The Water Framework Directive: spatial and institutional integration

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the prospects of integrated planning and management of the environment in the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and river basin planning.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses the legal framework of the WFD and other related water and environmental legislation as well as the provisions for integrative practice in the WFD. Moreover it analyses the potential for integration with issues that are not provided for in the WFD, such as land use. The procedural elements of the WFD and other EU legislation are analysed for identifying common elements within a modern consensus and efficiency based planning mode.FindingsThree aspects of the integrated management framework for water and other environmental resources are highlighted. The first concerns the need for interaction between spatial land use planning and the integrated river basin management plans of the WFD, in order to ensure that land‐use plans do not contradict water goals and that water planning also takes into account broader landscape related aspects. This demands the establishment of platforms for institutional interplay. The second is the need to integrate water goals into sectoral policies. This may be ensured by activating the impact assessment procedures for projects, plans and programmes which may have an impact on water resources and quality. The third concerns elements and procedures which are common to several pieces of legislations (e.g. management plans, monitoring, public participation), and which could benefit from the establishment of common databases, spatial information systems, and methods of communication.Originality/valueThe paper aims to identify key issues related to integration of the WFD with other environmental EU legislation, the associated challenges posed to water management and other environmental management institutions and procedures, and the information systems and methods which may facilitate the integration.

Measuring Sustainable Service Quality of Malaysian Water and Sewerage Companies: A Pilot Study

“…(Aksorn and Charoenngam, 2015); (Tajbakhsh and Hassini, 2015); (Simonis, 1990) SUSTAINABLE -ENVIRONMENT S4 -Reducing the ecological footprint -Air (pollution) (Aksorn and Charoenngam, 2015); (Tajbakhsh and Hassini, 2015); (Simonis, 1990); (Delai and Takahashi, 2011); (Bo et. al., 2007); (Frederiksen et. al., 2008) S5 -Reducing the ecological footprint -Water (pollution) (Aksorn and Charoenngam, 2015); (Tajbakhsh and Hassini, 2015); (Delai and Takahashi, 2011); (Frederiksen et.…”

“…al., 2007); (Frederiksen et. al., 2008) S5 -Reducing the ecological footprint -Water (pollution) (Aksorn and Charoenngam, 2015); (Tajbakhsh and Hassini, 2015); (Delai and Takahashi, 2011); (Frederiksen et. al., 2008); (Simonis, 1990); S6 -Reducing the ecological footprint -Land (destruction) (Aksorn and Charoenngam, 2015); (Delai and Takahashi, 2011);(Frederiksenet.…”

Sustainability of Integrated Water Resources Management

“…Further integration with the European Union would require the countries to meet minimum standards of the EU Water Framework Directive, including integrated water management policies and spatial planning measures. The Directive requires basin-level management of water resources (Frederiksen et al 2008), which is not being applied to the Kura-Aras.…”

How different institutional arrangements promote integrated river basin management. Evidence from the Baltic Sea Region

“…Moreover, water management cuts across multiple scales of decision making (Frederiksen et al, 2008: 103;Moss and Newig, 2010). The principle of spatial fit refers to the efforts to find optimal units of governance for various policy issues, under the assumption that compatibility between institutional and administrative frameworks and the biophysical properties of the resource can be found (Moss, 2004;Frederiksen et al, 2008). When resource management is linked across scales, as is the case with water management, it raises the question of "how local resource management can be coupled to larger scale institutions without losing its local fit to the resource base" (Folke et al, 1998: 16).…”