Fish migration from a Water Framework Directive perspective

1. Fish migration from a Water Framework Directive perspective Launch of the Living North Sea Project 26 March 2010, Ghent Dr. Ursula Schmedtje DG Environment, European Commission

2. Outline WFD principles and main objectives Ecological status – fish fauna as biological quality element WFD and hydromorphology – importance for fish migration

3. Main WFD objectives

4. WFD – general principles Protecting all water bodies, including transitional waters and coastal waters. Covering all impacts on waters. Achievement of good status in all water bodies and no deterioration of status. Good status: Ecological status Chemical status Quantitative status Water quality defined in terms of biology, chemistry and morphology Attention paid to socio-economic impacts, e.g. through a process of duly justified exemptions Slide 4

5. Diversity of uses, aspirations, pressures and impacts Tourism Nature protection Agriculture Flood protection Industry Waste Water Drinking water Navigation & hydropower

6. Transposition into national law Dec 2003 Administrative arrangements Dec 2003 Environmental analysis: Analysis of characteristics Assessment of human impacts Economic analysis of water use Dec 2004 Monitoring programmes Dec 2006 Public Participation starts Dec 2006 Significant water management issues Dec 2007 Draft river basin management plans Dec 2008 Final river basin management plans Dec 2009 Measures to be applicable at the latest Dec 2012 Implementation, adjustment 2015 till 2027 WFD Timetable Slide 6

7. River Basin Management Plans Principles 1 - flexibility in WFD objective setting 2 - integration with other policies 3 - consider a wide range of measures 4 - transparency in decision making 5 - 6 year cyclic approach Slide 7

8. Ecological status

9. Ecological Status Definition: “an expression of the quality of the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems associated with surface waters”.

10. WFD environmental objectives Prevention of deterioration of the ecological and chemical status of all bodies of surface water Achievement of good surface water status of all European lakes, rivers, and coastal/transitional waters by 2015

11. Quality Elements Example: rivers • Biological elements (new!) • Composition and abundance of phytoplankton • Composition and abundance of macrophytes and phytobenthos • Composition and abundance of benthic invertebrate fauna • Composition, abundance and age structure of fish fauna • Hydromorphological elements (new!) • Hydrological regime • River continuity • Morphological conditions (including riparian zone) • Chemical and physico-chemical elements • General (oxygenation, nutrients, salinity, etc) • Specific pollutants (synthetic and non-synthetic)

12. Fish fauna Water categories Rivers – lakes – transitional waters (not in coastal waters) Normative definitions (example: transitional waters) • High status • Species composition and abundance is consistent with undisturbed conditions • Good status • The composition and abundance of the disturbance-sensitive species shows slight signs of distortion from type-specific conditions attributable to anthropogenic impacts on physico-chemical or hydromorophological quality elements. • Moderate status • A moderate proportion of the type-specific disturbance-sensitive species are absent as a result of anthropogenic impacts on physicochemical or hydromorphological quality elements.

13. HIGH GOOD MODERATE Non-deterioration POOR Restoration BAD Ecological Status Classes { No or minimal { Slight { Moderate { Major { Severe Courtesy Peter Pollard, Scottish Environment Protection Agency

14. What is intercalibration? Legal obligation to harmonise the understanding of "good ecological status" across 27 Member States HIGH GOOD MODERATE POOR BAD • Harmonise the result of national assessment systems (not the methods) to be comparable and consistent with the normative definitions • Commission facilitates the exercise and publishes the results

15. WFD and hydromorphology

16. 25 20 15 Urbanisation Agriculture Hydropower Flood defence Navigation 10 5 0 Pressures on EU waters Drivers for hydromorphological pressures EU25

17. Heavily modified water bodies • In case changes to the hydromorphological characteristics of that body which would be necessary for achieving good ecological status would have significant adverse effects on (e.g.) power generation, and • In case the beneficial objectives served by the artificial or modified characteristics of the water body cannot, for reasons of technical feasibility or disproportionate costs, reasonably be achieved by other means, which are a significantly better environmental option: • A water body can be designated as heavily modified and good ecological potential can be achieved instead of GES. Slide 17

18. Exemptions • Time derogation (art 4.4) • Phased implementation to 2021 or even 2027 depending on technical feasibility and disproportionate costs • Lowered objectives (art 4.5) • Depending on technical infeasibility, disproportionate costs and/or natural condition • New modifications for sustainable human developments or physical alterations of surface water bodies, or alteration level of ground waters (art 4.7) • Benefits overriding public interest, consideration of alternatives – better environmental option Slide 18

19. New modifications • WFD allows for deterioration by new modifications under strict conditions: • No better environmental options • Project is of overriding public interest/outweighing water protection benefits • All mitigation measures are taken • Project and reasons are reported in RBM Plan • Other water bodies are not impacted/other objectives not impaired • Often related to Habitats Directive Article 6.3

22. GREEN - River Basin Management Plan established ORANGE - consultations finalised, but plans not yet published. BLUE - consultations ongoing PURPLE - consultations not started or ongoing in a part of the country RED - consultations have not yet started River Basin Management Plans … currently available

23. Guidance documents and further information

24. CIS Guidance Documents … linked with ecological status assessment … 2) Identification of Water Bodies 3) Analysis of Pressures and Impacts 4) Artificial and Heavily Modified Water Bodies 5) Transitional and Coastal Waters – Typology, Reference Conditions 6) Intercalibration Network and the Intercalibration Process 7) Monitoring of surface waters … 10) Rivers and Lakes Typology … 12) Wetlands 13) Classification of ecological status 14) Intercalibration Process … 23) Eutrophication Assessment in the context of European Water Policies

25. More information Ecological status and intercalibration exercise: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/objectives.html http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/jrc/jrc_eewai/library (More technical information) EU Research projects linked to ecological status classification: AQEMhttp://www.aqem.de/ STARhttp://www.eu-star.at/ REBECCAhttp://www.rbm-toolbox.net/rebecca/ E-mail: Ursula. Schmedtje@ec.europa.eu

26. Thank you for your attention.