Comparison of Environmental Quality Objectives, Threshold Values or Water Quality Targets under the WFD Jens Arle, Ulrich Claussen & Patrick Müller Federal Environment Agency, Section for the Protection of the Marine Environment

Introduction Legislative Background (WFD) Fundamental change from pollution control to ensuring ecosystem integrity Aim of the activity Evaluation and comparison of limit values for physical and chemical elements set by EU Member States under the WFD

Methods Data of HTML Factsheets of 18Member States Provided during official WISE reporting (March 2010) http://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/ Analysis and visual comparison

Challenges of the data analyses Heterogeneous nomenclature of variables (e.g. QE3- 1-1-SecchiDepth (m) vs. QE3-1-1-Transparency (m)), Different expressions of variables (e.g. QE3-1-3- DissolvedOxygenConcentration (mg l-1) & QE3-1-3- OxygenSaturationPercentage (%)), Different methodologies for variables (e.g. QE3-1-3- BOD5 (mg l-1) & QE3-1-3-BOD7 (mg l-1))), Different statistical expressions (mean, median, percentiles, others or none) Limited Comparability

Supportive physical and chemical elements for different surface water categories Supportive physical and chemical variable Rivers & Streams Lakes Transitional waters Coastal waters QE3-1-6-TotalPhosphorus (mg l-1) 16 13 4 5 QE3-1-6-TotalNitrogen (mg l-1) 8 7 6 QE3-1-3-DissolvedOxygenConcentration (mg l-1) 11 QE3-1-5-pH 14 3 2 QE3-1-6-Nitrate (mg l-1) QE3-1-6-Orthophosphate (mg l-1) QE3-1-6-TotalAmmonium (mg l-1) 12 QE3-1-3-OxygenSaturationPercentage (%) QE3-1-1-SecchiDepth (m) QE3-1-3-BOD5 (mg l-1) 1 QE3-1-2-Water temperature (°C) QE3-1-6-Nitrite (mg l-1) QE3-1-4-Chloride (mg l-1)

Total Phosphorous in Rivers (mg l-1) FI EE LV UK LT CZ NL FR DE SK PL BE RO ES BG IE SE AT

Total Nitrogen in Rivers (mg l-1) FI ES EE LV LT NL SK PL FR DE CZ UK RO SE BG IE BE AT

Dissolved Oxygen in Rivers (mg l-1) AT CZ SK RO LT DE FR BE LV PL FI EE BG UK ES SE NL IE

Total Phosphorous in Lakes (mg l-1) FR FI LV EE LT UK DE AT ES BG NL RO SE PL IE SK BE CZ

Total Nitrogen in Lakes (mg l-1) FI LV LT EE BG NL FR AT ES UK DE RO SE PL IE SK BE CZ

Secchi Depth/Transparency in Lakes (m) AT ES EE FR LV NL SE LT BG UK DE RO FI PL IE SK BE CZ

Total Phosphorous in coastal and transitional waters (mg l-1) FI DE PL EE DE BG PL FI

Total Nitrogen in coastal and transitional waters (mg l-1) FR EE DE PL FI DE PL BG

Orthophosphate coastal and transitional waters (mg l-1) DE PL RO FR DE RO BG PL

Summary Significant number of variables used for the description of good/moderate boundaries of water bodies ecological status Need for additional information (e.g. on typology) to arrive at an improved comparison

Resulting Questions What are reasons for significant differences in Good-Moderate Boundaries between MS?  The analysis might emphasise a need for comparison of typologies across the EU, which is essential for an adequate comparative analysis of Good-Moderate Boundaries of physical and chemical elements among MS. What methodologies have MSs used to derive their standards?

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