1. WG C Groundwater 15 October 2009, Stockholm
Balázs Horváth
European Commission DG ENV

2. About… COM report on groundwater threshold values (GWD Art 3.7)
Guidance on climate change and water
Water Directors meeting
New structure CIS
Mandate
Parameters to examine for GWD review

3. 1. COM report on groundwater threshold values (GWD Art 3.7)

4. GW threshold value report
Questionnaires to MS earlier this year
25 answers (except GR and MT; partly from DK)
Short report with annex of technical details
MS fact sheets that will be included in the annex were sent to check – deadline 16 October
MS were also asked to provide information on GWBs at risk and in poor status caused by nitrates and pesticides if there is any
Report is planned to be approved before the end of 2009

5. GW threshold value report
Some interesting numbers:
TVs were established for 164 pollutants/indicators
142 of them are responsible for GWBs at risk
18 MS established GW TVs for pollutants that do not pose risks to GWBs
86 pollutants are responsible for GWB poor status
21 MS referred to drinking water standards to be considered for TV establishment
5 MS reported TVs for nitrates and 7 MS for pesticides

6. 2. CIS guidance on climate change and water

7. How the guidance fits into adaptation policy
EU ADAPTATION WHITE PAPER
PILLAR I
Strengthen
the
Knowledge/
Evidence Base
PILLAR II
Mainstream
climate
Adaptation
into key
policy areas
PILLAR III
Employ
a combination of
policy
instruments
PILLAR IV
Advance
work
internationally on
Adaptation
↓↓↓
Key areas: Water, Coastal & Marine, Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Agriculture, Health, Transport, Energy etc.
Increased resilience to adapt to the effects of climate change is needed at least in these key areas
↓↓↓
Policy measures to mainstream climate change adaptation and water sector:
WFD, Floods D, Commission Communication on WS & D
↓↓↓
1 of the 32 WP Actions for EU and Member States:
Develop guidelines and a set of tools (guidance and exchange of best practices)
by the end of 2009 to ensure that the River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) are climate-proofed 7

8. Timetable
Drafts of key chapters worked out by coordinators: UK, FR, EEA, ES, WG Floods during
Filling the missing chapters and editing the existing chapters into one main document by our consultant during summer 2009
Coordination with other CIS groups (WG C, WG F, WG Ecostat, EN WS&D) in September 2009
Draft 3 was discussed last week in SSG CC&W
Last comments before final draft by 14 October
Final draft of the document before the SCG meeting together (~ 26 October)
Endorsement of the guidance by Water Directors in November 2009

9. Table of content guidance
Foreword
Executive summary
Introduction
Water and Climate Change – Policy framework
Climate modelling, projections, scenarios and uncertainty
Getting started: how to build adaptive capacity for management under climate change
Water Framework Directive and adaptation
Flood risk management and adaptation
Drought management and water scarcity and adaptation
Summary of information resources and relevant research

10. General comments
Overall feedback is positive 1. Should long term actions be emphasised more? If yes, how? 2. Protected areas: should be dealt separately? 3. Land use planning: should more focus be put on? 4. Floods: still much focus on implementation Floods Directive? 5. Distinction between water scarcity and droughts? 6. Groundwater: more technical guidance may be needed? 7. GHG emissions: more attention to possible influence of related measures? 8. Navigation: more focus on navigation win-win / interactions?

11. 3. Water Directors meeting New structure CIS Mandate 2010-2012

12. Water Directors conclusions
Working Groups remain
Sub-groups: targeted mandate agreed by SCG/WD, clear deliverables, limited in time

13. Effects on the mandate
Focus on permanent tasks closely related to implementation
Ad-hoc activities to be decided – previous approval of WD is a prerequisite
No subgroups planned
Timeframe and deliverables included
More flexible and targeted structure, improved transparency

14. Other conclusions Dissemination of CIS results should be improved by
Grant access to the whole restricted part of CIRCA to everyone who is involved in WFD implementation in local, regional or national administrations and who requests access;
Restructure CIRCA in order to make it more transparent and user-friendly
Make the list of CIS meetings public on CIRCA (including meetings of subgroups) and update it regularly;
Provide short summaries per activity which include the objective of the activity and links to finalised deliverables, to be updated once or twice per year by the leads of the activities.
Eutrophication guidance was approved
Side-event on water and adaptation to climate change is planned for meeting in Copenhagen
WD discussed water related issues of 3 sectors: energy, agriculture and biodiversity. Short summaries are available in CIRCA

15. 4. Parameters to examine for GWD review

16. Aim Review of GWD annexes I and II by Jan 2013
GENESIS could assist the procedure by examining several “candidate” pollutants, but needs input from WG C:
Questions
Criteria
Possible pollutants
GENESIS results could be used as one of the inputs of the GWD review

17. Possible questions and criteria
Is it advisable to add pollutants/indicators to Annex II Part B of the GWD?
Is it possible to establish European wide EQS for pollutants/indicators? …
Significant pollution in European scale
Evidence regarding intrinsic hazard
Pollutants endangering ecosystems

18. Selection criteria
Evidence based (Source-pathway-receptor)
Pressures (scale)
Impacts (scale)
Receptors (terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and human)
Fate & behaviour
Subject to EU bans
Synthetic / natural occuring substances

19. Planned deadlines
Questions – criteria – pollutant tables: comments from WG C by the end of October
GENESIS proposal on pollutant selection by early 2010
Agreement in next WG C meeting
GENESIS draft results before first 2011 WG C meeting
Final results before second 2011 WG C meeting