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EuropeanWater Policy

Getting Europe‘s waters cleaner,

Getting the citizens more involved.

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Water quality is a general problem

in many European countries, in addition

to water resources stress, in particular

in the southern part of Europe.

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Diversity of river basins

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TITLE

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Shared River Basins – example Danube

Danube river basin: 18 countries, 817.000 km2 catchment area© World Bank

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Quality Objectivesin the EU Water Policy

• ‘70s first Directives

Setting objectives (mostly chemical parameters) to protect certain uses:

– Bathing water

76/160/EEC

– Abstraction of drinking water

75/440/EEC

– Drinking water

80/778/EEC

– Fish life

78/659/EEC

– Shellfish

79/923/EEC

• Other related Directives reduce and prevent pollution: nitrates from

agriculture, urban waste water treatment, dangerous substances)

• The Water Framework Directive

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European Water Policy

• Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)

• Completing the framework:– Groundwater (2006/118/EC)– Priority Substances (COM(2006)397 publication on going )– Intercalibration (2005/646/EC publication on going,)

• Extending the scope:– Floods Directive (2007/60/EC)– Marine Strategy Directive (2008/56/EC)– Communication on Water Scarcity and Droughts

(COM/2007/0414 final )

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The Water Framework Directive

• Adopted in 2000• Applies to all Member States• Legally binding obligations• Repeals many existing pieces of EU

water policy,but• Providing consolidation and

streamlining.

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One coherent management frame for all water-related legislation

Bathing WaterDirective

Groundwater

Habitats Directive

Marine

strategy

PesticidesDirective

IPPCDirective

NitratesDirective

Urban Waste Water Directive

Env. Impact

Assessment Directive Sewage Sludge

Directive

Drinking WaterDirective

WFDobjectives

andprogramme of

measures

Climate change Floods

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WFD scope and main objective

• Scope :– Inland, transitional, coastal waters and for chemical

status territorial waters– Surface waters (rivers, lakes, artificial water bodies) &

Ground waters

• Good status in 2015– Ecological status (Determined through intercalibration

exercise…)– Chemical status (Priority substances, ongoing

negotiations on environmental quality standards)– Quantiative status (ground water)– No deterioration– Exemptions, 1st time extension, then lowering

environmental objectives

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The River Basin Concept

• All water bodies, including transitional waters (estuaries) and coastal waters.

• Coastal waters are defined as 1 nautical mile offshore.

• For chemical status the WFD also applies in territorial waters.

WFD Covers all Water

Bodies in a River Basin

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• Protecting all waters, surface and ground waters• Covering all impacts on waters.• Water quality defined in terms of biology, chemistry and

morphology• Water management at river basin level• Definition of river basin management plans, including

programmes of measures• Cost Recovery and Equitable Charging• Public Participation• Attention paid to socio-economic impacts through a process of

duly justified exemptions

WFD - Key elements

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Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May

1991,

as amended by Commission Directive 98/15/EC of 27

February 1998

The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive

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• Objectives: to protect the environment from the adverse effects of urban waste water discharges & discharges from waste water from certain industrial (agro-food) sectors

• Concerns the collection, treatment and discharge of waste waters

• Emission-oriented directive

• Precondition for attaining the water quality objectives of the Water Framework Directive

UWWTD - Generalities

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UWWTD - Generalities

Pre-TRPre-TR

Agro-food Agro-food

WWTPWWTP

Agro-food Agro-food >4,000p.e.>4,000p.e.

