The Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) is an

EU directive A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires Member state of the European Union, member states to achieve particular goals without dictating how the member states achieve those goals. A directive's goals have to be made the go ...

to establish a framework for the protection of all water bodies (including marine waters up to one

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...

from shore) by 2015. The WFD establishes a programme and timetable for Member States to set up river basin management plans by 2009. The Directive's aim is for all water bodies in EU member states to achieve "good status", with 47% of EU water bodies covered by the Directive failing this standard.

Objectives of the Directive

The Directive aims for "good status" for all ground and surface waters (rivers, lakes, transitional waters, and coastal waters) in the EU. The purpose of the WFD is to prevent deterioration of the water bodies, enhance status of aquatic ecosystems, reduce pollution from priority substances, promote sustainable water use and contribute to mitigate the effects of floods and droughts. The ecological and chemical status of surface waters are assessed according to the following criteria: * Biological quality (fish,

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

invertebrates, aquatic flora) * Hydromorphological quality such as river bank structure, river continuity or substrate of the river bed * Physical-chemical quality such as

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

, oxygenation and nutrient conditions * Chemical quality that refers to environmental quality standards for river basin specific pollutants. These standards specify maximum concentrations for specific water pollutants. If even one such concentration is exceeded, the water body will not be classed as having a “good ecological status”. The Water Framework Directive stipulates that

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

must achieve "good quantitative status" and "good chemical status" by 2015. Groundwater bodies are classified as either "good" or "poor". Ecological quality

ratios In mathematics, a ratio () shows how many times one number contains another. For example, if there are eight oranges and six lemons in a bowl of fruit, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to th ...

are used to determine the water quality status, representing the relationship between measured biological values observed in water bodies, against the relevant reference conditions. A quality ratio of one represents high ecological status, while zero represents bad ecological status. Article 14 of the directive requires member states "to encourage the active involvement of interested parties" in the implementation of the directive. This is generally acknowledged to be an assimilation of the Aarhus Convention. On 26 October 2022, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

published a proposal for amendment of the WFD as well as the 2006 Groundwater Directive (GWD), and the 2008 Environmental Quality Standards Directive (EQSD). The proposal aims to align the directives with the 2020 European Green Deal by updating lists of pollutants, updating quality standards, improving assessment of combination effects and ensuring that the legal framework of the directives can swiftly align with scientific findings.

Spatial management of river basins

The Water Framework Directive defines river basin districts as the main unit for management of river basins. These areas have been designated, not according to administrative or political boundaries, but rather according to the river basin (the spatial catchment area of the river) as a natural geographical and hydrological unit. As rivers often cross national borders, representatives from several Member States have to co-operate and work together for the management of the basin (so-called transboundary basins). They are managed according to River Basin Management Plans, which should provide a clear indication of how the objectives set for the river basin are to be reached within the required timescale. Lists of priority substances and pollutants are reviewed every six years. To facilitate data recording, each stretch of water is given a "Water Framework Directive ID" ("WFDID" or "Waterbody ID"). For example, the stretch of the River Tame, in the West Midlands of England, from the River Blythe to River Anker is designated as GB104028046440.

Transgressions

The

Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

River Transfer, a project from the Spanish National Hydrological Plan of 2001 was highly criticised as being contrary to the principles of the EU Water Framework Directive, and later put on hold. The project planned to transfer huge amounts of water from the Ebro River to the south-east of Spain with the construction of 120 dams. In October 2007, the

formally notified

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

that their initial adoption of legislation was insufficient, followed by a reasoned opinion in November 2011. Ireland adopted amended legislation in 2009, 2010 and 2014, although shortcomings were identified in authorization and registration controls for water abstraction, impoundment and hydromorphology changes, such as dams. Despite new legislation in June and December 2022, the Commission considered the efforts of Irish authorities as unsatisfactory and referred Ireland to the Court of Justice.

WFD in the UK after Brexit

The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017
updated the 2003 framework in England and Wales, with separate regulations applying to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Before the UK joined what was then the "Common Market", water body management was organised by river basins; first by the River Boards, then the River Authorities, then the Water Authorities and finally the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

in England,

Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales () is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Countryside Council for Wales, E ...

in Wales and SEPA in Scotland. This is a long tradition of river basin management which the UK will retain in its approach to the spatial management of river basins. Each River Basin District (RBD) will continue to be required to produce a River Basin Management Plan. An RBD is defined as "the area of land and sea, made up of one or more neighbouring river basins together with their associated groundwaters and coastal waters".

References

External links