1. Fish migration from a Water Framework Directive perspective
Launch of the Living North Sea Project
26 March 2010, Ghent
Dr. Ursula Schmedtje
DG Environment, European Commission

2. Outline WFD principles and main objectives
Ecological status – fish fauna as biological quality element
WFD and hydromorphology – importance for fish migration

3. Main WFD objectives

4. WFD – general principles
Protecting all water bodies, including transitional waters and coastal waters.
Covering all impacts on waters.
Achievement of good status in all water bodies and no deterioration of status.
Good status:
Ecological status
Chemical status
Quantitative status
Water quality defined in terms of biology, chemistry and morphology
Attention paid to socio-economic impacts, e.g. through a process of duly justified exemptions
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5. Diversity of uses, aspirations, pressures and impacts
Nature protection
Tourism
Agriculture
Flood protection
Industry
Waste Water
Drinking water
Navigation & hydropower 5

6. WFD Timetable Transposition into national law Dec 2003
Administrative arrangements Dec 2003
Environmental analysis:
Analysis of characteristics
Assessment of human impacts
Economic analysis of water use Dec 2004
Monitoring programmes Dec 2006
Public Participation starts Dec 2006
Significant water management issues Dec 2007
Draft river basin management plans Dec 2008
Final river basin management plans Dec 2009
Measures to be applicable at the latest Dec 2012
Implementation, adjustment till 2027
A number of significant deadlines have passed since the adoption of the Directive in 2000, however this year 2009, sees the most important rear for river basin management in Europe. At the end of 2008 draft River basin Management plans had to be prepared, and a 6 month consultation period had to start. At the end of 2009, this process shall lead to the establishment of river basin management plans for all river basin districts across EU and neighbouring countries where applicable.
To answer what happens when the Member States do not implement the Directive as they should, the following slides will show how the Commission proceeds in checking implementation and if necessary follow)-up with legal action.
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7. River Basin Management Plans
Principles
1 - flexibility in WFD objective setting
2 - integration with other policies
3 - consider a wide range of measures
4 - transparency in decision making
5 - 6 year cyclic approach
Notes for the Speaker:
More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.
Slide 7 7

8. Ecological status

9. Ecological Status Definition:
“an expression of the quality of the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems associated with surface waters”.

10. WFD environmental objectives
Prevention of deterioration of the ecological and chemical status of all bodies of surface water
Achievement of good surface water status of all European lakes, rivers, and coastal/transitional waters by 2015

11. Quality Elements Example: rivers
Biological elements (new!)
Composition and abundance of phytoplankton
Composition and abundance of macrophytes and phytobenthos
Composition and abundance of benthic invertebrate fauna
Composition, abundance and age structure of fish fauna
Hydromorphological elements (new!)
Hydrological regime
River continuity
Morphological conditions (including riparian zone)
Chemical and physico-chemical elements
General (oxygenation, nutrients, salinity, etc)
Specific pollutants (synthetic and non-synthetic)
The Directive specifies which elements should be part of the assessment of the ‘ecological status’. They are different for different categories of water. The Directive includes specific definitions for each of these elements at high, good, moderate status.
Holistic assessment of the structure and function of the aquatic ecosystem.

12. Fish fauna Water categories
Rivers – lakes – transitional waters (not in coastal waters)
Normative definitions (example: transitional waters)
High status
Species composition and abundance is consistent with undisturbed conditions
Good status
The composition and abundance of the disturbance-sensitive species shows slight signs of distortion from type-specific conditions attributable to anthropogenic impacts on physico-chemical or hydromorophological quality elements.
Moderate status
A moderate proportion of the type-specific disturbance-sensitive species are absent as a result of anthropogenic impacts on physicochemical or hydromorphological quality elements.

13. { { { { { Ecological Status HIGH GOOD MODERATE POOR BAD Classes No or
minimal
Non-deterioration {
Slight
Restoration {
Moderate {
Major {
Severe
Courtesy Peter Pollard, Scottish Environment Protection Agency

14. What is intercalibration?
Legal obligation to harmonise the understanding of "good ecological status" across 27 Member States
HIGH
GOOD
MODERATE
POOR
BAD
Harmonise the result of national assessment systems (not the methods) to be comparable and consistent with the normative definitions
Commission facilitates the exercise and publishes the results

15. WFD and hydromorphology

16. Drivers for hydromorphological pressures
Pressures on EU waters
Drivers for hydromorphological pressures 5 10 15 20 25
Urbanisation
Flood defence
Navigation
Hydropower
Agriculture
EU25
Notes for the Speaker:
More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.

17. Heavily modified water bodies
In case changes to the hydromorphological characteristics of that body which would be necessary for achieving good ecological status would have significant adverse effects on (e.g.) power generation, and
In case the beneficial objectives served by the artificial or modified characteristics of the water body cannot, for reasons of technical feasibility or disproportionate costs, reasonably be achieved by other means, which are a significantly better environmental option:
A water body can be designated as heavily modified and good ecological potential can be achieved instead of GES.
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18. Exemptions Time derogation (art 4.4) Lowered objectives (art 4.5)
Phased implementation to 2021 or even 2027 depending on technical feasibility and disproportionate costs
Lowered objectives (art 4.5)
Depending on technical infeasibility, disproportionate costs and/or natural condition
New modifications for sustainable human developments or physical alterations of surface water bodies, or alteration level of ground waters (art 4.7)
Benefits overriding public interest, consideration of alternatives – better environmental option
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19. New modifications
WFD allows for deterioration by new modifications under strict conditions:
No better environmental options
Project is of overriding public interest/outweighing water protection benefits
All mitigation measures are taken
Project and reasons are reported in RBM Plan
Other water bodies are not impacted/other objectives not impaired
Often related to Habitats Directive Article 6.3

22. River Basin Management Plans … currently available
GREEN - River Basin Management Plan established
ORANGE - consultations finalised, but plans not yet published.
BLUE - consultations ongoing
PURPLE - consultations not started or ongoing in a part of the country
RED - consultations have not yet started

23. Guidance documents and further information

24. CIS Guidance Documents
… linked with ecological status assessment …
2) Identification of Water Bodies
3) Analysis of Pressures and Impacts
4) Artificial and Heavily Modified Water Bodies
5) Transitional and Coastal Waters – Typology, Reference Conditions
6) Intercalibration Network and the Intercalibration Process
7) Monitoring of surface waters
10) Rivers and Lakes Typology
12) Wetlands
13) Classification of ecological status
14) Intercalibration Process
23) Eutrophication Assessment in
the context of European Water
Policies

25. More information Ecological status and intercalibration exercise:
(More technical information)
EU Research projects linked to ecological status classification:
AQEM
STAR
REBECCA
Ursula.

26. Thank you for your attention.