1. Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) Eastern Continental GIG Draft final report on the results of the intercalibration exercise Birgit Vogel ICPDR Sebastian Birk University of Duisburg-Essen

2. 2 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 2 0. Content 1. Intercalibration approach 2. National classification methods 3. Reference conditions 4. Boundary setting 4.1 all IC types except Danube River 4.2 Danube River 5. Quality checks for national datasets and classification methods 6. Preliminary results of intercalibration 7. Main Problems, gaps and difficulties 8. Indicative work plan for the continuation of the intercalibration 0. Content

3. 3 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 3 1. Intercalibration approach Common Intercalibration Types R-E1, R-E2, R-E3 and R-E4 Option 2 using ICMi designed for EC GIG intercalibration Common Class Boundary Setting: No comparison of national boundaries Harmonisation via Common Setting Protocol Danube River (R-E6) Option 3: Direct comparison of national assessment methods National methods assess degree of organic water pollution (Saprobic and Biotic Indices)  no classification of ecological quality. 1. Intercalibration approach Intercalibration of BQE “Benthic Macroinvertebrates”

4. 4 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 4 countrynamestatusWFD ATAustrian Multimetric SystemreadyY BGBulgarian Biotic Index (Q-Scheme)readyN CZCzech Saprobic IndexreadyN HUQI of Hungarian BMWP and ASPTreadyN RORomanian Saprobic Index (Pantle & Buck)readyN SKSlovak Multimetric Systemunder dev.Y Additional Methods for the Danube River (R-E6) ATAustrian Saprobic IndexreadyN SKSlovak Saprobic IndexreadyN 2. National classification methods

5. 5 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 5 Additional compilation of R-E1 sites (mountain type) meeting CB GIG reference criteria (slightly modified for EC GIG use). 3. Reference conditions General constraint: Scarce availability of data from reference sites, especially for lowland rivers (R-E2, R-E3, R-E6, partly R-E4). Therefore, alternative intercalibration approach is followed: Definition of IC type specific, harmonised quality criteria for sites in high (mountain type), and high and good status (lowland types), respectively. countrynumber of reference sites CZ3 HU16 RO20 SK22 3. Reference conditions

6. 6 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 6 4.1 Boundary setting (all IC types except Danube River) A.Harmonised definition of quality criteria/thresholds for sites in high and good ecological status B.Class boundary setting using Common Multimetric Index (ICMi) 4. Boundary setting

7. 7 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 7 national IC data set data subset incl. sites in high and good quality FILTER A. Harmonised definition of quality criteria/thresholds for sites in high and good ecological status biological criterion ASPT Armitage et al. (1983) Type specific Saprobic Index values for the Danube RB Knoben et al. (1999) threshold abiotic criteria Chemistry (hazardous subst., conductivity, BOD 5 ) Hydromorphology Land Use (urban, agricultural) EC GIG agreement in consistency with available data threshold 4. Boundary setting

8. 8 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 8 data subset incl. sites in high and good quality B. Class boundary setting using ICMi harmonised national quality class boundaries lowland types good|mod. high|good 25% mountain type high|good good|mod. 25% Calculation of Common Metrics Boundary Setting 25 th percentile value of each common metric Translation of ICMi boundaries into national method 4. Boundary setting

9. 9 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 9 4.2 Boundary setting (Danube River) Intercalibration of methods classifying the degree of organic pollution Reference defined as Basic Saprobic Condition according to Stubauer & Moog (2003): Integration of the Saprobic System into the assessment approach of the WFD – a proposal for the Danube River. UNDP/DRP-Report.  same reference value for all Danube section types relevant in IC Class Boundary Setting of Austrian Saprobic Index according to Knoben et al. (1999): Water Quality Enhancement in the DRB – Classification/Characterisation. PHARE-Report. Translation of Saprobic Index boundaries into national boundaries via correlation and regression analysis 4. Boundary setting

10. 10 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 10 5. Quality checks for datasets and classification methods Classification methods Only Austria holds definite, WFD compliant assessment method. National datasets Provision of taxa lists and abiotic data national datasets cover entire quality gradient (at least good to bad) Correlation of methods and ICMi is significant and sufficiently strong Class boundary setting using Common Metrics: At least 8 samples per country within the range of high and good quality sites. 5. Quality checks for datasets and classification methods

11. 11 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 11 6.1 Preliminary results of intercalibration (Danube River) National Index Reference value high-goodgood-moderate abseqrabseqr SI (AT)2.002.200.9002.500.750 SI (SK)1.902.100.9052.500.714 ASPT (HU)5.955.600.9415.000.840 BI (BG)4 to 540.8753 to 40.750 SI (RO)1.801.900.9552.100.864 Harmonised national class boundary values for biological water quality assessment of the Danube River Final results expected after gaps are filled by additional data delivery in autumn 2006 and 2007 6. Results of intercalibration

12. 12 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 12 6.2 Results of Intercalibration (all IC types except Danube River) Final results expected after gaps are filled by additional data delivery in autumn 2006 6. Results of intercalibration

13. 13 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 13 7. Main problems, gaps and difficulties Open issues to be solved until autumn 2006: Role of national class boundaries Agreement on confidence bands for harmonised boundaries Agreement on 25%-deviation approach in boundary setting Final results based on complete datasets General gaps and difficulties lack of WFD compliant assessment methods (incl. EQR classifications) lack of data about references (existing, historical, models, …)  improvement of alternative approach using broader database 7. Main problems, gaps and difficulties

14. 14 of 14 EC GIG – Draft final report on results of the IC exercise Meeting of the Working Group 2A on Ecological Status (ECOSTAT) – 3+4 July 2006, Stresa (IT) 14 8. Indicative work plan for the continuation of the intercalibration The ICPDR and the Danube countries intend to continue the intercalibration process within the DRB after 2006. The work plan of the IC exercise after 2006 will be discussed at the next GIG meeting (09/2006) and in the relevant ICPDR Expert Groups. First activity will be Joint Danube Survey 2 in July/August 2007 (organised by ICPDR). Data will contribute to the IC exercise. ALL countries participate (EU MS, Accession Countries, Non-EU MS). Other activities will most likely start in 2007/2008 Inclusion of additional countries Focus: improvement of current results (improvement of IC results for types R-E2, 3, and 4, improvement of results related to references, intercalibration of all BQEs – after 2007) Improvement of current IC results are in general expected after 2007 (depending on available monitoring results, WFD compliant methods) 8. Indicative work plan for the continuation of IC