1. EEAs assessments of the status of Europe’s waters
Consultation on assessment of
WFD status and pressures
CIS Working Group
Groundwater
26 April 2017
European Environment Agency (EEA)

2. The 2017 State of Water Assessment (report/portal) will cover
WFD Article 18: The EU Commission shall publish a report on the implementation of the directive two years after the Member States have delivered the RBMPs.
The report shall include a review of the status of surface water and groundwater in the Community undertaken in coordination with the European Environment Agency (EEA)
The first EEA report was published in 2012, the second in 2018.
Overview of statuses (quantitative, chemical and ecological), pressures and impacts
Change in status and pressures from 1st to 2nd RBMPs
Relationship between pressure and status (what is causing less than good status) –pressures-driving force relationship.
Effect of measures (implemented during the 1st RBMP period from ).
European waters – status and pressures
State of water (SoW) assessment should quantify and identify the current state of, and impacts on, water environment, how these are changing in time and if the measures that are taken at different levels prove effective.

3. From 180 RBMPs to European overviews
European waters – status and pressures
The European Environment Agency is an information centre on Europe’s rivers
Since the EEA commenced its operations in 1994, we have been at the centre of efforts to collect and provide information on European waters.
In 2007 we launched the Water Information System for Europe (WISE) data centre - in partnership with the European Commission. WISE collects information from Member States on the state of their waters and on their compliance with related regulations.
We then use this information to
Make assessments of the state of Europe’s waters and water bodies, including rivers
Feed information on the pressures associated with these water bodies into policy processes at European, national and local levels
Produce data outputs that can help explain the state of European waters – indicators, maps, graphs and reports
Throughout our work on European waters, we ask questions, such as
What is the quality of the water body?
How much water does the water body contain?
What are the related pressures on the environment, and their causes?
Are Member States working towards their targets?
The WISE data centre and the EEA’s work in this area are available to the public via our website.

4. Groundwater quantitative status
Preliminary results – 18 MS – April 2017

5. Groundwater chemical status
Preliminary results – 18 MS – April 2017

6. Less unknowns, higher confidence in status assessments

7. EEA State of water report 2018, drafting process
March-April 2017:
diagrams including 18 countries
presentation of preliminary results for WG-DIS (9/3); WG-Chemicals (29/3); WG-Ecostat (4/4); WG-Groundwater (26/4);
May-June 2017:
update data analysis and diagrams and drafting assessment, including late-reporting countries
presentation of preliminary results to SCG (17/5), Webinars on critical issues, Eionet NRC workshop June, regular consultation with Commission
September 2017: consultation of draft report: Eionet & CIS (WG-DIS and other WGs)
October-December 2017: last update of diagrams and textual content based on consultation.
Winter/spring 2018: Final production of report and publication

8. Consultation with EU Member States and other EEA member countries (wider Europe)
Are EEAs assessments of status and pressures on European waters useful?
Are there aspects missing in the assessments?
Do you have suggestions for improvements?
Are there diagrams or results that in your opinion provide wrong results?
Are there suggestions for alternative ways of presenting the information?
Critical aspects: ranking of countries, ways to compare status change from 1st to 2nd RBMPs, level of details for diagrams; status link to pressures

9. questions are appreciated
Thank you
Comments and
questions are appreciated
Peter Kristensen
European Environment Agency (EEA)
eea.europa.eu