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Integrated water management
Sustainable and integrated water management plays a substantial role in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the EU 7th Environment Action Programme (7th EAP), and the achievement of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy. Three areas are offering substantial opportunities to improve implementation and support to the achievement of WFD objectives and they are highlighted below.
Protection of Europe's aquatic ecosystems and their services
Concern has grown over the past decades about the rate at which biodiversity is declining and its consequences for the functioning of ecosystems and the services they provide. Many opportunities exist for improving implementation and maximizing synergies between environmental policies relevant for the protection of the water environment. In particular, EU policies on water and the marine environment, nature and biodiversity are closely linked, and together they form the backbone of environmental protection of Europe's ecosystems and their services.
The use of management concepts such as the ecosystem services approach and ecosystem based management can offer ways to improve coordination by setting a more common language and framework to evaluate trade-offs between the multiple benefits that healthy water bodies offer.
Restoring degraded water ecosystems
Nowadays, water management increasingly includes ecological concerns, working with natural processes. This is in line with the objective of the 7th EAP 'to protect, conserve and enhance the Union's natural capital'. It is also consistent with Target 2 of the EU's Biodiversity Strategy that aims to ensure maintenance of ecosystems and their services by establishing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15 % of degraded ecosystems by 2020.
Restoring aquatic ecosystems such as 'making room for the river', river restoration or floodplain rehabilitation, 'coastal zone restoration projects' and integrated coastal zone management has multiple benefits for the water ecosystems. Synergies between policies can be important in restoring aquatic ecosystems.
Integration of water aspects into sector policies
From the assessment of status, and in particular from the assessment of pressures and impacts, it is evident that the driving forces behind achievement or non-achievement of good status are activities in sectoral areas like agriculture, energy or transport. This integration throughout the river basin is enhanced, for example, by better cooperation between competent authorities, better involvement of stakeholders and early participation of the public.
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Previous comments
"Synergies between policies can be important in restoring aquatic ecosystems."
... but different legal obligations may end in different requirements regarding restoration a/o modification.
"Integration of water aspects into sector policies":
Early involvement of all concerned stakeholders, definition of precise measures incl. implementation obligations (and incl. financial support)
SK: Page 10, last paragraph: Industry should be also mentioned as a driving force in a sectoral areas.
"...aims to ensure maintenance of ecosystems and their services by establishing green infrastructure and restoring...": This message is very apreciated, putting the water policy into perspective in the biodiversity policy.