Lourdes Alvarellos European Commission DG Environment, D.1 Water 2012 State of water stakeholder and Eionet Workshop 29-30 March 2012 A Blueprint to safeguard

Lourdes AlvarellosEuropean Commission

DG Environment, D.1 Water

2012 State of water stakeholder

and Eionet Workshop29-30 March 2012

• A Blueprint to safeguard Europe’s waters

• Comparative Study on Pressures and Measures

water.europa.eu

What is the Blueprint?

• The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources will present the policy response to the challenges presented in the State of Water Report,

long-term aim: to ensure sufficient availability of good quality water for sustainable and equitable water use

• Closely linked to EU 2020 Strategy and Resource Efficiency Roadmap

Why a Blueprint?

• Improving the implementation of current EU water policy

• Fostering the integration of water and other policies

• When necessary, seeking the completion of the current policy framework

Synthesis of policy recommendationsbuilding on on-going assessments

Nov 2012Blueprint

ToSafeguardEU Waters

Report on 2009River BasinManagement Plans

ReviewWater Scarcity& Droughts Strategy

Climate ChangeVulnerability& Adaptation












Outlook of sustainability and

vulnerability of EU water resources

« Fitness Check» EU water

policy instruments

Policy Options

Impact Assessment

Assessment of RBMPs Commission’s report

November 2012

WFD timetable

Transposition into national law Dec 2003Administrative arrangements Dec 2003Environmental analysis:

Analysis of characteristicsAssessment of human impacts

Economic analysis of water use Dec 2004 Monitoring programmes Dec 2006Public Participation starts Dec 2006Significant water management issues Dec 2007Draft river basin management plans Dec 2008Final river basin management plans Dec 2009Measures implemented at the latest Dec 2012Implementation, adjustment 2015 till 2027

Commission‘s 3rd implementation report

• To be published in November 2012 - integral part of the Blueprint

• Communication on the implementation of WFDAnalysis based on WFD main principles

• Commission Staff Working DocumentAnalysis based on 17 topics of assessmentMore detailed information on the assessment of RBMPsAnnexes by MS (fiches)

8

Assessment RBMP: some general preliminary findings

• A lot of effort put into preparation of the plans

• High uptake of the common framework and common language on water management provided by the WFD

• Integration of ecological perspective into water management

• Enhancement of international cooperation

• Public participation, stakeholder involvement

• Impressive improvement in the knowledge base

• All plans not submitted in 4 Member States

• Low ambition in many of the plans (extensive use of exemptions)

• Lack of concrete measures and expected achievements

• Lack of comparability in some issues (e.g. chemical status!)

• Dressing “business-as-usual” as WFD

Review Water Scarcity and Droughts policy

• Communication 2007 and follow-up:

• Council conclusions - review & further develop WS&D policy by 2012

• EP report – new initiatives including pilot projects preparatory actions

• Annual follow up reports

• GAP Analysis

• Overview of problem & existing measures

• Identification of gaps

• Proposal of new measures

• Assessment of impact of new measures

• In-depth studies on:• Water Supply Infrastructure • Buildings • Agriculture• Indicators for water stress and

water efficiency

Climate Change Vulnerability & Adaptation

• Thorough assessment of drivers of vulnerability and potential adaptation measures at EU level in the ClimWatAdapt project

Combination of different scenarios: socio-economicregional climate

• On-going in-depth assessment of effectiveness of specific measures (natural water retention, water efficiency)

Fitness Check of EU Freshwater Policy (1)• Part of European Commission Smart Regulation policy

• Objective: Assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of the EU freshwater policy

• Process: scoping study, stakeholder and public consultation

• Scope• Water Framework Directive

o Groundwater Directiveo Directive on Environmental Quality Standards (EQS)

• Urban Waste Water Directive• Nitrates Directive• Floods Directive • + quantitative and adaptive water management issues, for which there

is currently no legislation at EU level

Fitness Check of EU Freshwater Policy (2)• Most important issues:

• Improvements in implementation of EU water policy are required

• Need for a stronger legal basis for tackling the problems of water scarcity and droughts

• Ecosystem services not systematically addressed within water policy

• More coherence needed with the CAP, regional, renewable energy and transport policies

• Potential to enhance coherence with chemical, pesticides, pharmaceuticals policies on issues such as risk assessment methods

• Improved analysis of the costs and benefits of water protection measures is needed

Baseline, scenarios and indicative targets

water resource balanceswater resource balances

use of water by the different economic activities, and impacts

use of water by the different economic activities, and impacts

measures affecting water availability and water use

measures affecting water availability and water use

climate, land-use, demographic and socio-economic scenarios

climate, land-use, demographic and socio-economic scenarios

baseline scenario / sensitivity analysis

optimisation model

baseline scenario / sensitivity analysis

optimisation model

indicative targets at EU

level for reducing the

vulnerability of water

resources

indicative targets at EU

level for reducing the

vulnerability of water

resources

• (natural) retention, • efficiency,• re-use

EnvironmentalConstraints(E-flows)

linked to achievementGood Ecological Status

(WFD)

