WG C Groundwater 15 October 2009, Stockholm Balázs Horváth European Commission DG ENV

About… COM report on groundwater threshold values (GWD Art 3.7) Guidance on climate change and water Water Directors meeting New structure CIS Mandate 2010-2012 Parameters to examine for GWD review

1. COM report on groundwater threshold values (GWD Art 3.7)

GW threshold value report Questionnaires to MS earlier this year 25 answers (except GR and MT; partly from DK) Short report with annex of technical details MS fact sheets that will be included in the annex were sent to check – deadline 16 October MS were also asked to provide information on GWBs at risk and in poor status caused by nitrates and pesticides if there is any Report is planned to be approved before the end of 2009

GW threshold value report Some interesting numbers: TVs were established for 164 pollutants/indicators 142 of them are responsible for GWBs at risk 18 MS established GW TVs for pollutants that do not pose risks to GWBs 86 pollutants are responsible for GWB poor status 21 MS referred to drinking water standards to be considered for TV establishment 5 MS reported TVs for nitrates and 7 MS for pesticides

2. CIS guidance on climate change and water

How the guidance fits into adaptation policy EU ADAPTATION WHITE PAPER PILLAR I Strengthen the Knowledge/ Evidence Base PILLAR II Mainstream climate Adaptation into key policy areas PILLAR III Employ a combination of policy instruments PILLAR IV Advance work internationally on Adaptation ↓↓↓ Key areas: Water, Coastal & Marine, Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Agriculture, Health, Transport, Energy etc. Increased resilience to adapt to the effects of climate change is needed at least in these key areas ↓↓↓ Policy measures to mainstream climate change adaptation and water sector: WFD, Floods D, Commission Communication on WS & D ↓↓↓ 1 of the 32 WP Actions for EU and Member States: Develop guidelines and a set of tools (guidance and exchange of best practices) by the end of 2009 to ensure that the River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) are climate-proofed 7

Timetable Drafts of key chapters worked out by coordinators: UK, FR, EEA, ES, WG Floods during 2008-2009 Filling the missing chapters and editing the existing chapters into one main document by our consultant during summer 2009 Coordination with other CIS groups (WG C, WG F, WG Ecostat, EN WS&D) in September 2009 Draft 3 was discussed last week in SSG CC&W Last comments before final draft by 14 October Final draft of the document before the SCG meeting together (~ 26 October) Endorsement of the guidance by Water Directors in November 2009

Table of content guidance Foreword Executive summary Introduction Water and Climate Change – Policy framework Climate modelling, projections, scenarios and uncertainty Getting started: how to build adaptive capacity for management under climate change Water Framework Directive and adaptation Flood risk management and adaptation Drought management and water scarcity and adaptation Summary of information resources and relevant research

General comments Overall feedback is positive 1. Should long term actions be emphasised more? If yes, how? 2. Protected areas: should be dealt separately? 3. Land use planning: should more focus be put on? 4. Floods: still much focus on implementation Floods Directive? 5. Distinction between water scarcity and droughts? 6. Groundwater: more technical guidance may be needed? 7. GHG emissions: more attention to possible influence of related measures? 8. Navigation: more focus on navigation win-win / interactions?

3. Water Directors meeting New structure CIS Mandate 2010-2012

Water Directors conclusions Working Groups remain Sub-groups: targeted mandate agreed by SCG/WD, clear deliverables, limited in time

Effects on the mandate Focus on permanent tasks closely related to implementation Ad-hoc activities to be decided – previous approval of WD is a prerequisite No subgroups planned Timeframe and deliverables included More flexible and targeted structure, improved transparency

Other conclusions Dissemination of CIS results should be improved by Grant access to the whole restricted part of CIRCA to everyone who is involved in WFD implementation in local, regional or national administrations and who requests access; Restructure CIRCA in order to make it more transparent and user-friendly Make the list of CIS meetings public on CIRCA (including meetings of subgroups) and update it regularly; Provide short summaries per activity which include the objective of the activity and links to finalised deliverables, to be updated once or twice per year by the leads of the activities. Eutrophication guidance was approved Side-event on water and adaptation to climate change is planned for meeting in Copenhagen WD discussed water related issues of 3 sectors: energy, agriculture and biodiversity. Short summaries are available in CIRCA

4. Parameters to examine for GWD review

Aim Review of GWD annexes I and II by Jan 2013 GENESIS could assist the procedure by examining several “candidate” pollutants, but needs input from WG C: Questions Criteria Possible pollutants GENESIS results could be used as one of the inputs of the GWD review

Possible questions and criteria Is it advisable to add pollutants/indicators to Annex II Part B of the GWD? Is it possible to establish European wide EQS for pollutants/indicators? … Significant pollution in European scale Evidence regarding intrinsic hazard Pollutants endangering ecosystems

Selection criteria Evidence based (Source-pathway-receptor) Pressures (scale) Impacts (scale) Receptors (terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and human) Fate & behaviour Subject to EU bans Synthetic / natural occuring substances

Planned deadlines Questions – criteria – pollutant tables: comments from WG C by the end of October GENESIS proposal on pollutant selection by early 2010 Agreement in next WG C meeting GENESIS draft results before first 2011 WG C meeting Final results before second 2011 WG C meeting