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Today, the most important piece of European water legislation is the...
Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). It covers all water categories (rivers, lakes, groundwater as well as coastal and transitional waters), and sets clear objectives that:
The Directive is based on the following key principles:
To ensure the achievement of these ambitious objectives and the consistent implementation of the directive in all Member States and across borders, implementation is planned cyclically in a three step process:
The first step cycle includes the preliminary characterisation of water bodies based upon existing geographical, hydrological and quality data. This allows the identification of water bodies that are “at risk” (significant alteration in the ecological quality as a result of human pressures), “possibly at risk” (lack of sufficient information to decide or moderate alteration) and “not at risk” (no or slight alteration). This first assessment also includes economic analysis.
The second step is to design the WFD compatible monitoring network. Based on the results of monitoring, the water body characterisation might be refined, and the status assessment carried out by considering both biological and chemical quality elements. This should be carried out in order to classify the status of the water body as required by the Water Framework Directive.
Finally, River Basin Management Plans should be drafted for all River Basins including specific programmes of measures. Before Management Plans are finalised and reported to the Commission, river basin authorities have to make sure that plans are presented and discussed openly with the public.
The first planning cycle runs until 2009. After which, the plans have to be reviewed every sixth year and revised as appropriate, i.e. if the objectives have not been reached.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/archived/archived-content-water-topic/the-water-framework-directive-structure-and-key-principles or scan the QR code.
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