Flemish Environment Agency 9th CMA meeting - Ghent Rudy Cautaerts Head of Department Reporting Water Flemish Environment Agency

Welcome Belgium Flemish region VMM - Flemish Environment Agency 2

EU / BE / FL 3

Flemish government Management council Flemish Minister for Public Works, Energy, the Environment and Nature Adv. Council Environment, Nature and Energy (MiNa) Management council Technical committees Ministry of Environment, Nature & Energy Department Environment, Nature & Energy Flemish Environment Agency (VMM) Flemish Energy Agency (VEA) (VEA) Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM) Policy domain Environment, Nature & Energy Agency for Nature and Forestry (ANB) Flemish Land Agency (VLM) Institute of Nature and Forestry Research (INBO) Flemish Regulation Entity for the Electricity and Gas market (VREG)

Overall mission Mission 2015…2027… 5

VMM - mission VMM = internally independent agency with powers of jurisdiction (°1990) Founding Decree of 23 December 2005: mission “contribute to the realisation of the objectives of the environmental policy by preventing, limiting and eliminating the harmful effects to water systems and the atmosphere and by reporting on the state of the environment and the realisation of the objectives of integrated water management.” 6

VMM: organization chart ADMINISTRATOR-GENERAL F. Van Sevencoten GENERAL DIRECTOR INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT D. Waegeman REPORTING WATER R. Cautaerts AIR QUALITY, ENVIRONMENT & COMMUNICATION Ph. D’Hondt ECOLOGICAL SUPERVISION D. Waegeman ECONOMICAL SUPERVISION L. Fleurinck OPERATIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT P. Thomas KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT E. Vreye GENERAL AFFAIRS M. Van Den Langenbergh 7

Department Water Reporting Organisation: Some facts & figures: # staff = 174 # FTE = 154 operational budget = +/- 7,2 mio EUR > 5.000 monitoring points/stations 8

Activities Water Reporting Monitoring surface water: fysico-chemical monitoring (priority substances etc…) biological monitoring (macro-invertebrates, phytoplankton, phytobenthos, macrophytes) ecotoxicological research (solid phase, liquid phase, …) hydromorfology of waterbodies monitoring in terms of WFD Bacteriological quality of bathing water (coastal and inland waters) Monitoring waste water: fysico-chemical monitoring industrial discharges (environmental levy) fysico-chemical monitoring influent/effluent of public wastewater treatment plants (Aquafin) network of measuring stations to monitor the effects of sewer network storm overflows on the surface water quality. Drawing up water emission registers (e-PRTR,…) 9

Activities Water Reporting Analytical laboratory numerous inorganic components/elements specialized in organic analysis QA/QC extended accreditation scope (BELAC/ISO 17025) Reporting on water quality water quality database on www.vmm.be international reports (OESO/Eurostat; UN-GEMS/water; EMA-WISE/SoE, …) (yearly) status reports specific issue reports Water quality incident management alarmprocedure on monitoringresults 24/7 procedure in case of environmental incident/calamity reporting 10

Activities Water Reporting Monitoring sediment and suspended solids: fysico-chemical monitoring biological monitoring (macro-invertebrates) ecotoxicological research (solid phase, liquid phase, …) quantity of sediments (bathymetry) load and quality of suspended solids with centrifuge 11

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9th CMA meeting (Ghent) WFD Thus… Monitoring requirements chemical status surface/ground waters compliance aim: good chemical status surface/ground water bodies reporting of data, with demonstrated and comparable quality throughout EU Thus… assess and develop coordination at EU level with respect to quality assurance of WFD monitoring programs ensuring comparability of monitoring data from one river basin district to another AMPS expert group (= Expert Group on Analysis and Monitoring of Priority Substances) specific discussions with regard to monitoring of priority substances in surface waters, suspended particulate mater, sediments and biota. The Chemical Monitoring Activity’s (and its drafting groups) focused on various monitoring issues such as sampling / sample pre-treatment, recommended analytical methods, data quality requirements and quality control/quality assurance, … Output of CMA workshops and plenary meetings (9th in Ghent): Already realized: guidance on surface water chemical monitoring under the water framework directive. Now on the agenda: a draft guidance on sediment & biota 13