Comparison of Environmental Quality Objectives, Threshold Values or Water Quality Targets set for the Demands of European Water Framework Directive Ulrich Claussen & Jens Arle (Federal Environment Agency, Section of the Marine Environment, Germany)

Introduction Background: European Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000) ▫Fundamental change from pollution control to ensuring ecosystem integrity Physico-chemical quality elements are used as supporting quality elements in the assessment of ecological status ( compare WFD, Annex V, 1.2. Normative definitions of ecological status classifications)

Introduction Aim: Evaluation and comparison of limit values of supporting physical and chemical quality elements for the G/M boundary set by EU MS

Data & Methods Use of data from HTML Factsheets of 18Member States ▫Provided during official WISE reporting (March 2010) ▫ Analysis and visual comparison using MS Excel

Supportive physical and chemical elements for different surface water types Supportive physical and chemical variables Rivers and Streams (20 MS) Lakes (16 MS) Transitional Waters (11 MS) Coastal Waters (12 MS) Sum Total Phosphorus or Total Dissolved Phosphorous or Soluble Reactive Phosphorous (mg l -1 ) Dissolved Oxygen Concentration (mg l -1 ) Total Nitrogen (mg l -1 ) Total Ammonium (mg l -1 ) pH or delta pH Secchi Depth (m) & Transparency (m) Nitrate (mg l -1 ) Orthophosphate (mg l -1 ) Oxygen Saturation Percentage (%) BOD5 (mg l -1 ) Water temperature (°C) or delta temperature Nitrite (mg l -1 ) Chloride (mg l -1 )8412

Supportive physical and chemical elements for different surface water types Result: Total Phosphorus, Dissolved Oxygen and Total Nitrogen were the most common parameters used by MS

Number of supportive physical and chemical elements used in streams and rivers

Total Phosphorus in Streams and Rivers (mg l -1 ) FI EE LV IT UK LT CZ CYP NL LU FR DE SK PL BE RO ES BG SE

Total Ammonium in Streams and Rivers (mg l -1 ) CYP IT LT CZ LV DE EE FR LU UK BG ES BE SK RO PL others

Number of supportive physical and chemical Elements in Lakes

Total Phosphorus in Lakes (mg l -1 ) IT FR FI CYP LV EE LT UK DE AT ES BG PL CZ NL RO SE

Total Nitrogen in Lakes (mg l -1 ) FI LV LT EE PL BG NL ES CZ

Number of supportive physical and chemical Elements in Transitional Waters

Orthophosphate in Transitional Waters (mg l -1 ) DE IT RO BG PL SE ES

Dissolved Oxygen in Transitional Waters (mg l -1 ) FR PL BG RO IT SE ES

Number of supportive physical and chemical Elements in Coastal Waters

Secchi Depth in Coastal Waters (m) SE DE EE LV FI PL RO NL ES

Orthophosphate in Coastal Waters (mg l -1 ) DE IT PL RO FR SE ES

Summary Significant numbers of variables were used for the description of good/moderate boundaries of ecological status of water bodies For some supporting physical and chemical elements it can be included that: ▫without additional information (e.g. typology) the available data are not sufficient to achieve a good comparison

Resulting Questions What are the reasons for large differences of Good-Moderate Boundaries for supporting quality elements between MS? What methodologies have been used by MS to derive respective standards, thresholds or limits?

Conclusions The analysis emphasises the need for a comparison of typologies across the EU which is essential for any comparative analysis of Good- Moderate Boundaries of supporting physical and chemical elements among MS

Water Directors are invited to: take note of the progress of this ad hoc activity on nutrient standards and standards of physical and chemical factors in the Working Group A ECOSTAT ask MS to take the result of this analysis and report into account when reviewing values and ranges of general physico-chemical elements

Thank you for your attention!