15 November 2012: The European Commission has released “A Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources,” designed to improve responses to water quality challenges. The Blueprint aims in particular to address lagging achievement towards the Water Framework Directive (WFD) target for reaching “good” ecological status in European waters by 2015.

The Water Blueprint aims to: improve implementation of EU water policy, including the WFD; integrate water policy into agriculture, fisheries and other policy areas; and fill gaps in the current water policy framework.

On the ecological status, the Blueprint notes that hydropower, navigation, draining land for agriculture and flood protection embankments are main drivers of hydromorphological pressures on the ecological status of freshwater bodies. It calls for mitigation measures, including fish ladders, to be standard practice for structures that impede river continuity. it also calls for preparing Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA), in addition to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). The Blueprint suggests using buffer strips and green infrastructure to prevent floods and droughts, which conserve biological continuity. It also emphasizes over-abstraction of water as another serious threat, noting the need for allocating ecological flows to help prevent over-allocation, and for preventing illegal abstraction.

On chemical status and pollution, the Blueprint underscores that in 40% of European waters, the status is unknown, calling monitoring “insufficient and inadequate.” The Blueprint calls for: enforcing existing reporting requirements under the WFD; extending nitrate vulnerable zones under the Nitrates Directive (ND); improving compliance under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD); ensuring that emissions permits take water objectives into account under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IPPC-IED); adding cross-compliance under the Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides; preparing a report on pharmaceuticals; and adopting amendments to the Environmental Quality Standards Directive.

On water efficiency, the Blueprint calls for: enforcing water pricing and cost recovery under the WFD; developing WFD Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) guidance on trading schemes, cost-benefit assessment, water accounts and ecological flows, and target setting; making water use reduction a precondition for some irrigation projects; including water-related products in the Eco-design Working Plan; and spreading best practices to achieve sustainable economic leakage levels (SELL).

On vulnerability, the Blueprint proposes: developing CIS guidance on green infrastructure; supporting natural water retention measures (NWRM); enforcing WFD drought risk management requirements; developing Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) under the Floods Directive; developing regulations on standards for water re-use; and developing the European Drought Observatory. The Blueprint also calls for cross-cutting solutions, including: implementing Innovation Partnerships on Water and on Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability; upgrading the Water Information System for Europe (WISE); streamlining reporting and statistics; completing the hydro-economic model; continuing CIS work on science-policy interfaces; and setting up a CIS peer review system for River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs).

In the international context, the Blueprint highlights outcomes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), including the declaration of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation as a human right. The Blueprint emphasizes that EU development policy will pay attention to water for economic growth and sustainable development, and the implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM). [EU Press Release] [EU Memo] [Publication: A Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources]