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Water resources and spatial planning have for a long time been seen as 2 separate management problems (Valenzuela Montes and Matarán Ruiz 2008). A modern view on land-use policy aims at getting a sustainable harmonization of economic, social, cultural and environmental interests in the society at regional to local level (Viglizzo et al. 2012). Integrated water management regards the spatial correlations between water and spatial development and doing so take into account the WFD (EC 2000) as well as the EU Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (EC 2001). Land use changes can seriously influence both low flows and water availability as floods and inundations, especially when land use changes means sealing of soils and transforming open areas – like agriculture or nature – into urban areas, industrial zones or construction sites often going together with increased soil sealing. Sealing of soils by impervious materials is, normally detrimental to its ecological functions. (Scalenghe and Marsan 2009) as these modifications are fundamental in determining the rate of water intake into the soil. Most soil sealing is anthropogenic covering areas permanently or temporarily. An example of this latest is plastic sealing in agriculture as protective cover to adjust soil temperature, to control erosion or to control weeds. The sealing of surfaces also has evident consequences on neighbouring areas, as they increase the amount and the speed of the runoff water, increasing the risk of ponding and erosion in the unsealed neighbourhoods (Scalenghe and Marsan 2009). In addition the proximity of unsealed areas to pollution sources such as roads exposes them to pollution (Wolf et al. 2007). But an unsealed soil, managed appropriately can buffer (smaller) flooding and mitigate or reduce the transfer of pollutants. When not managed appropriately they can exacerbate problems acting as a source of nutrients, pathogens and sediments polluting groundwater resources. (Haygarth and Ritz 2009)