INTRODUCTION TO THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE (WFD)

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INTRODUCTION TO THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE
(WFD)
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Main issues of the presentation

• History of European Water Policy and WFD
• Purpose of WFD
• Key aims of WFD
• Main components of WFD
• Key Actions that Member States Need to Take
• Integration a key concept underlying the Water
  Framework Directive

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History of European Water Policy and WFD

• The first round of water legislations 1975 -1980
  by setting standards for rivers and lakes used
  for drinking water abstraction. the following
  issues were adopted
• - Fish waters
• - Shellfish waters
• - Bathing waters
• - Groundwater
• - Drinking water
• - Dangerous substances
• The second round of Directives 1990-1996
• - Nitrate Directive
• - Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive
• - Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control
  (IPPC) Directive

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History of European Water Policy and WFD

• Third round During the 1990s the need for a
  holistic and consistent approach in managing
  Europes water resources successively developed
• It also became increasingly clear that an
  efficient European water policy also has to
  involve citizens and non-governmental
  organisations in the water management process.
• As a result, in the year 2000, the Water
  Framework Directive was adopted, consolidating a
  number of existing water directives into one
  piece of legal framework.

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History of European Water Policy and WFD

• The adoption of the WFD marks a new era in EU
  water policy since it introduces
• a unified system for water management.
• River basins are defined as the basic unit for
  water management instead of administrative or
  political borders
• public participation is highlighted.
• The WFD represents EUs central piece of water
  legislation, and provides the basis for a
  coherent and uniform water policy. Already
  existing water legislation will be considered
  daughter directives or be repealed. Several new
  directives under the WFD are under preparation.
• WFD is a minimum directive, which means that it
  stipulates minimum requirements but does not
  prevent member states from introducing stricter
  national regulations.

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Purpose

• The purpose of this Directive is to establish a
  framework for the protection of inland surface
  waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and
  groundwater which
• (a) prevents further deterioration and protects
  and enhances the status of aquatic ecosystems
  and, with regard to their water needs,
  terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands directly
  depending on the aquatic ecosystems
• (b) promotes sustainable water use based on a
  long-term protection of available water
  resources
• (c) aims at enhanced protection and improvement
  of the aquatic environment, inter alia, through
  specific measures for the progressive reduction
  of discharges, emissions and losses of priority
  substances and the cessation or phasing-out of
  discharges, emissions and losses of the priority
  hazardous substances

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Purpose

• (d) ensures the progressive reduction of
  pollution of groundwater and prevents its further
  pollution, and
• (e) contributes to mitigating the effects of
  floods and droughts
• and thereby contributes to
• - the provision of the sufficient supply of good
  quality surface water and groundwater as needed
  for sustainable, balanced and equitable water
  use,
• - a significant reduction in pollution of
  groundwater,

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Purpose

• - the protection of territorial and marine
  waters, and
• - achieving the objectives of relevant
  international agreements, including those which
  aim to prevent and eliminate pollution of the
  marine environment, by Community action under
  Article 16(3) to cease or phase out discharges,
  emissions and losses of priority hazardous
  substances, with the ultimate aim of achieving
  concentrations in the marine environment near
  background values for naturally occurring
  substances and close to zero for man-made
  synthetic substances.

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Key aims of WFD

• expanding the scope of water protection to all
  waters surface waters and groundwater
• achieving "good status" for all waters by a set
  deadline (2015)
• water management based on river basins
• "combined approach" of emission limit values and
  quality standards
• getting the prices right
• getting the citizen involved more closely
• streamlining legislation

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Main components

• The WFD contains the following main components
• Identification of river basin districts
• Protection of surface water and groundwater
• Environmental objectives good status shall be
  obtained for all waters
• Analysis of pressures and impacts,
• Economic analysis
• Monitoring programmes
• River Basin Management Plan with programme of
  measures
• Public participation

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A single system of water management River basin
management  

• The best model for a single system of water
  management is management by river basin - the
  natural geographical and hydrological unit -
  instead of according to administrative or
  political boundaries.
• While several Member States already take a river
  basin approach, this is at present not the case
  everywhere.
• For each river basin district - some of which
  traverse national frontiers - a "river basin
  management plan" will need to be established and
  updated every six years, and this will provide
  the context for the co-ordination requirements
  identified above.  

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Co-ordination of objectives - good status for all
waters by a set deadline  

• There are a number of objectives in respect of
  which the quality of water is protected. The key
  ones at European level are
• general protection of the aquatic ecology, -
  applied to all waters
• specific protection of unique and valuable
  habitats,- wetlands
• protection of drinking water resources, -
  drinking water abstraction
• and protection of bathing water bathing areas
• All these objectives must be integrated for each
  river basin.
• The central requirement is that the environment
  be protected to a high level in its entirety.  

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Surface water  

• Ecological protection  
• For this reason, a general requirement for
  ecological protection - "good ecological status"
  based on the quality of the biological community
  and the hydrological characteristics, and a
• general minimum chemical standard, - "good
  chemical status was introduced to cover all
  surface waters. Based on the chemical
  characteristics of water.

