Lecture 12: European Water Framework Directive and Water Quality Flashcards
What is the goal and ambiations of the EU Water Framework Directive (2000)?
Aim: to protect and restore the European water environment via partcipatory and integrative river basin management.
Deals with surface/groundwater in different ways to achieve good status of all water bodies
Objectives:
* prevent deterioration and enhance status of aquatic ecosystems
* Promote sustainable water use
* reduce pollution
* contribute to the mitigation of floods and droughts
How is good status operationalized in the framework with surface water/ groundwater
Surface water: ecological and chemical status
Groundwater: chemical and quantitative status
name the purpose and a startegy of the Groundwater directive
Aim: to protect groundwater against pollution and deterioration.
Strategy: quality standards and introduces measures to prevent or limit inputs of pollutants into groundwater
Strategies of the WFD
Dividing in catchment areas to make a holistic approach for protecting the whole body of water its source, tributatries and river mouth.
the WFD distinguishes between three types of waters. Explain them
Natural waters: objective: HIgh or Good ecological status
Artificial waters: maximum ecological potential
Heavily modified waters: good ecological potential.
How can public participation improve the environmental quality of the decisions?
Through:
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opening up decision-making to environmental concerns
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incorporating environmentally relevant lay or local knowledge
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fostering learning, innovation and creative solutions and producing common-good oriented solutions and mutual gains
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improve implementation and compliance by producing more feasibly implementable decisions
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generate acceptance among stakeholders
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resolve stakeholder conflicts and conflicts of interest
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build trust and social capital relevant for implementation
What is the RBMP?
River basin management plans. The main tool of the WFD.
* identifying issues
* determining quality objectives
* actions to reach the objectives
Does the WFD support a shift towards more integrated resource management?
yes, it considers and coordinates with policy in multiple sectors (e.g. agriculture, conservation, fisheries, energy etc…)
* balancing social and ecological concerns in river basins.
Why does the WFD attempt to transition to a system of ecosystem-based WRM in river basins?
Because they wanted good status of all water bodies. That starts with the ecosystem and the ecological quality.
What does a ‘Good status’ imply?
That all parameters must be in at least good status: chemical, ecological, quantitative pressures and pollutants.
Why focus on ecosystem based river basin management?
Human induced changes have resulted in damage to the morphology and hydrology of water bodies. –> rivers are diluters for waste water discharged and ecosystems, these have to be protected.
What are main physical pollutants?
Solids (suspended and dissolved)
Thermal pollution
Main chemical pollutants?
-Toxic metals e.g. AMD
-Pathogens and carcinogens
-Pharmaceutical products
-Poisonous chemicals e.g. Chlorine, arsenic, benzene, fluoride, . . .
Radioactive contamination (radium&uranium in small amounts from rock and soil)
- nutriënts (nitrogen and phosphorus)
sources: effluent, fertilizers, agricultural waste, urban runoff
Tell me the water quality scale (BOD)
1 -2 Very Good: not much organic matter in water supply
3-5 Fair: moderately clean
6-9 poor: somehwat polluted, organic matter present.
100 +: Very poor: very polluted, contains organic matter
How does groundwater become polluted?
Surface and subsufrace contaminant generated by man-made discharges and leachates.
Agriculturle: nitrogen pollution. as nitrogen enters the hydrologic circle.
