Just by existing, each of us makes rivers worse. Each person drinks, so uses up water, though some re-appears as polluted wastewater. This may go quickly or slowly to the sea, and be slow or very slow to evaporate back into the sky as clouds and eventually rain. Each plant and animal also needs water, and again only some re-appears. Much is lost to the air (from where it eventually re-appears as rain, but probably not in the same place). Much, again, goes to the sea. Gone are the days when people went out with buckets and came back with the nice clean water they needed. When regulation fails, famine and disease strike. Water policy must be there to keep the population healthy, and transport and industry working well. The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) applies to all of us. It is the best shot by the EU to make our brooks, rivers, lakes and groundwater better: to give us cleaner water, safer water resources, and less damaged water patterns and processes. What does the Directive recommend and require? Each nation (country, Member State) was required to transpose the Directive into its own national laws. As with much EU policy, the actions did not have to be done at once. It was to be brought in over time. And as with many laws, national or EU, not all parts are given the same weight or urgency by different groups of its audience. But all are in fact law.
Introduction 1
Why the Book? 1
The Water Framework Directive 3
EU Directive 2000/60/EC 3
UK Law Statutory Instruments 2017 No. 407 3
For All 4
Preamble 5
Whatever is a Directive? 5
But what is it? 5
So why is it wanted? 5
The Articles 10
Article 1. Purpose 10
Article 2. Definitions 10
Article 3. Co-ordination of administrative arrangements within river basin (catchment) districts 11
Article 4. Environmental objectives 12
Article 5. Characteristics of the river basin district, review of the environmental impact of human activity and economic analysis of water use 12
Article 6. Register of protected areas 12
Article 7. Waters used for the abstraction of drinking water 12
Article 8. Monitoring of surface water status, groundwater status and protected areas 12
Article 9. Recovery of costs for water services 13
Article 10. The combined approach for point and diffuse sources 13
Article 11. Programme of Measures 14
Article 12. Issues which cannot be dealt with at Member State level 14
Article 13. River basin (catchment) management plans (RBMPs) 14
Article 14. Public information and consultation 15
Article 15. Reporting 15
Article 16. Strategies against pollution of water 15
Article 17. Strategies to prevent and control pollution of groundwater 15
Article 18. Commission report 16
Article 19. Plans for future Community measures 16
Article 20. Technical adaptations to the Directive 16
Article 21. Committee procedure 16
Article 22. Repeals and transitional provisions 16
Article 23. Penalties 16
Article 24. Implementation 17
Article 25. Entry into force 17
Article 26. Addressees 17
ANNEXES 19
Annex 1. Information required for the list of competent authorities 19
Annex 2. Description of Water Body Types 19
Annex 3. Economic Analysis 31
Annex 4. Protected Areas 31
Annex 5. Water Status 31
Monitoring Rivers 31
Annex 6. Lists of measures to be included within the Programmes of Measures 40
Annex 7. River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) 41
Annex 8. Indicative list of the main pollutants 42
Annex 9. Emission limit values and environmental quality standards 42
Annex 10. List of priority substances in the field of water policy 42
Annex 11. Maps 42
ADDENDUM 45
Directive on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration (Summary) 45
ADOPTED DIRECTIVE 46
Article 1. Purpose 46
Article 2. Definitions 47
Article 3. Criteria for assessing groundwater chemical status 47
Article 4. Procedure for assessing groundwater chemical status 48
Article 5. Identification of significant and sustained upward [worsening] trends and the definition of starting points for trend reversals 49
Article 6. Measures to prevent or limit inputs of pollutants into groundwater 49
Article 7. Transitional arrangements 50
Article 8. Technical adaptations 50
Article 9. Committee procedure 51
Article 10. Review 51
Article 11. Evaluation 51
Article 12. Implementation 51
AFTERWORD 51
List of Stand-alone Titles in the River Friend Series • About the Authors 54