Fresh water8/24/2023 ![]() Many years of investment in the sewage system, and better wastewater treatment under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive - together with national legislation - have led to some remarkable improvements. ![]() Map 1: Proportion of classified river and lake water bodies in different River Basin Districts (RBD) holding less than good ecological status or potential A large proportion of water bodies have poor ecological status and are affected by pollution pressures, particularly in central and north-western European areas with intensive agricultural practices and high population density. Hydromorphological pressures also affect many surface water bodies, mainly from hydropower, navigation, agriculture, flood protection and urban development resulting in altered habitats. The pressures reported to affect most surface water bodies are pollution from diffuse sources, in particular from agriculture, causing nutrient enrichment. River water bodies are reported to have worse ecological status and more pressures and impacts than lakes. Ecological status is a criterion for the quality of the structure and functioning of surface water ecosystems. Overall, more than half of the river and lake water bodies in Europe are reported to hold less than good ecological status or potential (Map 1). These will be the basis for an update of the status of Europe's waters and will illustrate progress in reducing pressures. Over the last few years, European countries that are not EU Member States have developed similar river basin activities to those introduced by the Water Framework Directive. During 2015 EU Member States will finalise the second set of RBMPs. The information in the RBMPs, together with other related sources of information, has been analysed to establish an assessment of the status of and pressures affecting Europe's waters. In 2010, EU Member States released 160 River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs), which contain plans for protecting and improving the water environment. Climate change is projected to increase water shortages, particularly in the Mediterranean region. ![]() Over-abstraction is causing low river flows, lower groundwater levels, and the drying-up of wetlands, which have detrimental impacts on freshwater ecosystems. In many locations, water demand often exceeds availability. Water quantity and water quality are closely linked, and good ecological status depends as much on the quantitative water resource aspects as on its quality. In general terms, good status means that water shows only a slight change from what would normally be expected under undisturbed conditions (i.e. ![]() Achieving good status involves meeting certain standards for the ecology, chemistry, morphology, and quantity of waters. Only in this case may achievement of good status be extended to 2021 or 2027 at the latest. The Water Framework Directive (WFD), which came into force in 2000, establishes a new framework for the assessment, management, protection and improvement of the quality of water resources across the EU.ĮU Member States should aim to achieve good status in all bodies of surface water and groundwater by 2015 unless there are grounds for exemption. Since the first water directives in the 1970s, the EU has worked to create an effective and coherent water policy. The main aim of European Union (EU) water policy is to ensure that throughout the EU, a sufficient quantity of good quality water is available for people's needs and for the environment. For example, agriculture causes widespread problems of nutrient enrichment in freshwater across Europe, despite recent improvements in some regions. Discharge from urban wastewater treatment, and industrial effluents and losses from farming, are the main sources for water pollution. The continuing presence of pollutants in Europe's waters threatens aquatic ecosystems and raises concerns for public health.
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