1. E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o nCommunity Research Global Change and Ecosystems - Water cycle and Soil-related aspects EC funded research in support to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive WG2B Integrated River Basin Management, 22 April 2004, Madrid Panagiotis Balabanis DG Research - Directorate I Water Cycle and Soil-related aspects panagiotis.balabanis@cec.eu.int

2. E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o nCommunity Research Global Change and Ecosystems - Water cycle and Soil-related aspects Aim of the Madrid meeting EC research dedicated session  Present concrete examples from 4 ongoing projects related to the specific features of the WG2B, showing how they can support the work of the WFD  The EUROHARP Toolbox linked to the quantification and assessment of diffuse nutrient losses  The BMW Toolbox providing information about models and other tools that are needed in the implementation of the WFD  The MULINO operational DSS based on hydrological modelling, multi- disciplinary indicators and a multi-criteria evaluation procedure  The HARMONICA general methodological framework for the analysis and planning of model supported participatory integrated river basin management.

3. E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o nCommunity Research Global Change and Ecosystems - Water cycle and Soil-related aspectsState-of-play  About 250 M€ invested through the Water Key Action in FP5 on research in support to the WFD and other related EU Water policies  Establishment of several project clusters facilitating the discussion of detailed technical issues from a research point of view and initiating the dialogue between the various EC funded projects and the working groups established in the context of the WFD implementation, such as:  CATCHMOD: Integrated catchment modelling and human aspects  WFD-EQA: Ecological Quality Assessment and Reference Conditions  ARID: Management of scarce water resources  CITY-NET: Integrated Urban Water Management  Funding of new projects through the « Specific Support to Policy » priority of FP6 explicitly designed to respond to direct policy needs  REBECCA: relationships between chemical/ecological status SWIFT: sampling, screening and testing methods  Defining thresholds of groundwater pollutants (to be selected soon)

4. E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o nCommunity Research Global Change and Ecosystems - Water cycle and Soil-related aspects Progress to date The WFD-EQA cluster  Development and testing of an integrated assessment system for the ecological quality of streams and rivers throughout Europe using benthic macroinvertebrates (AQEM)  Development, Evaluation and Implementation of a Standardised Fish-based Assessment Method for the Ecological Status of European Rivers (FAME)  A framework method for calibrating different biological survey results against ecological quality classifications (STAR)

5. E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o nCommunity Research Global Change and Ecosystems - Water cycle and Soil-related aspects Progress to date The CATCHMOD cluster  Development and validation of various mathematical and IT tools describing and monitoring the status of the water system, identifying pressures and impacts and providing integrated assessments (EUROHARP, EUROCAT, INCA, DANUBS, TISZA River, MULINO, GOUVERNe, etc.)  Development of benchmarking criteria helping stakeholders selecting appropriate modeling tools in a consistent way (BMW)  Development of a general methodological framework for River Basin Management Planning (HARMONICA)  Establishment of various networks of experimental river basins, including 6 river basins (Shannon, Odense, Jucar, Pinios, Guadiana and Somos)which are part of the PRBs exercise (HARMONIRIB, EUROHARP, EUROCAT)  Development of an architecture of an open modelling interface that allows both new and existing specific domaine and catchment based models to be linked together (HARMONIT)  Development of methodologies for including the human dimension aspects of water resources management, especially public participation, in integrated assessment modelling tools (FIRMA, HARMONICOP)

6. E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o nCommunity Research Global Change and Ecosystems - Water cycle and Soil-related aspects Progress to date The ARID cluster  Formulation of a typology of water deficient regions in Europe that describes the entire range of circumstances in tems of water resources availability, water supply options, water policy options as well as institutional and socio-economic constraints (WaterStrategyMan)  A 3-step methodology for an economic analysis of water management at the catchment/river basin scale  Step 1: Economic characterization of the river basin  Step 2: Assessment of the recovery of the costs of water services  Step 3: Economic assessment of potential measures for balancing water demand and supply

7. E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o nCommunity Research Global Change and Ecosystems - Water cycle and Soil-related aspects Strengthen the research/policy interface  A huge patrimony of knowledge and expertise is already available from EC funded RTD projects through various websites, publications, newsletters, conferences and workshops, which has to be properly exploited for the benefits of the WFD  There is an increased awareness between various EC services about the need to further strengthen the research/policy interface and improve research integration in the WFD implementation process

8. E u r o p e a n C o m m i s s i o nCommunity Research Global Change and Ecosystems - Water cycle and Soil-related aspects Steps forward  Following a recent meeting between DG RTD, DG ENV and HarmoniCA, it was agreed that HarmoniCA should play an important role establishing a communication platform to facilitate the access to these results and explore the possibilities for a closer cooperation between the CATCHMOD projects and the PRBs exercise