1. Co-ordination meeting Athens 9 March 2011
The rationale of the pilot projects on Halting Desertification in Europe and expected outcomes in the context of the European water policy
Co-ordination meeting
Athens 9 March 2011
Andrea Nam,
European Commission, DG ENV,
Protection of Water Environment
Water scarcity & droughts team

2. Water as a resource
Water is one of the most important resources of our planet. It is sustaining life, ecosystems and regulating our climate.
It is a finite resource and can not be replaced like other resources.
Access to good quality water in sufficient quantity is fundamental to the daily lives of every human being and to most economic activities.
Water is becoming a scarce resource. The balance between water demand and availability has reached a critical level in many areas of Europe (water scarcity). In addition, more and more areas are adversely affected by changes in the hydrological cycle and precipitation patterns (droughts).

3. Europe: Diversity of regions, waters & river basins Diversity of
Agriculture
Diversity of
uses, aspirations, pressures & impacts
Flood protection
Industry
Drinking water supply
Navigation & hydropower
Tourism
Waste Water
Nature protection

4. Pressures on water resources+
Climate Change
Agriculture
Navigation & hydropower
Waste Water
Drinking water
supply
Nature protection
Tourism
Industry

5. Why is water scarcity & droughts a concern in Europe?
Balance between demand and availability has reached a critical level in many areas of Europe (water scarcity)
More and more areas are affected by weather changes, in particular less rain (droughts)
Climate change will almost certainly make the situation worse
More frequent and severe droughts expected across Europe and the neighbouring countries
Total water abstraction in EU 247 billion m³/year
44% for energy production,
24% for agriculture,
17% for public water supply
15% for industry
Business as usual scenario:
Total abstraction will increase by 16% by 2030

6. Potential for water savings:
Potential for water savings in the EU nearly 40%
technological improvements alone
Further increased by changes in human behaviour or production patterns
Water Supply infrastructure: potential saving up to 33% of today’s abstraction
Agriculture: potential saving 43% of current agricultural abstraction from:
Improved efficiency - 15% to 60% of water use.
changes in irrigation practices (30%),
use of more drought-resistant crops (up to 50%)
reuse of treated sewage effluent (around 10%)
Industry: estimated savings % average 43%
Tourism: potential of 80-90% savings
Irrigation of golf courses and sporting areas: 70%

7. What is water scarcity and droughts?
Temporary decrease in water availability due – for instance – to rainfall deficiency
Natural phenomenon
Impacts of droughts
 in case of water scarcity
Water demand for human activities
exceeds water resources available
and the natural recharge
Human-driven phenomenon
Impacts of water scarcity
 in case of drought

8. Water scarcity & drought in Europe
Reservoir, Sicily
Reservoir, Cyprus
River Elbe, Dresden
Spring. 2007

9. Climate change is already here

10. And it is getting worse…..

11. Expected impacts of climate change and economic development
Proportion of severe water stress
EU river basins likely to increase
from 19% today to 35% by 2070.
Areas affected by droughts
will increase.
If t° rises by 2 to 3°C, water
scarcity would affect 1.1 to 3.2
billion people
Southern Europe
Eastern Central Europe

12. The EU Water Legislation
Related non-legislative policies
Water Scarcity and Droughts (2007)
Adaptation to Climate change (2009)
Old water (related) legislation
Completing the framework
Extending the scope

13. The WFD
The Water Framework Directive aims at achieving good status in all European waters by 2015 – good quality ground and surface water should be available in sufficient quantity for humans and nature
The WFD is an ambitious and holistic framework directive with:
- good levels of ambition
- instruments in place to achieve objectives

14. What’s next
In 2012, the Commission will publish a "Blueprint to Safeguard European Waters"
Review of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (includes Water efficiency of buildings)
Review of the Strategy for Water Scarcity and Droughts
Review of the vulnerability of water and natural resources to climate impacts and man-made pressures.

