WGGW Rome – 2-3 Oct 2014 Threshold Values Questionnaire Tony Marsland (AMEC Associate consultant providing support to WGGW on behalf of the European Commission)

Previous work 2008 questionnaire, leading up to 2012 report by Andreas Scheidleder on the differences in groundwater TVs established by Member States. indicated that there needed to be more transparency and a degree of harmonisation in methods used to derive TVs. In discussion at the Athens meeting WG GW agreed to the proposal to further investigate the issue via another questionnaire.

PURPOSE OF PROPOSED QUESTIONNAIRE To understand Why the TVs used in the first RBMPs vary so much, by looking at methods and associated compliance regimes; How MS are revising their approach for RBMP2; To gather evidence on which to base any proposals for rationalising the methods by which TVs are derived.

FOCUS On the methods used to derive TVs; On collecting sufficient data to illustrate these methods – examples only, not all TVs; On changes proposed for RBMP2 but with reference to RBMP1 data; RBMP1 data is a baseline; Will classification change in RBMP2 purely from change in method, irrespective of actual changes in quality ? Potential to include a few additional questions from GWAAE work.

FORMAT & REVIEW Questionnaire in MS Word; Excel Workbook to collect example data to illustrate methods; Drafts circulated 2 weeks before meeting after limited review by sub-group. Needs to be comprehensive to deal with range of MS approaches and collect the right information – do not want to have to have any further follow–ups; Looking at structure and scope in this meeting.

COMPLETION At first sight looks complex but not as bad as it seems ! Completion notes both in questionnaire and Readme tab in workbook; Intention is to pre-fill in as much as possible from earlier submissions BUT, Looking for detail not requested in previous formal submissions ; Can only pre-fill for RBMP1; MS will still need to check the data. Emphasis on providing compliance/attribute data behind every number – need this to ensure valid comparisons.

QUESTIONNAIRE Where MS response to 2008 questionnaire is available and relevant to a question, this will be reproduced and used to pre-fill in a draft response for the MS to check; Cross-references to latest version of 2016 schema included where appropriate; Tried to account for a wide range of TV/classification methods; May need to adjust a couple of questions if it is agreed to include GWAAE questions – water quantity questions would be added at the end.

WORKBOOK 1 Everyone to fill in Tab1 – but list of chemicals and methods for RBMP1 should have been pre-filled in – but will need to be checked; Tabs 2-7 are for specific examples of gw bodies; Tabs 2-6 are for those who have followed CIS guidance in terms of the 5 status tests and derived separate TVs for each test; Tab 7 is for those who have followed a single (alternative) method; Note use of drop-down menus (but these not completed yet).

Questionnaire workbook - Tab1

Questionnaire workbook - Tabs 2-7

WORKBOOK 2 Fill in RBMP1 data first and only fill in RBMP2 columns for things that have changed – this will make later analysis much easier; If TV method for a substance is the same as another, just indicate “as substance x”; If you need to use > 1 gw body to illustrate the range of methods for a single test then duplicate the relevant tab(s) or produce a duplicate of the workbook (but only fill in the relevant tabs)

PROPOSED TIMETABLE 2 weeks after this meeting for written comments; Revise by mid-Nov 2014; Send out to MS, populated with pre-filled in material from earlier submissions by 1 Dec 2014; MS to complete by end Jan 2015; Analyse results Feb/early March 2015; Release preliminary results to WGGW in mid/late March - 2 weeks before next WGGW meeting (mid-April 2015).