A Review of the Status of Surface European Waters Twenty Years after WFD Introduction

Zacharias, Ierotheos; Liakou, Panayiota; Biliani, Irene

doi:10.1007/s40710-020-00458-z

Cited by 24 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Tsakiris [58] highlighted that the first RBMPs showed a significant progress on the fulfilment of environmental objectives, while the second reporting period did not support the same rate in progress [59,60]. Following the OOAO principle as safer, only 20% of the EU waterbodies showed improvement in their status [61] despite costly measures [62]. Instead, there was a call for more stringent nutrient thresholds [63,64], signifying the need for new approaches for the sustainability of WFD 20 + .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“One Out–All Out” Principle in the Water Framework Directive 2000—A New Approach with Fuzzy Method on an Example of Greek Lakes

Latinopoulos

Spiliotis

Ntislidou

et al. 2021

Water

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The “One Out–All Out” (OOAO) principle imposed by the WFD selects the worst ecological status assessed by different biological quality elements (BQEs). Since it is a precautionary rule that can lead to problems of underestimation of the overall status, its amendment has been a matter of debate for WFD 20+. The use of fuzzy methods that express the functional relationships between variables in ecology and management has been gaining more ground recently. Here is attempted the inclusion of a fuzzy regression among the frequently monitored BQE (phytoplankton) and the outcome of OOAO application in six Greek lakes. The latter was determined by the comparison of four BQE indices in order to assess the extent to which BQEs might underpin the optimal/actual qualitative classification of a waterbody. This approach encompasses the uncertainty and the possibility to broaden the acceptable final EQR based on the character and status of each lake. We concluded that the fuzzy OOAO is an approach that seems to allow a better understanding of the WFD implementation and case-specific evaluation, including the uncertainty in classification as an asset. Moreover, it offers a deeper understanding through self-learning processes based on the existing datasets.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“One Out–All Out” Principle in the Water Framework Directive 2000—A New Approach with Fuzzy Method on an Example of Greek Lakes

Latinopoulos

Spiliotis

Ntislidou

et al. 2021

Water

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“…The WFD has led to a better development of monitoring programs and assessment schemes for water bodies e.g., [9,13]. In addition to increased knowledge of the (current) status of the EU's water bodies, the implementation of the WFD has also led to better tracing and quantification of pollution levels [13,17]. The introduction of an intercalibration process, aimed at standardizing and harmonizing assessment methods and increasing the comparability of monitoring data, was received positively [11,18].…”

Section: Hampering and Stimulating Factors: An Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Good Ecological Status? The Prospects for the Third Implementation Cycle of the EU Water Framework Directive in The Netherlands

Kats

Dieperink

Rijswick

et al. 2022

Water

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The aim of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is to achieve a “good” chemical and ecological status for all waters by 2027. Currently, the Netherlands and other EU Member States are finalizing their plans for the third iteration of the WFD management cycle. In this paper, we conducted an ex ante evaluation of these plans by assessing the perceptions of regional water authorities on goal attainment and the factors that account for it. In order to gain these insights, we first reviewed literature and developed a framework of factors that stimulate or hamper the implementation of the WFD. More detailed insights into the relevance and characteristics of these factors were found by applying the framework in two in-depth case studies. A more generalizable pattern was found by translating the case study results into a survey among the regional water authorities. We found that the majority of the participating water authorities expect that 50% (or more) of their WFD objectives will be achieved in 2027. However, hampering factors such as a lack of political will or the impossibility to address key causes of the problems that were identified during earlier management cycles are still present. Since it is doubtful whether they can be addressed by regional water authorities, we conclude that it will be unlikely that ecological ambitions will be met by 2027.

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“…The evaluation of the ecological status of running waters is based primarily on biological objectives, supported by physicochemical and hydromorphological parameters [3,8,9]. Today, it is recognized that the assessment of the hydromorphological condition of rivers is crucial for the evaluation of the ecological status [10][11][12][13][14]. Worldwide, various methods are used to assess the hydromorphological river quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydromorphological Assessment as a Tool for River Basin Management: Problems with the German Field Survey Method at the Transition of Two Ecoregions

2022

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Since the Water Framework Directive (WFD) came into force in 2000, data on the hydromorphological quality have been collected for all rivers in Europe. In Germany, a reference-based classification scheme is used (LAWA 2000) for hydrological assessment. The question arises whether this method can compensate sufficiently for a change of ecoregion. In our study of the Hase River in NW Germany, the frequency of the river classes was compared between two ecoregions (Lower Saxonian Mountains vs. Northwest-German Lowlands). In the lowlands, the evaluation shows a significantly higher proportion of class 5 river sections. This can mainly be attributed to the main parameters, longitudinal section, riverbed structure and bank structure. While the bad results in the longitudinal section and bank structure can be explained by changes in geology and anthropogenic pressures, the evaluation scheme cannot sufficiently compensate for changes in the riverbed structure. This problem is aggravated by the inconsistent implementation of the evaluation scheme in Germany, where the federal states use different approaches with regard to section length. Using 100 m sections throughout the river course can lead to severely underestimating the number of structures. Further improvement and standardization in the evaluation scheme seem to be necessary for the adjustment of the field survey method to different ecoregions in Germany.

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A Review of the Status of Surface European Waters Twenty Years after WFD Introduction

Cited by 24 publications

References 54 publications

“One Out–All Out” Principle in the Water Framework Directive 2000—A New Approach with Fuzzy Method on an Example of Greek Lakes

“One Out–All Out” Principle in the Water Framework Directive 2000—A New Approach with Fuzzy Method on an Example of Greek Lakes

Towards a Good Ecological Status? The Prospects for the Third Implementation Cycle of the EU Water Framework Directive in The Netherlands

Hydromorphological Assessment as a Tool for River Basin Management: Problems with the German Field Survey Method at the Transition of Two Ecoregions

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