Dr Johan Schutten SEPA Scotland Wetlands and groundwater; overview and way forward Dr Johan Schutten SEPA Scotland 6

Wetlands and groundwater (1) Special session during the April 2009 HydroEco conference, Vienna: 10+ EU countries presented experience with the wetland component of WFD implementation All countries had serious difficulties in determining Where the wetlands are If and how much the wetlands depend on groundwater What quantity and chemical thresholds are available to determine ‘significant damage’

Wetlands and groundwater (2) IWRM-net Wetland and WFD meeting at RAMSAR offices, November 2009, Gland; Main outcome: Main research needs across EU Where are the ground water dependent wetlands Can we develop a common EU typology for wetlands (all call same type of wetlands the same) What quantity and chemical thresholds are available to determine ‘significant damage’ How do we determine that the ‘Significant damage’ is caused by the status of the groundwater body. IWRM-net has set up Knowledge exchange platform

Way forward…. Develop a common typology for wetlands. Considerable work has been done to link current EU wetland types for nature conservation purposes. This needs bringing together to a useable wetland typology fit for purpose. Develop a EU wide approach on identifying wetland classification triggers and threshold values. Most individual countries do not hold enough data, and cross EU comparison is essential (analogous to inter-calibration in surface water bodies). Thus propose (a) to develop a ‘meta database during 2010’ that contains info on who holds what environmental info for what type of wetland. Interested people – please contact Hans Schutten. (b) compare and discuss development of thresholds (using the outcome of the ‘meta database’ during workshops in 2011 (GENESIS, Finland workshop January 2011; ? Workshop during HydroEco2011 in Vienna?? or focussed IWRM-net workshops.. Wetland staff need use WG-C structure and contacts to quickly develop expert network! hold workshop to discuss experience in defining ‘significant damage’ and work towards a common approach (maybe use GW-C Brussel meeting in October?)