WFD and Hydromorphology - 4/5 June 2007, Berlin, Germany - CIS-Workshop „WFD and Hydropower“ - 4/5 June 2007, Berlin, Germany - DE/UK WGL

General Information 1st workshop under Phase II (2007-2009) of the CIS activity „WFD and hydromorphological pressures“ Organised by lead countries UK/DE in cooperation with AT and COM as part of programme of the German EU Presidency More than 100 participants from 21 Member States, Norway & Switzerland; the European Commission; 13 stakeholder & non-governmental organisations

Outcome of the Workshop Issue paper were distributed to workshop participants as background document initiating discussions on financial instruments, good practice hydropower use and strategic approaches on priorisation of measures during the workshop Workshop presentations are available online at: http://www.ecologic-events.de/hydropower/presentations.htm Draft key conclusions were presented and updated after last workshop plenary & distributed per email to participants after workshop for comments until 15 June Workshop report with final results and recommendations (in preparation)

Draft key conclusions - General remarks - Existing and forthcoming EU policies promoting HP should clearly consider the ecological impacts on WBs & adjacent wetlands More holistic approaches for HP are needed. Focus should be on catchment level and not only on WB level In the first RBMP, a catchment management system should be developed taking into account all water uses An environmental assessment based on WFD criteria & environmental criteria should be done for all HP plants

Draft key conclusions - Instruments to promote HP & improve water status - National & European instruments promoting HP (e.g. feed-in tariffs, ecolabels) should be linked to ecological criteria for the protection of water status Small & large HP should be treated equally with regard to promotion – size of the HP is not of importance, but the use of basin and site specific WFD criteria We need clear insight into all costs & benefits of HP. This insight will help decisionmaking on hydropower projects and implementing the polluter pays principle Pre-planning mechanisms can facilitate the proper location of suitable areas for new HP projects 3 categories of pre-planning areas were identified: suitable; less favourable; non-favourable areas

Draft key conclusions - Technical approaches for good practice in HP use - Continuity: Many solutions are available for upstream migration; More work needed on monitoring of effectiveness; Technical innovations needed for downstream migration and turbine damage Different approaches exist to determine ecologically acceptable minimum flow; No one-size-fits-all approach; Use compensating together with mitigating measures Serious ecological consequences of hydropeaking have been reported, but there exist knowledge gaps; Some successful implementation of mitigation measures exist Standardisation at European level is desirable, but solutions should be largely site-specific; Promote information exchange on developed standards, e.g. on continuity

Draft key conclusions - Strategies & priorities on catchment level - Priorisation of measures is compatible with the WFD but MS should deliver a proportionate PoM Ecological criteria for prioritising action in regions affected by HP should be considered on different levels (European – areas of ecological importance; catchment & regional – longitutinal continuity; WBs/groups of WBs – lateral contin.) We should aim at achieving self-sustained populations of migrating fish where possible - needed at the catchment level (delivering interconnectivity) Socioeconomic aspects should be used to define a cost-effective PoM; We should do this ideally at catchment level to maximise ecological potential & energy production

Next steps Finalisation of hydropower workshop documents until the end of June 2007 (final key conclusions + workshop report) – all documents will be available on CIRCA Further discussion on good practice hydropower use as part of the development of RBMP until 2009 2nd Workshop on “WFD and Navigation” in 2008 under Phase II (2007-2009) of the CIS activity „WFD and hydromorphological pressures“