Implementing EU legislation in a context of water scarcity: The water

accounting approach in the Arno River Basin in Italy

Bernardo Mazzanti, Arno River Basin Authority, Florence, Italy

Arno River BasinArea: 8228 Km2

River length: 241 Km Altitude: 0 m - 1385 mClimate: MediterraneanPrecipitation: 850 mm/yearAnnual avg. Temperature: 13.9 °C

The Arno River Basin Main issues

Increasing intensity of flash flood and drought periods

High antropic pressure

Concurrent water uses

Critical environmental conditions

WFD & RBMP

The Northern Apennines District (ITC)

40.000 sq km8.000.000 inhab.

Approvation of Updated RBMP proposal (Integrated Institutional Commitee, 22.12.2014)

Updated RBMP (2nd cycle)

Updating the RBMP

December 2012

December 2013

December 2014

December 2015

Updated Drivers, Pressures and Impacts assessment; WBs UpdatedEnvironmental Status

December 2009 First RBMP

Reporting PoM

Bilateral Meeting IT – DG ENV. Bruxelles, 24.09.2013

Objectives and Expemptions● IT to follow up on al clear justification of exemptions based on the updated

Article 5 analysis and a comprehensive assessment of the measures needed to achieve good status

Programme of measures● For the next RBMP a better link between pressures and measures should be

made not only for agriculture but for all other sectors too

Economic analysis● municipal water services, agriculture, self-abstraction, storage or impoundment

for flood protection (…) should be included in the economic analysis, so that cost recovery should be calculated for those services

PoMs: MS included what is in place, in the pipeline or feasibile rather that what is necessaryBase PoMs on assessment of

pressures to design cost-effective measures

Provide appropriate justification for exemptions

Water Abstraction: insufficient measures to control abstraction and ecological flowReview permits to ensure sustainable use

Improve monitoring and enforcement

4th European Water Conference – March 2015

Data organization – the Water Body sheet

DriversPressuresImpacts

Environmental status

Water Accounts

Programme of Measure

Relation to FRMP

WB characterization

8

Basic (Conditional) Data

Drivers, Pressures and Impacts update

Water body status update

Update of the status of implementation of planned measures ReportPoM

Dec. 2012

Update the current status of measures’ implementation

Water Accounts and Water Balance data

Example: update of the Tuscan Water Authority Plan

Monitoring detailed data

Example: Water Balace Plan - Arno River Basin Authority – PAWA prj.

Reports of the Regional Agencies for Environmental Protection

Additional Data

Setting the scene

WISE Data - Hazardous substances and diffuse pollution

ReportArt. 5

July 2014

RBMP 2nd cycle evaluation

Environmental status

On going measures

Justifications

Exemptions

Key steps

Gap assesment

Measures’ effectivness (magnitudo) evaluation

Additional Measures

10

Executive Information System to Support Integrated Planning and Management

Ecological and chemical status assesmentDetailed analysis of critical Biological Quality Elements

Step #1 – Ecological and chemical status assesment

Gap between present

environmental status

and objective status

Step #2 – gap evaluationBased on

pressures and monitoring

results

Pollution loadgrey water1

Environmental status

Step #2 – gap evaluation

Water Exploitation2

WEI index (Water Exploitation Index)

Environmental status

WEI+

Step #2 – gap evaluation

Morphological alteration3

Indexes (IQM) or empirical evaluation, confirmed by monitoring results

BQEsBenthic Invertr.

Macrophytes

Fish fauna

Environmental status

Expertjudgmentsupported bymonitoringdata

Step #2 – gap evaluation

Chemical statusgap4Diffuse pollutants

Ubiquitous substances

Non-Ubiquitous substances

Grey water

Blu waterThreshold

Step #2 – gap evaluation

What’s behind?

Choice of measures

Step #3 – gap after on going measures

Measures’ effectivness evaluation

Grant Agreement No. 07.0329/2013/671279/SUB/ENV.C.1

How to fill the gap? How to choice measures? How to justify exemptions?

Increase dischargeDecrease pollution Hydromorph. restoration

water abstractionpermits reduction

quantitative indicatorsand corr. thresholds

Step #3 – gap after on going measures

Grant Agreement No. 07.0329/2013/671279/SUB/ENV.C.1

Integrates water cycle with economic activities in a standard way

Standard codes:For the economic activities (ISIC Rev. 4)For all data items (water flows)

Standard SEEA-Water tables(1) Physical Supply and Use Accounts(2) Emission Accounts(3) Hybrid and Economic Accounts(4) Water Asset Accounts

• (1) Water supply and its use in the production process and by households

• (1) The reused water within the economy• (2) The pressures imposed by the economy into the

environment.• (3) The cost, the financing of these cost, the investments

and the payment of permits for access to water.• (4) Stocks and flows of water within the environment.

SEEA-Water method

Water Flow Diagrams for Water Supply and User Accounts

(1) USE (2) SUPPLY

Balance/activity (1)-(2)

(2)

20

Estimation carried out on the basis of updated information on the implementation of measures

Interventi finanziati

Timescale Costs Potential EffectReference Plans

Deadline< 2021< 2027

Specifying financing sources (tariff)

In relation to a commonly approved unit of measure (e.g equivalent

treated inhabitants)and/or

estimated on the basis of existing literature (e.g. CNR IRSA)

Estimation of confidence level

Specifying Responsible Authorities

Step #3 – gap after on going measures

Question #1

? EXEMPTION under Art. 4.4 - good status by 2021

NO

Is the gap filled by on going measures?

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL COST

YES

Verify the possibility of adding other measures

PPP

Covered(paid for)

Internalized(paid by the one

causing the gap?)

