The European Water Framework Directive

During the 70ies of the 20^th century the European Union already made efforts to protect the water bodies of Europe. The so-called "biological" directive included the protection of fish- (78/659/EWG) and mussel containing water bodies (79/923/EWG). Additional to this directives a regulation of harmful substances (76/464/EWG) was passed in 1976. All these directives were refreshed by the WFD. The WFD includes some more water protection regulations like the  municipal waste water treatment regulation (91/271/EWG), the nitrate regulation (91/676/EWG) and the drinking water treatment directive (98/83/EG), but existing regulations will stay enforced and will exist besides the WFD. Basically, the WFD includes all of these regulations bindingly in a complete package of measures.

As a result, the WFD for the first time harmonises European water laws for the protection of all waters (ground waters, lakes, rivers, transitional and coastal waters). This necessitates a holistic approach and that means that the condition of a water body is not only measured by its chemical characteristics but also by its biological condition. Additionally, the public is supposed to be actively included in the water management plans.

The national enforcement of the WFD is not an easy task and needs more legal changes. The water body assessment is included and explained in the WFD. This needs to be converted into federal and state laws. A first time water body assessement like its classification and typology is also included.

The incorporation of the public is positioned in article 14 of the WFD and includes several aspects. There is no clear definition however of "the public". There are three different kinds of proposed participation: (1) information, (2) hearings and (3) active participation. All three possibilities should be supported by the member states to ensure a better public acceptance. However, the WFD so far does not include recommendations on how the active cooperation with the public should look like.

New terms and summaries of water bodies or river systems are the uniqueness of the WFD. For the first time, the watersheds are regarded as one unit. State borders are unregarded by purpose according to the WFD. The management plans in parts of an international multi-border river unit have to be coordinated within the whole system. The member states eclipse for this purpose and the river systems themself become more important than administrative units. In Germany a total of 10 river systems have been identyfied and classified: Donau, Rhein, Maas, Ems, Weser, Oder, Elbe, Eider, Warnow/Peene, Schlei/Trave.

The river units differ with regards to flora- and fauna communities and their sensitivity to human disturbance. Oligotrophic high alpine lakes may be heavily affected by only small nutrient inputs, while lakes in the lowlands may react completly different.

According to article 14 of the WFD, TaMOs represents the active cooperation with the public. Divers are users of the lakes and coastlines of Schleswig-Holstein. Members of TaMOs provide an active contribution in terms of the WFD and are regarded as very useful. On one hand its a fact that only the public will bring the WFD to live and on the other hand do divers help with the assessment of an environment thats difficult to measure.

As a bottom line, the WFD has been passed by the EU for the citizens of Europe and the protection of surface water bodies.

extended resources:

www.bmu.de/ueberblick/boden_abfall_wasser/aktuell/4040.php (in german)
ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html
www.umweltbundesamt.de/wasser-und-gewaesserschutz/index.htm (in german)