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Surface water

• Chemical protection  
• Good chemical status is defined in terms of
  compliance with all the quality standards
  established for chemical substances at European
  level.
• The Directive also provides a mechanism for
  renewing these standards and establishing new
  ones by means of a prioritisation mechanism for
  hazardous chemicals.
• This will ensure at least a minimum chemical
  quality, particularly in relation to very toxic
  substances, everywhere in the Community.  

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Surface water

• The other uses or objectives for which water is
  protected, apply in specific areas, not
  everywhere. Therefore, specific protection zones
  must be designated within the river basin, which
  must meet these different objectives. Ecological
  and chemical protection is requested everywhere
  as a minimum, more stringent requirements will
  be set for the particular zones of particular
  uses.  

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Groundwater  

• Chemical status  
• The case of groundwater is somewhat different.
  The presumption in relation to groundwater should
  broadly be that it should not be polluted at all.
  For this reason, setting chemical quality
  standards may not be the best approach, as it
  gives the impression of an allowed level of
  pollution to which Member States can fill up.
• It comprises a prohibition on direct discharges
  to groundwater, and (to cover indirect
  discharges) a requirement to monitor groundwater
  bodies so as to detect changes in chemical
  composition, and to reverse any antropogenically
  induced upward pollution trend. Taken together,
  these should ensure the protection of groundwater
  from all contamination, according to the
  principle of minimum anthropogenic impact.  

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Groundwater

• Quantitative status  
• Quantity is also a major issue for groundwater.
  There is only a certain amount of recharge into
  the groundwater each year, and of this recharge,
  some is needed to support connected ecosystems
  (whether they be surface water bodies, or
  terrestrial systems such as wetlands).
• For good management, only that portion of the
  overall recharge not needed by the ecology can be
  abstracted this is the sustainable resource,
  and the Directive limits abstraction to that
  quantity.  
• One of the innovations of the Directive is that
  it provides a framework for integrated management
  of groundwater and surface water for the first
  time at European level.  

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Co-ordination of measures  

• There are a number of measures taken at Community
  level to tackle particular pollution problems
  Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, Nitrates
  Directive, Integrated Pollution Prevention and
  Control Directive.
• The aim is to co-ordinate the application of
  these so as to meet the objectives established
  above. This is done through this steps  
• First of all, the objectives are established for
  the river basin
• Then an analysis of human impact is conducted so
  as to determine how far from the objective each
  body of water is.
• The effect on the problems of each body of water
  of full implementation of all existing
  legislation is considered. If the existing
  legislation solves the problem, the objective of
  the framework Directive is attained.
• If it does not, the Member State must identify
  exactly why, and design whatever additional
  measures are needed to satisfy all the objectives
  established. These might include stricter
  controls on polluting emissions from industry and
  agriculture, or urban waste water sources, say.
  This should ensure full co-ordination.  

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The combined approach  

• First step, Reduce emissions at the source
• When it fails doing so at the wanted level, and
  the objective cannot be reached the second step
  is
• Mitigate the impact/effects
• It also sets out a framework for developing
  further such controls. The framework comprises
  the development of a list of priority substances
  for action at EU level, prioritised on the basis
  of risk and then the design of the most
  cost-effective set of measures to achieve load
  reduction of those substances, taking into
  account both product and process sources.  
• On the effects side, it co-ordinates all the
  environmental objectives in existing legislation,
  and provides a new overall objective of good
  status for all waters, and requires that where
  the measures taken on the source side are not
  sufficient to achieve these objectives,
  additional ones are required.  

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The river basin management plan  

• All the elements of this analysis must be set out
  in a plan for the river basin. The plan is a
  detailed account of how the objectives set for
  the river basin (ecological status, quantitative
  status, chemical status and protected area
  objectives) are to be reached within the
  timescale required.
• The plan will include all the results of the
  above analysis
• the river basins characteristics,
• a review of the impact of human activity on the
  status of waters in the basin,
• estimation of the effect of existing legislation
  and the remaining "gap" to meeting these
  objectives and
• a set of measures designed to fill the gap.
• an economic analysis of water use within the
  river basin
• a rational discussion on the cost-effectiveness
  of the various possible measures.
• It is essential that all interested parties are
  fully involved in this discussion, and indeed in
  the preparation of the river basin management
  plan as a whole. Which brings us to the final
  major element, the public participation
  requirements.  

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Key Actions to Take under WFD

• To identify the individual river basins lying
  within their national territory and assign them
  to individual River Basin Districts (RBDs), and
  identify competent authorities by 2003
• To characterise river basin districts in terms of
  pressures, impacts and economics of water uses,
  including a register of protected areas lying
  within the river basin district, by 2004
• To carry out the inter-calibration of the
  ecological status classification systems by 2006

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Key Actions to Take under WFD

• To make operational the monitoring of water
  status by 2006
• Based on sound monitoring and on the analysis of
  the characteristics of the river basin, to
  identify by 2009 a programme of measures for
  achieving the environmental objectives of WFD
  cost-effectively
• To produce and publish River Basin Management
  Plans (RBMPs) for each RBD including the
  designation of heavily modified water bodies, by
  2009

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Key Actions to Take under WFD

• To implement water pricing policies that enhance
  the sustainability of water resources by 2010
• To make the measures of the programme operational
  by 2012 and
• To implement the programmes of measures and
  achieve the environmental objectives by 2015.