EnvironmentalConstraints(E-flows)

linked to achievementGood Ecological Status

(WFD)

From Objectives to Policy Options

AdressingWater Stress

Resilience to Extreme Events

AchievementGood Ecological Status

Target Setting

Unlocking measures

Improving Implementation

Policy Options (1): Targets

• Targets for efficient water resources allocation including the basic needs for nature (environmental flows) and sectoral allocation

• Drought management instruments

• Support better management of water resources in third countries

Policy Options (2): Unlocking Measures

• Support to land-use measures (natural water retention)• Improve water efficiency in building and water using

appliances• Address leakage in water infrastructure• EU standards for waste water re-use• Tackle metering / illegal abstraction• Water pricing levels and structure to provide sufficient

incentives to increase water efficiency • Costs and benefits of inaction and of water related

measures to be properly understood and quantified

Policy Options (3): Governance and Knowledge base

• Improve coordination in river basin shared between different administrative entities within Member States, between Member States and with third countries

• Improve knowledge provision and accessibility

Next Steps

• 12-weeks public consultation on Policy Options (15 March to 7 June)

• April: Publication Fitness Check

• Discussion of policy options at 3rd EU Water Conference on 24-25 May

• November: Publication Blueprint

Comparative Study on Pressures & Measures

• Top down assessment of RBMPs

• In-depth analysis of certain identified subjects, including• Governance• Development of methodologies• Integration of other policies• Economic aspects

• To analyse and compare the collected information in order to provide conclusions at European level

• Outcome of assessment: will support 2012 Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Waters

Comparative Study on Pressures & Measures

TASK 1 - Governance and Legal Aspects

TASK 1

1a – Administrative Arrangements

1b – International coordination mechanisms

1c – Enforcement, control, inspection and sanction systems

1d – Analysis of nature of RBMPs

Information sources

MS RBM Plans and COM assessments WISE reporting MS – legislation literature MS – SCG members EEA

Milestones

Final report 30 April

TASK 2 – Methodologies for ecological status classification and specific pollutants

TASK 2To examine and analyse methods (used by MS) to assess and classify the ES of SWB and if appropriate to achieve a comparable assessment across Europe

2a – Comparison of Typologies

2b – Intercalibration – scientific peer review

2c – Comparison of specific pollutants and EQSs

2d – Reality check of the results obtained in assessing ES across EU (comparison of ES on transboundary WB)

Information sources

RBMPs Reporting

2a: EEA, JRC (support)

2b: JRC (Technical IC report), Peer review

2c: WG A Report on specific pollutantsEuropean Pollutant Release and Transfer Registry (releases of substances to the aquatic environment)All relevant matrices (water, sediment, biota) and all water categories

2d: Selected data sets from MS (special request)

Milestones

Technical Report 30 April Intercalibration final report 15 July

Final report on specific pollutants, analyses of potential implications for ecological status assessment, comparability and best practices 30 April

TASK 3 - Integration

TASK 3

- Horizontal task: storylines connecting pressures, measures and status 2009, 2015- Integration of sectoral policy in WFD PoMs

3a – Agriculture

3b – Hydromorphological alterations

3c – Drinking Water Protection Resources

3d – Water abstraction and water use (quantitative issues DMPs and e-flows)

3e – Mining

Thematic assessment on GW quantitative status

Information sources

WISE (RBMPs screening) Expert meetings Consultation with MS Expert workshop on 21 March in Brussels – on measures agriculture, hydromorphology and drinking water

3c:EUREAU Questionnaire to MS

3d: Expert Group WS&D & Technical papers

Milestones

PSIR (measures-impacts-measures-status) 30 April

Effectiveness of selected measures (3a, 3b, 3c, 3e) 31 March

Catalogue of measures (3a, 3b, 3c, 3e) on database 31 October

Thematic assessment on GW quantitative status 15 June

TASK 4 - Innovation and development of technology

TASK 4

4a – Innovation and development of technology(opportunities for urban, rural and industrial water management sectors)

4b – Costs and benefitsKnowledge base on the economic dimensions and economic impact of WFD (first cycle)

Information sources

RBMPs RBMP accompanying technical reports WISE Existing studies in MS Research reports Thematic studies (EEA, COM…)

Expert group meetings

Milestones

Report on initiatives July 2012

Assessment of costs & benefits of WFD

Assessment of current financing of RBMPs

Guidance note on how to assess and report costs & benefits of water related measures

Knowledge gaps on costs & benefits of water management

Documents

Lourdes Alvarellos European Commission DG Environment, D.1 Water 2012 State of water stakeholder and Eionet Workshop 29-30 March 2012 A Blueprint to safeguard