Current situation
Water is one of the most precious resources of Europe. Its long-term management will mark the level of civilisation achieved. Water does not know any administrative boundary and thus requires a harmonised pan European approach for its sustainable management. Surface waters such as rivers, lakes, oceans, ice-caps, or glaciers help to regulate the climate, act as biological pools and provide the habitat for resilient ecological networks. Groundwater sustains year-round river flows and provides clean water for human consumption.
Europe has done a lot to try to protect this resource in the last thirty years. As a result, most heavily polluted rivers have been improved mainly through better waste water treatment.
But Europe is still failing to tackle the increasing use of our water resources from growing production and consumption:
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Aquatic ecosystems are further deteriorating: the subtle effects of the chemical cocktail that society releases into the environment are far from being understood. Very small amounts can dramatically change ecosystems, as in the case of hormone-mimicking chemicals. The damaging impact of physical changes, like dams, weirs and embankments, has only recently been recognised and largely contributes to the findings of Member States that around 50% of rivers, lakes and coastal waters will fail to achieve good ecological status.
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Drinking water resources are at risk: 87% of groundwater is polluted from agricultural activities.
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Resource conflicts are growing: competing demands for agriculture, tourism and urban supply are increasing, and major changes are expected in the availability of the resource due to climate change.
See also European Environment Agency's Indicator-Based Assessment for more information on the EEA website.
The current state of aquatic ecosystems highlights the need for a more integrated and holistic approach to water management. While households are paying for their water services, the big polluters like agriculture contribute very little. Water services for energy production (cooling water or hydropower), business (flood control) and navigation (river deepening and straightening) rarely pay the full costs of those services, let alone the damage to the environment.
Recognising these problems, and willing to provide a new framework for water protection, in 2000 the European Union passed the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC197 (WFD) which sets a number of legal obligations, including an assessment system with comparable ecological status data for all European waters and the delivering of specific ecological objectives. It also provides an umbrella for all water-related European legislation.
What is the EEB doing?
The WFD is a major step towards sustainable water management by asking for long-term and integrated river basin planning and achieving a holistic “good ecological and chemical status” by 2015.
Since 1997, the EEB coordinates a Working Group of experts and campaigners from its member organisations. The Working Group has closely followed and influenced the formulating of the WFD and is now working on the ambitious and effective implementation. The Working Group serves also as a platform to exchange information across Europe.
The EEB, together with the WWF, has carried out a detailed assessment of the economic analysis of water uses to be carried out in each river basin under Article 5 of the WFD. The quality of these economic assessments should ensure a basis to establish sound water pricing policies which make the polluters pay and make the market work for the protection of the aquatic environment. The assessment however, found that at least 11 Member States are failing to meet the WFD's legal requierements. It was on the basis of this assessment that a joint complaint was send to the European Commission on July 17, 2006.
Further, the EEB plays an important role in clarifying the meaning of the Directive for NGOs, and in explaining the implications of the different elements of the Directive's policy on national activities. The EEB Handbook on EU Water Policy under the Water Framework Directive, 2001 and the chapter on water in the EEB’s Policy Handbook, 2005 give a detailed analysis of this rather complex piece of legislation and its political options. The EEB also regularly produces press releases and publications, and organises seminars in order to raise awareness and build NGOs’ capacities in the application of the WFD.
Finally, the development of new EU legislation in the fields of flood protection, groundwater protection and hazardous substances is of major concern to the EEB. Notably the Floods Directive which was agreed in April 2007, is a matter of grave concern as it leaves member states with too much leeway to start a parallel, and possibly conficting with WFD, implementation process which will give too much scope to continue with costly, energy intensive flood defense measure instead of working with natural processes.
The EEB is also active in the current discussions on challenges which have come recently to the political forefront such as adaptation to climate change and water scarcity and droughts. What these challenges are making clear is that continuing with business as usual is no longer an option. A sometimes radical departure from past unsustainable practices is urgently needed. With an ambitious implementation of the WFD we could achieve just that.
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