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Integration a key concept underlying WFD

• The central concept to the WFD is that of
  integration that is seen as key to the management
  of water protection within the river basin
  district
• Integration of environmental objectives,
  combining quality, ecological and quantity
  objectives for protecting highly valuable aquatic
  ecosystems and ensuring a general good status of
  other waters
• Integration of all water resources, combining
  fresh surface water and groundwater bodies,
  wetlands, transitional and coastal water
  resources at the river basin scale

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Integration a key concept underlying the Water
Framework Directive

• Integration of all water uses, functions, values
  and impacts into a common policy framework, i.e.
  investigating water for the environment, water
  for health and human consumption, water for
  economic sectors, transport, leisure, water as a
  social good, investigating both point-source and
  diffuse pollution, etc.
• Integration of disciplines, analyses and
  expertise, combining hydrology, hydraulics,
  ecology, chemistry, soil sciences, technology
  engineering and economics to assess current
  pressures and impacts on water resources and
  identify measures for achieving the environmental
  objectives of the Directive in the most
  cost-effective manner

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Integration a key concept underlying the Water
Framework Directive

• Integration of water legislation into a common
  and coherent framework. The requirements of some
  old water legislation have been reformulated in
  the Water Framework Directive to meet modern
  ecological thinking. After a transitional period,
  these old Directives will be repealed. Other
  pieces of legislation will be co-ordinated in
  river basin management plans where they form the
  basis of the programmes of measures

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Integration a key concept underlying the Water
Framework Directive

• Integration of a wide range of measures,
  including pricing and economic and financial
  instruments, in a common management approach for
  achieving the environmental objectives of the
  Directive. Programmes of measures are defined in
  River Basin Management Plans developed for each
  river basin district
• Integration of stakeholders and the civil society
  in decision-making, by promoting transparency and
  information to the public, and by offering a
  unique opportunity for involving stakeholders in
  the development of river basin management plans

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Integration a key concept underlying the Water
Framework Directive

• Integration of different decision-making levels
  that influence water resources and water status,
  be local, regional or national, for an effective
  management of all waters and
• Integration of water management from different
  Member States, for river basins shared by several
  countries, existing and/or future Member States
  of the European Union.

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Integrating Economics into Environmental Policy
The Novelty of the WaterFramework Directive

• Costs, discount rate, prices, taxes The use of
  economic terms in the water sector in Europe has
  increased over recent years and not only on the
  part of economists. Economic issues affect all
  people as consumers who pay for water supply
  and sewerage services as taxpayers for
  supporting heavy investments in the water sector
  and increasingly as human beings, eager to
  protect water resources for themselves and for
  future generations.

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Integrating Economics into Environmental Policy
The Novelty of the WaterFramework Directive

• Since the 1970s, advocating the polluter-pays
  principle in water policy has become the norm
  rather than the exception, although the level of
  application of this principle remains highly
  heterogeneous.
• Furthermore, the focus was on financial aspects
  rather than on economic costs. It is only in the
  early 1990s (not long before the Directives
  negotiations were initiated) that attention
  started switching to the economic value of water.

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Integrating Economics into Environmental Policy
The Novelty of the WaterFramework Directive

• This led to the production of many academic
  studies and analyses, but with limited emphasis
  placed on creating a link between empirical
  research and policy-making.
• With the WFD, it is the first time in EU
  environmental policy that economic
  principles,tools and instruments are explicitly
  integrated into a piece of legislation, thus
  opening up an unique opportunity of making that
  link a reality.

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Functions of Economic analysis in the WFD

• To carry out an economic analysis of water uses
  in each River Basin District
• To assess trends in water supply, water demand
  and investments
• To identify areas designated for the protection
  of economically significant aquatic species
• To designate heavily modified water bodies based
  on the assessment of changes to such water bodies
  and of the impact (including economic impact) on
  existing uses and costs of alternatives for
  providing the same beneficial objective

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Functions of Economic analysis in the WFD

• To assess current levels of cost-recovery
• To support the selection of a programme of
  measures for each river basin district on the
  basis of cost-effectiveness criteria
• To assess the potential role of pricing in these
  programmes of measures implications on
  cost-recovery
• To estimate the need for potential (time and
  objective) derogation from the Directives
  environmental objectives based on assessment of
  costs and benefits and costs of alternatives for
  providing the same beneficial objective

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Functions of Economic analysis in the WFD

• To assess possible derogation resulting from new
  activities and modifications, based on assessment
  of costs and benefits and costs of alternatives
  for providing the same beneficial objective
• To evaluate the costs of process and control
  measures to identify a cost-effective way to
  control priority substances.