EU Water Framework Directive: Environnemental accounting and
SEIS State of the art (NB: adapted and completed from J McGlade
presentation at the WWF, Marseille, 13 march 2012) Slide 2 EU Water
Framework Directive monitoring progress EEA supports the assessment
of the Water Framework Directive by European Commission Thematic
assessments to inform Blue Print 2012 prepared by EC Detailed
contextual spatially-explicit information to the reported water
bodies Harmonised integration of the main rivers and main lakes at
EU level and beyond Implementation of Ecosystem accounting at EU
level, with special regards to water Pilot the Water accounts
module of the SEEA (UNSD international statistical standard) by
blending the accounting approach with policy requirements
Re-analysis of the fundamental data backing the SEEAW (for regional
/ seasonal assessments) Establish common spatial reference systems
and related data sharing processes in SEIS (Shared Environmental
Information System) Slide 3 Accounting, policy support and data
issues Accounting, policy support and data issues The UN
methodology (SEEAW) for accounting aims at measuring in a
consistent way the natural resources (physical assets) in relation
with economic activities (monetary assets): However, the approach,
based on aggregated national statistics, misses a specific water
algebra: Money and water can be spared Money can be loaned, water
cannot Money can be transferred without physical device, water
cannot Sound water accounting is first and foremost driven by where
and when, (sub-basin and monthly assessments ) whereas the basic
method (country / year) prevents analysing the frequency and
typology of issues The improved EEA approach allows analysing the
regional interdependencies and time-driven relationship s, to
support EU policies. Slide 4 Water accounts conceptual model SEEAW
concept : water balances in a strict accounting framework so to
link the physical and economic worlds The accounting spatial unit:
territory of reference, made of statistical units Analysis carried
out across the inland resource system (natural assets) and the
economy Exchanges between the different components: rain on soil
that receives irrigation; rivers fill reservoirs used for
abstraction and supply; etc. Applies to the physical catchm ents
Slide 5 The EEA approach EEA engaged in developing reference
methods, implementing spatial systems and collecting data to carry
out these accounts (as a side outcome of standardised water
balances) A reference system (Ecrins), based on JRCs research and
Corine Land cover has been developed (now publicly available)
Climate data re-modelled to meet EEAs needs, apportioned by
elementary catchment for monthly aggregates (soon daily) Lakes,
dams and reservoirs identified, documented and integrated River
discharge - the validation variable - collected, integrated and
processed monthly at river segment level. A critical complement to
both WFD and large scale SEIS data collection Water uses still a
complex challenge, not fully solved for the time being
Fully-fledged accounts by June and possibly complement some points
during summer on time for EU Blueprint discussions Slide 6 The
operational data sets: natural assets Climate data has been
re-analysed as : Soil water, a key element of all ecosystem
accounts Surface run-off, a key component of water accounts River
discharge has been processed, where data could be collected:
Productivity / quantity at sub-basin levels, a key components of
the water accounts (surface run-off with the ground-water reserves
from actual observations): the touchstone of water balance accuracy
Slide 7 Beyond the water accounts towards ecosystem services
Climate data has been re-analysed as : Soil water, a key element of
all ecosystem accounts: habitats, carbon balances River discharge
has been processed, where data could be collected: Monthly average
discharge per river segment: regime is essential support to aquatic
ecosystems and key to quality accounts for resources Slide 8 Beyond
animation: indicators River discharge can be analysed as specific
discharge (l/s/km 2 catchment) to make them comparable; Water
regime + productivity analyse as ecosystem risk. Duration of low
productivity analyse as scarcity / drought indicators 8 Slide 9 The
operational datasets: water uses Uses vs. resource e.g. Water
Exploitation Index(WEI) poses some issues: Average demand / average
resource is an insufficient measurement Different situations (even
radically) scored with similar numeric al values Typology of
situations, except structural deficit cannot be identified
Categories of uses, as demanded by the SEEA are lumped Water
abstractions, uses and restitutions re-analysed : Global statistics
(volume per year / country) disaggregated by functional units (e.g.
metropolis, small villages based on population density / water
demands) Significant water transfers systematically documented to
meet SEEAW scheme EEA revises WEI at sub-catchment and monthly
level, allowing to analyse distribution of resource vs. demands and
to derive functional typology Slide 10 Water uses and towards
regional seasonal WEI Water uses under reconstructing /
apportioning under NACE. Example: domestic demand Source: Pyry from
EEA data Reference Ecrins Slide 11 Integration with Blueprint 2012
Key policy developments responsive to typology of issues:
Structural water scarcity requires, e.g. transfers, desalination,
changes in uses, etc. Recurrent water scarcity (seasonal imbalance)
requires storage, water saving, etc. Episodic water scarcity may
require interconnexions, specific regulatory measures, etc.
Database of information set up by the EEA contributes to these
developments and policy interventions Slide 12 Technical complexity
and data issues: support from SEIS Establishing a regular
calculation process at sub-catchment demands quality data
accessible from many sources this what SEIS is all about Current
data collection processes still a challenges to this end:
Paradoxically, meteorological data not available 5 years ago is now
fully populated! River discharge, collected for centuries, still
not obtainable in several countries - EEA collected and processed
70 million data i.e. 70% of the coverage needed Reporting processes
do not address volumes of water or data poorly organised present
coverage with hard data is below 10% of total volumes. Data sharing
thus the major challenge : the threat of climate change and the
related information requirements might trigger better availability
EEA provides a critical, wide-ranging contribution based on free
access and use for all communities of practice Slide 13 THANKS FOR
YOUR ATTENTION Philippe Crouzet Oscar Gomez and Blaz Kurnik And
Pyry consultants 13 Slide 14 Soil water contents per month Source:
EEA computations from : Soil data centre Primary climatic:E-OBS :
http://eca.knmi. nl/download/ens embles/ensembl es.php
http://eca.knmi. nl/download/ens embles/ensembl es.php Reference:
Ecrins (EEA) NB: full Europe under processing Slide 15 Soil run-off
per month Source: EEA computations from: Soil data centre Primary
climatic:E-OBS : http://eca.knmi. nl/download/ens embles/ensembl
es.php http://eca.knmi. nl/download/ens embles/ensembl es.php
Reference: Ecrins (EEA) NB: full Europe under processing Slide 16
Monthly productivity at sub- catchment level Source: Pyry
computatio ns for DG Env Discharge collected by EEA Data organised
by EEA (>70 million daily data) Reference: Ecrins (EEA) Slide 17
Monthly discharge at segment level (Zoom) Source: Pyry computations
for DG Env Discharge collected by EEA Data organised by EEA (>70
million daily data) Reference: Ecrins (EEA)