Food-

processing

WWT

Plant

UWWT Plant

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UWWTD – Agglomeration

• Sufficiently concentrated area

• Independant of the existence of a collecting system or a UWWTP

• Does not coincide necessarily with administrative borders

• Guidance document on key terms and concepts : « Terms and definitions of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) »

• Clear map (1/25,000 ) should be provided

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• Designation of sensitive areas (eutrophication)

• Collection and treatment of waste water in all settlements areas and areas of economic activity (‘ agglomerations ’) of more than 2,000 population-equivalent (p.e.), and treatment of waste water from agro-food industry >4000 p.e.;

• Secondary treatment as the rule; additional nutrient removal in the (catchments of) sensitive areas;

• Deadlines for EU-15 : staged 1998-2000-2005 for EU-12 : staged along similar principles as for EU15 (maximum 2015 for small agglomerations; Romania until 2018)

• Permit procedure for treatment plants and discharges

• Monitoring of performance on treatment plants and affected waters;

UWWTD - Main principles

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UWWTD Implementation Status

• EU-15 (4th implementation report, 2002)– Estimate : 22,000 agglomerations > 2,000 p.e. (550 M p.e.) – 8,200 agglomerations (470 M p.e) > 10,000/15,000 p.e. subject to 1998 and

2000 deadlines– Unsufficient designation of sensitive areas (situation improved in 2007) – Compliance rate with required treatment level :

• 79% in normal areas• 84% in sensitive areas

• EU-12 (according to Implementation Programmes)– 6,600 agglomerations > 2,000 p.e. ( 120 M p.e.)– Compliance rate for all agglomerations: +/- 40% by dates of Accession

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-Terms and definitions of the UWWTD : http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/env/wfd/library?l=/frameworkhttp://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/env/wfd/library?l=/framework_directive/treatment_directive/definitions-160107pdf/_directive/treatment_directive/definitions-160107pdf/_EN_1.0_&a=d_EN_1.0_&a=d

UWWTD Implementation Reports :UWWTD Implementation Reports :http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-urbanwaste/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-urbanwaste/implementation/implementationreports_en.htmimplementation/implementationreports_en.htm

-DG ENV Water website : http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/index_en.htm

UWWTD – Useful links

water.europa.euSlide 20

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Climate Change and Water

Successful adaptation to climate change will depend

on the extent to which the issue is integrated:

into the implementation of national and European

water regulation

and

into other sectoral policies (agriculture, energy,

etc.).

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Climate Change and Water

Impact on:

River flows

Groundwater (recharge rates)

Sea-level rise

Floods

Droughts

Water quality

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Droughts

Temporary decrease in water availability due – for instance

– to rainfall deficiency

Natural phenomenon

Impacts of droughts in case of water scarcity

Water scarcity

Water demand for human activities exceeds water resources available

and the natural recharge

Human-driven phenomenon

Impacts of water scarcity in case of drought

Water Scarcity & Drought

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1. Increasing impacts of water scarcity and droughts in past 30 years

Droughts

EU area affected by droughts in the last 30 years

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

km²

Water scarcity

33 EU river basins affected so far

Min 100 Mio inhab., 17% of EU territory

Significant extension in past 30 years

Cost to the EU economy: Min € 100 billion in past 30 years

In 2003:Min 100 Mio inhab., 1/3 of EU territoryCost of € 8.7 billion to the EU economy

Water Scarcity & Drought

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2. Expected impacts of climate change and economic development

Proportion of severe water stress EU river basins likely to increase from 19% today to 35% by 2070.

Areas affected by droughts will increase.

If t° rises by 2 to 3°C, water scarcity would affect 1.1 to 3.2 billion people

Southern Europe

Eastern Central Europe

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Climate Change and Water

Climate change is not explicitly included in the text

of the Water Framework Directive.

However, the step-wise and cyclical approach of the

WFD makes it well suited to handle climate change.

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1. adoption of river basin management plans and programmes of measures

by the end of 2009.

In-depth analysis of the measures planned at MS level to address water

quantity issues

2. Obligation to deliver by 2010 water pricing policies that provide adequate

incentives for efficient water use

Assessment of adequacy of economic instruments and water pricing with

water scarcity and drought concerns

WFD and Water Scarcity & Drought

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Water savings and water demand management must be the priority

Additional water supply infrastructures to be considered only once water

demand options are exhausted, and considering their impacts on the environment

(GHG emissions in particular).

