FOURTH REPORT
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has agreed
to the following
Report:
THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE
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Among these treasures of our land is water - fast becoming
our most
valuable, most prized, most critical resource.
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.
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| W.H. Auden
('First Things First', 1957)
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Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, so can
I, or so can any man; but will they come when you do
call for them?
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William Shakespeare
(Henry IV Pt.1 Act III Scene I)
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THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE
Summary
The Water Framework Directive is a hugely important piece
of legislation. Its objective is environmental improvement,
and it will also have a significant socio-economic effect.
Meeting its objectives will require much change, particularly
in the water industry and in agriculture, as well as in
land use planning. Our first concern is that the significance
of the Directive should be fully understood, both by those
most immediately affected, and by the wider public: this
Directive has the potential to affect everyone.
Implementation of the Directive requires a great
deal of scientific work to be done, as well as administrative
structures to be put in place to bring together all
of those affected. A 'joined-up' strategy is required.
Yet the Government does not seem to be seized of the
urgency of the task. Thus as well as making specific
recommendations throughout the Report, our most urgent
plea is that the Government adopt a more positive, and
more active, approach to the Directive.
The Water Framework Directive offers the chance
to giving real meaning to the nebulous concept of 'sustainable
development'. We urge the Government to take it.
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1. It has been argued that the Water Framework
Directive is "the most ambitious item of environmental
legislation to reach the European Union's statute book".[
1] Such
assertions convinced us to undertake an inquiry into the process
and impact of implementing the Directive in this country. We
announced our inquiry in a press notice issued on 24 July 2002.[ 2]
The terms of reference of our inquiry were:
To examine plans for implementation of the Water
Framework Directive. Amongst other matters the Committee will
address:
by what means, and over what timetable, the Government
intends to implement the Directive in the United Kingdom;
what will be the costs of implementing the Directive,
how the costs will be met, how they will be apportioned, and the
implications for water pricing policy;
the role that the Environment Agency will take
in implementing the Directive;
whether the definitions of, for example, what constitutes
a river basin and significant human activity have been clarified
sufficiently to allow management plans to be formed; and
what the tangible benefits of the Directive are
likely to be and whether its objectives can be achieved in a cost
effective way.
2. In response to our invitation to submit written
evidence we received 35 memoranda. We subsequently held six oral
evidence sessions in October, November and December 2002, hearing
from representatives of the European Commission, WaterVoice, the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds (RSPB), the Environment Agency, Rural Horizons, the Office
of Water Services (OFWAT), Water UK, Severn Trent Water Ltd and
United Utilities, the National Farmers Union (NFU), the Chemical
Industries Association (CIA), Dr Joe Howe and Mr Elliot Morley
MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Commons) for Fisheries, Water
and Nature Protection, and officials from the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). We also discussed the matter with
UKRep officials and with representatives of the European Commission
during a visit to Brussels in November 2002. We wish to thank
all who gave evidence, either orally or in writing. We were also
assisted throughout our inquiry by our specialist advisers, Professor
Penny Johnes and Mr Peter Howsam. We are most grateful for their
expert guidance.
Background to the Directive
What the Directive seeks to achieve
3. The Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) came
into force on 23 December 2000. The Directive aims to introduce
an integrated and co-ordinated approach to water management in
Europe. It sets common, European Union-wide, definitions of water
quality and objectives for the management of water quality, replacing
several existing Directives.[
3] Article
1 of the Directive sets out its purpose: "The Directive aims
to establish a framework for the protection of inland surface
waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater which:
prevents further deterioration and protects and
enhances the status of aquatic ecosystems and, with regard to
their water needs, terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands directly
depending on the aquatic ecosystems;
promotes sustainable water use based on a long-term
protection of available water sources;
aims at enhanced protection and improvement of
the aquatic environment, inter alia, through specific measures
for the progressive reduction of discharges, emissions and losses
of priority substances and the cessation or phasing-out of discharges,
emissions and losses of the priority hazardous substances;
ensures the progressive reduction of pollution
of groundwater and prevents its further pollution, and
contributes to mitigating the effects of floods
and droughts."[4]
4. Article 4 of the Directive sets out its most
significant objective:[
5] Member
States are required to achieve "good groundwater status"
and "good surface water status" by 2015. There will
be only limited exceptions to this requirement, for example bodies
of water which have been 'heavily modified' by human activity
(eg. those that have been artificially constructed or restricted).
