scholarly journals Agricultural Diffuse Pollution and the EU Water Framework Directive: Problems and Progress in Governance

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2590
Author(s):  
Daan Boezeman ◽  
Mark Wiering ◽  
Ann Crabbé
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Diffuse Pollution ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Policy Integration ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
Sources Of Pollution ◽  
Governance Arrangements ◽  
The Eu

Progress has been made on improving Europe’s water quality. Nevertheless, there is much scepticism as to whether the goals of the European Water Framework Directive will be realised by 2027. Addressing diffuse agricultural sources of pollution remains a persistent problem. The Special Issue “Water Quality and Agricultural Diffuse Pollution in Light of the EU Water Framework Directive” aims to advance the understanding of the different governance arrangements European Member States developed to address this problem. The contributions in this Special Issue focus on governance arrangements in Denmark, England, Flanders/Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Poland, The Netherlands, Norway and Scotland. The contributions address three themes. First, the contributions signal serious concerns with policy integration across policy domains. Second, it appears to be tough to prioritise source-based measures over effect-based measures of all sorts despite the principles embedded in the Directive. Third, scientific knowledge is an important ally for water interests, yet politicisation in power struggles looms. The contributions in the Special Issue offer reflections on the open, participatory, experimentalist governance that the WFD exemplifies. While most authors agree that this path is attractive and appropriate in some respects, questions can be raised as to whether it also avoids confrontations and hampers the effectiveness of policies.

scholarly journals Optimisation of the Monitoring Strategy of Macroinvertebrate Communities in the River Dender, in Relation to the EU Water Framework Directive

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 607-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom P. D’heygere ◽  
Peter L.M. Goethals ◽  
Niels De Pauw
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Nutrient Loads ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Monitoring Strategy ◽  
Biological Water ◽  
River Types ◽  
Biological Water Quality ◽  
The Eu

The Dender basin in Flanders (Belgium) was used as a case study to implement the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive. During the last 5 years, ample research on pollution loads and ecological water quality has been done on the Dender River. In addition to biological sampling of macroinvertebrates and fish, automated measurement stations were also used to investigate the spatial-temporal variability of the physical-chemical water quality. This research revealed that the pollution of the Dender River is highly variable. The high nutrient loads result in severe algae blooms during summer, leading to very complex diurnal processes. In this paper, the monitoring strategy for the assessment of the biological water quality in the Dender basin has been reviewed in relation to the EU Water Framework Directive. For this, seasonal macroinvertebrate data were collected and assessed. General trends and hidden structures in these data were analysed by means of classification trees, using different inputs (seasons, river types, and subbasins). Validation of the results was obtained by applying statistical methods. Analysis about the presence and abundance of the macroinvertebrates revealed that there is a distinct difference between the biological water quality in the Dender stem river and its tributaries. There are also seasonal differences between the macroinvertebrate communities when the Dender and its tributaries are examined separately. An optimised monitoring strategy is proposed based on these results and the EU Water Framework Directive. This includes two monitoring campaigns in summer and winter every 3 years. Furthermore, a cyclic monitoring scheme was developed to minimise sampling efforts.

Science-policy integration needs in support of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Quevauviller ◽  
Panagiotis Balabanis ◽  
Christos Fragakis ◽  
Marco Weydert ◽  
Michael Oliver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Science Policy ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Policy Integration ◽  
The Eu

scholarly journals Going with the flow: Integrated Water Resources Management, the EU Water Framework Directive and ecological flows

Legal Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Howarth
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Water Legislation ◽  
Ecological Flows ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis paper seeks to relate strategic themes in water resources management to the practicalities of imposing particular regulatory measures on water uses and to protect aquatic ecosystems. Specifically, a contrast is drawn between the global imperative of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and the sectoral (issue-by-issue) approach to water regulation that has traditionally prevailed in both regional (EU) and national legislation. The intuitive attractions of ‘integration’ are contrasted with the challenges of interrelating this to the diverse purposes for which water legislation is adopted, both for human needs and for ecological purposes. These challenges are well illustrated in the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) which purports to adopt an ‘integrated’ approach, but is actually concerned with water quality, largely to the exclusion of other water-related concerns. Insofar as the Directive does seek to secure integration between water quality and water quantity concerns in surface water, this is only done in a secondary or incidental way. Water flow becomes relevant only where specified environmental objectives under the Directive are not being met. However, the legally contingent status of flow has been bolstered markedly by recent guidance on ecological flows under the WFD Common Implementation Strategy. The significance of this guidance is discussed and related to the implementation challenges that it raises. In relation to the UK, and particularly England, it is argued that the response to addressing water flow issues arising under the WFD had been dilatory and inadequate. Concluding observations reflect on the global, regional and national challenges to integration of water legislation as they have been illustrated by the discussion of regulating for ecological water flows.

The construction of reference conditions under the EU Water Framework Directive

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Krueger ◽  
James Linton
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
The People ◽  
False Sense ◽  
Political Realities ◽  
The Eu

<p>With this contribution we connect to the 3<sup>rd</sup> theme of the session, ‘hydrology as practiced within society’. Based on our recent article Linton & Krueger (2020), we demonstrate how the reference conditions and subsequent water quality targets under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) do not exist ‘out there’, waiting to be discovered, but are outcomes of complex negotiations between hydrological, ecological, technical and socio-political realities.</p><p>Treating reference conditions and targets as naturally given, as WFD implementation does at least implicitly, upholds a false sense of authority that obscures the manifold choices in the creation of the reference conditions while denying the people charged with implementing the targets or having to live with the resulting water quality an influence over those choices.</p><p>We argue that the concept of reference conditions must be abandoned in a world were water everywhere bears the traces of human presence. Instead, water quality targets should be set openly, location-specific and involving those for whom water quality is a matter of concern. We will give examples from other jurisdictions where such an approach is established practice.</p><p>References</p><p>Linton, J. and Krueger, T. (2020), The Ontological Fallacy of the Water Framework Directive: Implications and Alternatives. Water Alternatives, 13(3): 513-533.</p>

scholarly journals Land-use and agriculture in Denmark around year 1900 and the quest for EU Water Framework Directive reference conditions in coastal waters

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bent T. Christensen ◽  
Birger F. Pedersen ◽  
Jørgen E. Olesen ◽  
Jørgen Eriksen
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims to protect the ecological status of coastal waters. To establish acceptable boundaries between good and moderate ecological status, the WFD calls for reference conditions practically undisturbed by human impact. For Denmark, the nitrogen (N) concentrations present around year 1900 have been suggested to represent reference conditions. As the N load of coastal waters relates closely to runoff from land, any reduction in load links to agricultural activity. We challenge the current use of historical N balances to establish WFD reference conditions and initiate an alternative approach based on parish-level land-use statistics collected 1896/1900 and N concentrations in root zone percolates from experiments with year 1900-relevant management. This approach may be more widely applicable for landscapes with detailed historic information on agricultural activity. Using this approach, we find an average N concentration in root zone percolates that is close to that of current agriculture. Thus, considering Danish coastal waters to be practically unaffected by human activity around year 1900 remains futile as 75% of the land area was subject to agricultural activity with a substantial potential for N loss to the environment. It appears unlikely that the ecological state of coastal waters around year 1900 may serve as WFD reference condition.

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