Water savings

Potential for water savings in the EU is estimated as follows (NB in the Mediterranean countries, the potential in agriculture tends to be higher):

• Agriculture: 43%• Public Water Supply: 47%• Household Use (from public supplies): 25%•Industry: 43%• Energy (switch to dry cooling where possible): 99%• Tourism: 38%

EU Water Hierarchy

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Putting the right price tag on water

Allocating water and water-related funding more efficiently

Improving drought risk management

Fostering water efficient technologies and practices

Building additional water supply infrastructures

Changes in land use planning

Water Scarcity & Drought

Policy Options

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EU- Central Asia regional cooperation on Water

• WFD is an example of best practice in water management-Its approach and methodology could usefully transferred to the EECCA countries. Most CA countries in favour of EU harmonisation, which is perceived as a vehicle for further economic growth.

• EU could serve as a facilitator to help our CA partners to gradually find better common water management arrangements by sharing lessons learned and best practices from our Member States.

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EU Water Initiative for EECCA

• Key water problems are addressed through two thematic pillars:

• Water supply and sanitation, including financing of water infrastructures

• Integrated water resources management, including trans-boundary river basin management and regional seas.

EU- CA cooperation in the field of Water

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EU provide:

• Support in the identification of projects to be included in the future cooperative programs with EECCA countries.

• Support in developing of the EU Water Initiative through National Policy Dialogs

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EUWI EU WATER INITIATIVE

http://www.euwi.net

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UWWTD - Load of an agglomeration

– Expressed in population-equivalent (p.e.)

– Includes:

• Resident population (inhabitants)

• Non resident population (i.e. tourism)

• Economic activities

• Industrial activities covered by Art 11 (pretreatment)

• Seasonal variations

– Calculated on the basis of the delineation of the agglomeration. Does not depend on existence of collecting system or UWWTP.

– Growth/decrease in population, industrial discharges,… to be anticipated

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UWW collection

– Collection rate : between 95-100% (of the load of the agglomeration)

– Design, construction and maintenance in accordance with best technical knowledge and cost-benefit considerations, notably regarding

• volume and characteristics of wastewater• prevention of leaks in collecting systems• pollution from stormwater overflows

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UWW collection

– Individual appropriate systems (IAS) can be used as an exception. However they have to provide the same level of environmental protection.

– In case of industries discharging into the collecting systems :

• Pre-treatment needed to protect installations and staff • Prior regulation and/or specific authorisation • Pollution management programme to be provided (inventory,

actions, deadlines)

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UWW treatment

– Secondary treatment (reduction of organic pollution)

• as a general rule (agglo > 15,000 p.e. first)• Requirements in table 1 of Annex 1

– More stringent treatment (so-called tertiary treatment)

• In sensitive areas (and their catchment)• Mostly for agglomerations above 10,000 p.e.• For eutrophication → Advanced N and P removal (requirements in

table 2 of Annex 1)• For drinking water abstraction → NO3 < 50 mg/l• For fulfillment of other EU Directive → e.g. disinfection for bathing

waters or shellfish waters

– Monitoring and control to be put in place (i.e. laboratory capacity)

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• Applies only to agro-food industries above a threshold of 4,000 p.e.)

• Subject to prior regulation and/or specific authorisation

• Setting of appropriate requirements by Member States in permits

1. Milk-processing2. Fruit and vegetable

products3. Soft drinks4. Potato-processing5. Meat industry6. Breweries

7. Alcohol and alcoholic beverages

8. Animal feed from plant products

9. Gelatine, glue from hides, skin and bones

10. Malt-houses11. Fish-processing

UWWTD – Industries effluents

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Sludge management

– Sewage sludge is the most important by-product of waste water treatment

– Options for sludge use: agriculture, landfill, incineration…

– Sludge management is linked to UWW treatment (volume and quality of sludge)

– Sludge management programme to be anticipated/developped when designing the UWW infrastructure

– Clear option for sludge management - to be included in the project application