For the first time, the status of surface water will be assessed
in terms of ecological quality as well as chemical quality, and
the quality and quantity of both groundwater and surface water
will be considered together. The Directive will also introduce
a new, integrated approach to the control of pollution at source
through the setting of emission limit values and of environmental
quality standards for water. An agreed list of particularly hazardous
(priority) substances will be phased out.
5. An integrated and co-ordinated approach to improved
water management, common to all Member States of the European
Union, has many potential benefits. We have identified the following:
· the Directive establishes a more
clearly understood and meaningful classification of water quality
based on the visible evidence of pollution - its effect on plant
and animal communities - rather than less tangible chemical or
physical criteria;
· it standardises monitoring and
classification for all water bodies across Europe so that direct
comparisons can be made across Member States on a like-for-like
basis;
· the Directive seeks to protect
undamaged and marginally-damaged waters from future damage, and
it requires the restoration of degraded waters within a fixed
time period; and
· it provides a framework for the
integration of land and water management and planning for the
benefit of both wildlife and people.
6. Our witnesses also stressed the significance
of the Directive. The European Commission told us that the Directive
would give rise to economic benefits for the water and fishing
industries, and to improved amenity for recreational activities
in inland and coastal areas.[
6] The Environment
Agency said that "if all you do is drink water and get rid
of your sewage and eat food you are only benefiting from some
elements of it, but if you are a fisherman or a canoeist or a
developer who wanted a nice riverside frontage in order to be
able to regenerate a rundown inner city or if you are a deprived
kid who has some sort of river recreation experience that gets
you out of teenage crime, there are a whole load of beneficiaries".[ 7]
Water UK took a similar view: its Chief Executive said that she
was "enthusiastic about what it (the Water Framework Directive)
can bring, certainly in terms of the environment but also in terms
of regeneration, for example, about improving the environment
in which we live. I am enthusiastic because of the help it could
do, say, with regional development, attracting highly skilled
people to where they are needed to help the regional economy,
and so on".[ 8]
7. Less positive comments about the Directive came
from some of those who will have to pay for its implementation,
although these still make clear its importance. The National Farmers'
Union (NFU) told us that the livelihoods of many of its members
"could be seriously compromised by the Directive's implications
... It is therefore a matter of major importance for them".[
9] The NFU
went on to say that "the potential costs of the Directive
for agriculture are .. overwhelming ... Should agriculture face
new costs of this magnitude significant and rapid structural change
is likely to result with far-reaching and unpredictable changes
for land management and environmental protection".[ 10]
For example, the NFU cited comments by Professor Keith Goulding,
who "doubt[s] that agriculture can meet the challenge of
the Water Framework Directive without severe cuts in N (nitrogen
fertilizer) use and thus profitability".[ 11]
Severn Trent Water Limited pointed to estimates of the cost of
implementing the Directive, and said that "the impact of
the Water Framework Directive on customer bills will therefore
be massive".[ 12]
And the Country Land and Business Association told us that "the
implementation of the Water Framework Directive will affect many
of our members, especially those who own businesses which depend
on water ... it is essential that, as well as .. focussing on
the environmental objectives of water bodies, the social and economic
benefits of those businesses that may impact on them are also
taken into account".[ 13]
8. The Water Framework Directive offers the potential
of enormous environmental and social benefits, but at the same
time it will dramatically affect the ways in which farming, industries
and others conduct their activities. Therefore the first - and
perhaps over-riding - conclusion of our inquiry is that the Directive
needs much greater public promotion. We hope that all parties
affected by the Directive, as well as the media, will now recognise
the significance of the Directive, and begin to give it the attention
and discussion it deserves, and that the Government gives a much
clearer lead about its implications, techniques and costs of implementation.
Mechanisms of the Directive
The ecological status of waters
9. The Water Framework Directive introduces the
assessment of the status of surface waters using a range of ecological
criteria, as well as more traditional measures of chemical quality.