=PPP

FCR FCR

ERC = proxy of cost of measures to achieve good status (Guidelines IT Ministry of the Environment)

ENVIRONMENTAL COST

Step #4 – Selection of additional measures

Measures are selected on the basis of the gap assessment and the throughout knowledge of the specific drivers which are not counteracted by planned measures for each impacting sector

KTMs (Key Type of Measure) are selected through a stepwise thinking process

On the basis of an order of magnitude estimate expressed in terms of

potentially treated pollution load

(e.g equivalent treated inhabitants) and

estimate of the cost of measures

On the basis of an order of magnitude estimate of necessary measuresOn the basis of a

qualitative assessmentWHAT do

we need to do?

How do we PRIORITIZE?

Which additional COSTS do we have?

com

plex

ity

Step #4 – Selection of additional measures

POLLUT5%

HYDRO20%

Additional Measure:Strategic interconnection in the

water supply network

POLLUT5%

HYDRO0%

GW in poor quantit. status

Step #4 – Selection of additional measuresPOLLUT

13%HYDRO

5% MORPHO

POLLUT5%

HYDRO2% MORPHO

Natural SW – 150 sq. kmheavy morphological alteration

Additional measures:NWRM

?

Natural Water Retention Measures

Efficiency and effectiveness appraisal

as regards to WB quality?

Efficiency and effectiveness appraisal as regards to flood

protection?

Step #4 – Selection of additional measures

FRMP Reference Unit

FRMP Knowledge base

FRMP PoM

RBMP Reference Unit

RBMP Knowledge base

RBMP PoM

“Win-Win” Measures

Gap filled by programmed

measures

ExampleSelection of the KTMs(Key Type of Measures) to be activated

Ref. Reporting Guidance ver. 6.0.2

Gap Trend Estimate

Unfilled Gap

Gap filled by additional measures

Additional measures

UPP - PPPGap after additional measures

Gap caused by pressures & status

Gap after on going measures

Step #5 – Gap estimation with additional measures

Only if the appraisal of the cost of additional measures is available

Effectivness Sustainability

Which measures counteract the most impacting drivers?

Which measures will presumably fill the gap?

Benefit Analysis: Cost & Benefit Analysis

Can additional measures be fully implemented in compliance with the deadlines required by the WFG?

Are measures financed by other plans? For example by RDPs

Efficiency

Which measures minimize costs?

Which measures can be implemented in shorter time?

Step #5 – Gap estimation with additional measures

Question #2

?Exemption/Extended deadline - Art. 4.4 good

status by 2027

NO

Is the gap filled by additional measures?

ENV COST

YES

Exemption under Art. 4.5

LESS STRINGENT OBJECTIVE

?PPP

Internalized

FCR

DISPROPORTIONATE COST

Factors which support the choice of an exemption under Art. 4.4 (extendeddeadline)

Presence of urban agglomeration under infringement procedure

Presence of water quality dependent Protected Areas

Presence of uses which require high water quality and quantity standards

Additional measures can be on the verge of economic sustainability or above its threshold. But these factors strongly support the choice of an extended deadline in that they include environmental and social aspects

Step #6 - Extended deadline or less stringent objective

Factors which support the choice of an exemption under Art. 4.5 (less stringent objective)

Presence of relevant manifacturing activities

AWB or HMWB

Disproportionate Cost:• different combinations were appraised but none is sustainable• costs outweigh benefits• costs outweigh benefits by an appreciable and reliable margin (i.e. higher than the estimate of

error)• sectors which should contribute cannot bear the costs because of affordability issues

Step #6 - Extended deadline or less stringent objective

Other factors to justify exemptions under Art. 4.6 - To be taken into consideration!

Step #7 - Appraise of Extreme phenomena

Extreme events (prolonged drought, floods) in the last six years

Water scarcity caused by agricultural uses

ARNOcase study

water abstractionpermits reduction

UPP

Incentive pricing

hystorical timeseries

ERC - Resource cost

climate change scenarios

quantitative indicators and their thresholds

Grant Agreement No. 07.0329/2013/671279/SUB/ENV.C.1

Preliminary results

Apportionement of different drivers to the

gap

“Grey water”

“Blue water”

Preliminary results - Regione Toscana

PPP?

Ongoing measures are expected to drop the gap by 40%

Gap contribution Costs of on going measuresTransCIVIND

FCR?

Additional measures – cost estimation

Preliminary results - Regione Toscana

Additional measures are expected to drop the gap further by another 30%

TransCIVAGRIND

Updated drivers’ apportionment  (pollution load + water exploitation) to the gap

PPP?

FCR?

Developing Water Accounts Tools

Creation of a "system"openshareddocumentedeasy to proofeasy to update

It means:on the webSQL standardin a non-proprietary

(free) formatusing URI/URL to

identify thingslinkable to external

sources

Use of different data sources with (very) different data formats

Use well defined procedure for data elaboration

Combine heterogeneous data (temporal and spatial scale)

Make easy a constant update of the tables

Water Accounts: additional issues

Abstraction data

Water Accounts: additional issues

Platform independent

Data access: SQL standard

GeoNetwork platform for metadata management

Compatibility with a list of desktop/server GIS tools

Water Accounts: addtional issues

MOBIDICHydrologic model

Water Accounts: climate change impact evaluation

Fully distributed, physical based parameters

Climate change scenarios

Water Accounts: climate change impact evaluation

Water Accounts: climate change impact evaluation

Testing measure's effectsin a climate change scenario

Water Accounts: climate change impact evaluation

Thank you!

www.adbarno.it

pawa.emwis.net

www.appenninosettentrionale.itGrant Agreement No. 07.0329/2013/671279/SUB/ENV.C.1

Disclaimer. The views expressed in this presentation do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission