2. Introduction

General comments on the introduction chapter  

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2.  Introduction

Water resource management in Europe is complex owing to the diverse geo-physical, climatic, socio-economic, and political realities that exist across member states. Water is generally abundant in much of the region, but it is also unevenly distributed in both time and space, with large areas experiencing increasing levels of water scarcity and drought (EEA 2010a), and particular locations are more at risk of flooding. Climate change is predicted to further exacerbate this in certain areas (IPCC 2012), however the exact changes and impacts are uncertain and are difficult to isolate from the more direct anthropogenic stressors. At the European level a multitude of freshwater assessments have been made available, driven by the State of the Environment Reporting (SoER), and supported by the EU and other international organisations. These assessments have primarily focused on the states and pressures of European waters, but recent assessment (EEA 2011b) has showed their scope to be too narrow, requiring a shift in focus towards management and measures.

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Within the EU there has been a gradual shift in water policy from simply addressing human health and economic damage concerns towards a more holistic understanding the environmental impacts of water users and addressing the needs of the environment. This is epitomized in the adoption of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) (EC 2000) and its emphasis on ‘good ecological status’ or ‘good ecological potential’ (GES/GEP). However, while the legislative framework is deemed adequate, fundamental weaknesses in implementation and conflicts that exist between water and other existing EU policies outside of the environmental sphere have been identified in the Blueprint to safeguard Europe’s water resources consultation document (EC 2012). There have also been few attempts to assess the vulnerability of European waters to future change when assessing the potential impacts of climate change on freshwater resources. This has been a key focus of the IPCC Climate Change and Water Technical Paper (IPCC, Bates, et al. 2008) and more recently the IPCC special report on managing the risk of extreme events (IPCC 2012).

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Environmental flows as an indicator of achieving GES/GEP, and how this concept relates to the provision of and sustainability of ecological services, is a particular area where policy increasingly has to acknowledge the complexity of natural systems and inadequacy of exiting legislation at defining the concept. Understanding and accounting for the direct and indirect benefits provided by Europe’s freshwater ecosystems are increasingly becoming understood as essential elements in ensuring holistic policy decisions and identifying policy trade-offs such as between the WFD and the Floods Directive (EC 2007c). Identifying the vulnerability and susceptibility of freshwater ecosystem receptors to anthropogenic and climate pressures is critical in assessing such water management policy trade-offs. Ensuring sustainable management of European waters, reducing the vulnerability of society to water related hazards, and achieving GES/GEP requires a greater understanding of how mankind is connected to these complex systems and planning for an uncertain future. Incorporating the connectivity that exists between society and ecosystems with the uncertainty surrounding climate change, will require policy decisions that incorporate a greater role for risk and vulnerability assessment in planning activities.

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2.1.    Why a thematic assessment on Vulnerability

There exist numerous challenges in attaining the Water Framework Directive (WFD) objectives (EC 2000, art. 4) and the EU response is to provide a range of policy options to be embedded in the “Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water”. The proposed aim of the Blueprint is to outline a strategy that will ensure good quality water in sufficient quantities for all legitimate uses by 2020. It will also present a future vision towards 2050 in order to influence long-term policy development. The Blueprint will synthesise policy recommendations resulting from the assessment of River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs), the vulnerability of water resources to climate change and other pressures, the review of the EU action on Water scarcity and drought, and a comprehensive fitness check of the overall EU water policy to achieve this ambitious objective.

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Europe’s waters have been identified as being vulnerable to a diverse set of anthropogenic pressures (EEA (report under preparation) 2012a). Surface freshwaters are affected by major modifications - such as water flow regulation (e.g. dams, weirs, sluices or locks) water abstractions and morphological alterations, straightening and canalisations. These hydro-morphological pressures comprise all physical alterations of water bodies that modify their shores, riparian and littoral zones, water level and flow. They are the most commonly occurring pressure and impact on rivers, lakes and transitional waters in Europe; affecting half of river and transitional water bodies and 30 % of the lake water bodies (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1 Proportion of classified water bodies (rivers and lakes) in River Basin Districts affected by hydro-morphological pressures

Source: (EEA (report under preparation) 2012a)

  • mohauvol (Volker Mohaupt) 23 Aug 2012 20:23:42

    Could you please clarify whether the data are used, are the data of the river basin community or of the member states. The presentation of the data should use data related to the river basin. At the moment, it seems that the data are mixed.

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In addition to hydro-morphological changes, more than half the surface water bodies in Europe are reported in the 1st cycle RBPMs as not meeting GES or GEP, requiring mitigation measures in order to meet WFD objectives (Figure 2.2). The main pressure responsible for this is diffuse pollution causing nutrient enrichment. An in depth analysis of the pressures, status and impact can be found in the ‘European Waters: Assessment of Status and Pressures’ report (EEA (report under preparation) 2012a).

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Water scarcity and extreme hydrological events in the form of droughts and floods are also contributing factors to not meeting GES and GEP. These water resource issues are discussed in detail in chapters 4 and 5. Too little or too much water impacts almost all economic sectors; including agriculture, energy supply, drinking water supply, industry and tourism. But managing water resources sustainably also means ensuring that ecosystems have the quality and quantity of water required to function and maintain natural processes.

Figure 2.2 Proportion of classified water bodies (rivers and lakes) in River Basin Districts found to be in less than good ecological status or potential

Source: (EEA (report under preparation) 2012a)

  • mohauvol (Volker Mohaupt) 23 Aug 2012 20:24:15

    Could you please clarify whether the data are used, are the data of the river basin community or of the member states. The presentation of the data should use data related to the river basin. At the moment, it seems that the data are mixed.

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More about resource-efficiency technologies, economic instruments and the water-energy-food nexus can be found in the ‘Towards efficient use of water resources in Europe’ report (EEA 2012b). This report focuses on the drivers of climate change and land use changes and more specific how they effect on floods and water scarcity. This report builds on earlier EEA reports describing the state of Europe's water resources and the pressures they face (EEA 2009; EEA 2010a; EEA 2011a).

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2.2.    Water quantity policies

EU water policy as formulated in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is based on the objective of achieving good status of all EU waters by 2015 and looks in detail to chemical and biological status, as well as changes in hydro-morphology - expressed as ecological status. Except for groundwater the WFD is not directly designed to address quantitative water issues, although its goal includes mitigation of drought effects and its environmental objectives include finding a balance between abstraction and recharge of groundwater. Thus water quantity is only implicitly taken into account by requiring environmental flow boundaries to sustain freshwater ecosystems.

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In 2007, with the Floods Directive (EC 2007c), legislation came into force to reduce the risk of adverse consequences from flooding, especially for human health and life, the environment, cultural heritage, economic activity and infrastructure. The Floods Directive refers explicitly to the WFD for its contribution to mitigate the effects of floods. However, reducing the risk of floods is not one of the principal objectives of the WFD, nor does it take into account the future changes in the risk of flooding as a result of climate change.

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Development of river basin management plans under the WFD and of flood risk management plans under the Floods Directive are elements of integrated river basin management. The two processes should therefore use the mutual potential for common synergies and benefits, having regard to the environmental objectives of the WFD. To make coordination in between both directives feasible, reporting time lines are brought in line with each other.

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In 2007 the European Commission published a communication on water scarcity and droughts (EC 2007b) that addressed the main challenges together with recommendations. Several of the economic issues mentioned are dealt with in a recent EEA report ‘Towards efficient use of water resources in Europe’ (EEA 2012b).These include putting the right price tag on water, considering additional water supply infrastructures, fostering water efficient technologies and practices, and fostering the emergence of a water-saving culture in Europe Other aspects are assessed in more detail within this publication. A particularly important aspect is land use planning, which together with climate change is considered one of the main drivers of increasing droughts and water scarcity. As a result of knowledge improvement water accounts and an advanced Water Exploitation Index (WEI+) for Europe are presented in chapter 4.

  • ernst.ueberreiter@lebensministerium.at (invited by Wouter Vanneuville) 24 Aug 2012 13:35:00

    Considering the hierarchical approach to prefer demand measures before supply measures "considering additional water supply infrastructures" should be given lower priority in comparison to e.g. "fostering water efficiency technologies" and therefore be moved to the end of the sentence.  

    • vannewou (Wouter Vanneuville) 24 Aug 2012 16:02:17

      Considering the hierarchical approach to prefer demand measures before supply measures "considering additional water supply infrastructures" should be given lower priority in comparison to e.g. "fostering water efficiency technologies" and therefore be moved to the end of the sentence.  

      order of examples is changed and hierarchy is made explicit

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2.3.    Structure of this report

This report is part of a series of thematic assessments that the EEA is publishing in 2012 ([1]) to support discussion and development of the 'Blueprint to safeguard Europe's Water Resources'.

[1] An overview of all 2012 publications on water can be found:

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Chapter 3 outlines a framework for assessing freshwater vulnerability and the resilience of ecosystem services – unpacking the terminology and background science and exploring through examples why they are important. The approach of combining hazards and vulnerabilities in risk management is extended by considering concepts of ecological resilience and vulnerability.

Chapter 4 focuses on the pressures, state and outlook of Europe’s freshwater, especially regarding actual situation and changes in floods and droughts. Sustainable water resource management requires knowledge in the form of robust data and indicators that can show the links between water management, social and economic benefits, and ecosystems services. In this chapter, the advanced water exploitation index, the so-called WEI+, is presented.

In chapter 5 the economic, social and ecologic impacts of floods and water scarcity and droughts are discussed. It deals with demand and supply-side management strategies and gives some potential categories of measures for sustainable water quantity management.


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