Annex V of the Directive sets out a framework of measures by which
the status of waters will be assessed. In the case of rivers these
include biological measures, such as the composition and abundance
of aquatic flora, the composition and abundance of benthic invertebrate
fauna, and the composition, abundance and age structure of fish
fauna; hydromorphological measures supporting the biological elements,
comprising the hydrological regime, including the quantity and
dynamics of water flow and connection to groundwater bodies, river
continuity, and morphological conditions comprising river depth
and width variation, structure and substrate of the river bed,
and the structure of the riparian zone; and chemical and physico-chemical
measures, including thermal conditions, oxygenation conditions,
salinity, acidification status, and nutrient conditions, as well
as specific pollutants, comprising pollution by all priority substances[
14] identified
as being discharged into the body of water and pollution by other
substances identified as being discharged in significant quantities
into the body of water.[ 15]
Similar measures are set out for lakes, 'transitional waters'
(ie. estuarine) and coastal waters, as well as for ground waters.
10. The Water Framework Directive sets a framework
for the management of water resources based on the river basin.
Such an approach is familiar to the United Kingdom, but is novel
in many parts of Europe. The Directive defines a 'river basin'
as "the area of land from which all surface runoff
flows through a sequence of streams, rivers and, possibly, lakes
into the sea at a single river mouth, estuary or delta".[
16] It
defines a 'river basin district' as "the area of land and
sea, made up of one or more neighbouring river basins together
with their associated groundwaters and coastal waters" identified
by a Member State as being the unit appropriate for the management
of a river basin.[ 17]
11. Having defined the river basin districts within
its territory Member States are required to develop a 'programme
of measures' to achieve the objectives of the Water Framework
Directive within each district.[
18] The
programmes are subject to a range of conditions set out in Article
11 of the Directive. For example, before they are produced Member
States are first required to analyse the state of each River Basin
District and to establish monitoring programmes, and to produce
an economic analysis of water use for each river basin, in order
that suggested measures for improvement can be assessed for cost-effectiveness.
In addition Member States are required to produce river basin
management plans addressing issues set out in Annex VII of the
Directive, including
· a general description of the characteristics
of the river basin district;
· a summary of significant pressures and impact
of human activity on the status of surface water and groundwater;
· the identification and mapping of protected
areas;
· a map of monitoring networks established;
· a list of the environmental objectives established
for surface waters, groundwaters and protected areas;
· a summary of the economic analysis of water
use;
· a summary of the programme of measures adopted;
· a register of any more detailed programmes
and management plans for the river basin district;
· a summary of the public information and
consultation measures taken, their results and the changes to
the plan made as a consequence;
· a list of 'competent authorities'; and
· procedures for obtaining background documentation
and information.
Later updates of the river basin management plan
are required to include information about progress made and changes
proposed to the plan.[
1 'Defra gets more bad press
over Water Framework Directive', The ENDS Report, 335, December
2002. Back
2
The Press Notice can be seen on the internet
at www.parliament.uk. Back
3
Council
of the European Communities Directive concerning the quality of
surface waters intended for the abstraction of drinking water (75/440/EEC);
Council of the European Communities Directive concerning the quality
of fresh waters needing protection or improvement in order to support
fish life (78/659/EEC);Council of the European Communities Directive
on the quality required of shellfish waters (79/409/EEC);Council
of the European Communities Directive concerning the protection
of groundwater against pollution caused by certain dangerous substances
(80/68/EEC);Council of the European Communities Directive concerning
pollution caused by dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic
environment (76/464/EEC). Back
4
Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 23 December 2000 Article 1 Back
5
A
fuller description of the purposes of each of the Articles of the
Directive is included at Annex 1. Back
6
Ev
Qq 42 and 43. Back
7
Q
255. Back
8
Q
323. Back
9
Ev
129, para.1. Back
10
Ev
130, paras.8 and 11. Back
11
Ev
132, para.19. Back
12
Ev 80, Introduction. Back
13
Ev 242, para.2. Back
14
To
be listed in Annex X of the Directive. Back
15
See
Annex V of the Directive, pp.33 ff. Back
16
Article
2(13) of the Directive. Back
17
Article 2(15)
of the Directive. Back
18
Article 11(1)
of the Directive. Back
19
Annex VII of the Directive. Back
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