were stable or fell at 86% of monitored sites. Nonetheless, agriculture remains a major source of water-related problems, and farmers need to move towards more sustainable practices. The new Bathing Water Directive (2006) aims to protect public health by making coastal and inland waters safe to swim in. Member States have to draw up management plans for bathing sites, and keep the public informed. The Drinking Water Directive (1998) sets standards for clean water from the tap, and for use in food production. Member States have to report on water quality every three years. The WFD complements it by protecting supplies at source.

The programme also includes relevant measures taken to protect water, for instance under the Birds Directive, the Major Accidents Directive (SEVESO), the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, the Sewage Sludge Directive, the Plant Protection Directive, the Habitats Directive, and the Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Directive. In fact, protected areas (such as for drinking water abstraction, bathing, and those identied under the Habitats Directive) need to be especially monitored, and achievement of the criteria under those Directives are at the core of the environmental objectives of the Water Framework Directive. (Art. 4.3, 6 and 7) A so-called combined approach brings together the legislation regulating the act of polluting the environment, with the environmental quality status for all water sources. (Art. 10) A number of newer pieces of legislation also refer explicitly to the Water Framework Directive and its provisions, such as the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (recitals, 2001/42/EC), the Environmental Liability Directive (2004/35/EC) and the Mining Waste Directive (2006/21/EC). Coordination is required between the Water Framework Directive, implementation of the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC), and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC).

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23

Im Implementation support
In order to address the challenges posed by the WFD and the Floods Directives in a coordinated way, the Member States, Norway and the European Commission agreed on a Common Implementation Strategy C (CIS), with a series of expert working (CI groups on key topics, such as analysis of grou pressures and surface water status, reporting, chemical pollution and ooding, to reach a common understanding of dierent aspects of implementation and provide a forum for exchange of experiences and information across the Union. It has already produced more than 24 guidance documents and several technical reports, helping to promote the exchange of good practice. To support the CIS, the Commission has set up a WFD section on the online information exchange platform CIRCA (Communication Information Resource Centre Administrator).
Technical Report - 2009 - 040

Water information
More information about the Water Framework Directive and other EU water-related legislation and policies can be found on DG Environments water pages: http://water.europa.eu/policy The Water Information System for Europe (WISE) is a gateway to information on European water issues. It brings together data and information collected at EU level by various institutions and bodies, including results from quality monitoring for river basin management planning. In this online map of Europes waters it is possible to see information on how Member States are implementing the various water-related Directives at water-body level. It was set up through a partnership between the European Commission (DG Environment, Joint Research Centre and Eurostat) and the European Environment Agency: http:// water.europa.eu/ in particular: http://www.eea.europa.eu/ themes/water/interactive/advanced-wise-viewer The WISE-RTD web portal also gives access to a vast range of research ndings from projects at national, European and international level: http://www.wise-rtd.info/wpis/ wise.html

COMMON IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY FOR THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE (2000/60/EC)

Guidance document No. 24 RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT IN A CHANGING CLIMATE

Towards the second river basin management plans

The consultations process for the second cycle of implementation of the Directive will start in 2012, or consultation on draft river basin management plans should start at the latest by the end of 2014. The consultation on ood risk management plans also needs to be coordinated with this process. It is time to PLUNGE INTO THE DEBATE, again!

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Further reading:
Plunge into the debate - more about consultations and where to nd my river basin management plans: http://water.europa.eu/participate Water notes - 2-4 page information sheets in all EU languages on dierent WFD-related issues issues: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/participation/ notes_en.htm WFD implementation reports 2007 and 2009: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/ water-framework/implrep2007/index_en.htm Maps and graphs: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/ water-framework/facts_gures/index_en.htm Common Implementation Strategy: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/ water-framework/objectives/implementation_en.htm CIRCA: http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/env/wfd/library?l=/&v m=detailed&sb=Title Groundwater: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/groundwater.html Priority substances: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-dangersub/pri_substances.htm#dir_prior

Floods Directive: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/ood_risk/ index.htm Marine Strategy Framework Directive: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/marine/ index_en.htm Urban Wastewater Directive: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/ water-urbanwaste/index_en.html Bathing Water Directive: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-bathing/ index_en.html Drinking Water Directive: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-drink/ index_en.html Nitrates Directive: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-nitrates/ index_en.html Water scarcity and droughts: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/quantity/ scarcity_en.htm Water and climate change adaptation: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/adaptation/ index_en.htm European Environment Agency water: www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water

water.europa.eu/policy
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European Commission Water is for life: How the Water Framework Directive helps safeguard Europes resources Luxembourg: Publications Oce of the European Union 2010 25 pp. 21 x 21cm ISBN 978-92-79-13538-5 doi 10.2779/83017 Copies of this publication are available free of charge while stocks last from: European Commission Directorate-General Environment Information Centre (BU-9 0/11) B-1049 Brussels http://bookshop.eu/

Photo credits : pp. 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24: iStockphoto p. 8: Ilan Kelman, Cambridge University Centre for Risk in the Built Environment - For more information about ood related research see: www.oodsite.net p. 5, 11, 19, 20, 21: European Commission, DG Environment

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