15. Key challenges for the Blue Print
Costs and Competition for water supply
Transfers
Desalinisation
GW extraction
A water and env. resources efficient economy
Ecosystem-based approach
Facing gradual changes & extreme events
Trade-offs/conflicts between:
Economy & ecosystems
Sectors
Regions
Land / sea
Instruments
Pricing / regulation
Land-use planning
Room for the river
Water (& carbon) retention

16. Pillar 1: Review of the Implementation of the WFD
Potentially 170 River Basin Management Plans to be assessed
Some topics will be subject to in-depth assessment (such as assessment of ground water status, water scarcity)
Findings will be published in 2012
Findings shared via Common Implementation Strategy with MSs
Possible legal action

17. Pillar 2: WS&D - policy development
Communication 2007 and follow-up:
Council conclusions - review & further develop WS&D policy by 2012
EP report – new initiatives incl. pilot projects preparatory actions
Annual follow up reports
Policy Review 2012

18. Pillar 3: Water and environmental resources vulnerability
Assessment of vulnerability to impacts of climate change on water (quality and quantity)
both medium term (2020, 2030) and long term (2050 or further)
geographical and sectoral distribution
adaptation measures to be promoted/prevented at EU level

19. Main information needs now - 2012
Water Framework Directive:
information base: the River Basin Management plans
key issue: comparability of information in the plans
Water Scarcity and Droughts:
a wide range of data regarding the scale of the problem, the effectiveness of existing policy measures and the costs and benefits of possible additional measures, information on water availability, water allocations
Vulnerability of environmental resources:
methods, models, data sets, prediction tools and indicators to better monitor the impact of climate change
including vulnerability impacts and progress on adaptation
Studies launched to assess the possible introduction of measures for water efficiency in agriculture, in buildings and leakage reduction in the supply systems

20. Water Exploitation Index
Increasing
stress

21. WEI for selected river basins across Europe

22. Action at EU level: Commission Communication WS&D 2007 - 7 policy options
Putting the right price tag on water
Improving drought risk management
Fostering water efficient technologies and practices
Fostering the emergence of a water-saving culture
Allocating water & water-related funding efficiently
Considering additional water supply infrastructures
Improve knowledge and data collection

23. WS&D Building Blocks – the information is not sufficient
Water Efficiency
Water Supply Infrastructure (losses, best practices, recommendations), Buildings water efficiency, Agriculture (water pricing, options for water saving), link between water and consumption (footprint/virtual water), Halting desertification
Better Planning
Demand management,
Implementation of the relevant measures in the River Basin Management Plans,
Further development of the observatory and an early warning system on droughts,
Land use planning
Indicator development
Improvement of data collection (Building on National & regional data),
Water exploitation index – not very informative (Annual & national average), Development of more informative indicators for water scarcity and droughts (EEA & pilot countries) and water accounts
Instruments – financing, pricing, allocation, research, education

24. What are we looking at? WS & D GAP Analysis:
Overview of problem & existing measures
Where is WS&D a problem & how big is the problem?
What are the driving forces?
What & how big are the pressures?
What are the impacts?
Which measures are already in place?
Identification of gaps
Proposal of new measures
Assessment of Impact of new measures

25. WS&D - the basic principle: the water hierarchy
Address demand side measures first:
demand management
water-saving
water efficiency
water-pricing
Only then additional water supply infrastructures:
water transfers
desalination plants
waste-water re-use
etc.

26. Other areas: Alternative water supply Waste water re-use…
Water consumption in products
water related information on food and agricultural products
Assessment of the reliability and effectiveness of the "water footprinting" method
Eco design, Green Public Procurement

27. WS&D indicators Drought indicators Streamflow (Q)
Groundwater level (H)
Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)
Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR)
Snowpack (SN)
Standardized Runoff Index (SRI)
Water scarcity indicators
Relevant Water Stress Indicator (RWSI)
Water storage (St)
Water Use per Sector (WUs)

28. 2012 Policy Review WS&D– Vision
to introduce a water saving culture in Europe and achieve a drought resilient society
to ensure demand management allowing to provide water for all essential uses even under aggravated climatic conditions
Original policy options remain valid – and new to be identified

29. Work ahead In the next months, the Commission will focus on
filling knowledge and data gaps (studies, assessments, calls for evidence)
conducting an impact assessment for the policy review
The work will be supported by the outcomes of
the assessment of the RBMPs,
the modelling of water vulnerability to man-made pressures,
the cost-benefit analysis of natural water retention measures,
the inputs from EEA, JRC and Eurostat and
the forthcoming Communication on a road map towards a resource efficient economy
pilot projects

30. Background of the Desertification Pilot Projects
EP requests preparatory actions to halt desertification in Europe
2010 activities
launch of the contract to assist COM in the preparatory works and evaluation
call for proposals (priority sectors and regions)
Signature of four grant agreements
start of the pilot projects
2012 spring – end of pilot projects (15 months)

31. Your results are needed
EP needs information on the implementation of the projects
COM would like to use the results of the pilot projects for the policy review on WS&D
Results of pilot projects could serve for
Practical examples
Testing indicators
Supporting policy conclusions etc.

32. Thank you for your attention
Questions?