STRATEGIC CO-ORDINATION GROUP Water scarcity Expert group Working Group C Progress Report & Planning 2007 STRATEGIC CO-ORDINATION GROUP PLENARY WG C CHAIR: COM CO-CHAIR: AT WFD & Agriculture Expert group Water scarcity Expert group Programme of Measures Compliance & Trends Risk Assessment ‘Prevent/limit’ guidance ‘Protected areas’ guidance Exchanges on point & diffuse sources TV methodology ‘Status & trend’ guidance Conceptual modelling, GIS Quantitative status management, Most recent milestone: Berlin plenary WG meeting on 3 May 2007: GW protected areas guidance (still last-minute comments to consider) – discussed further GW ‘Prevent/Limit’ guidance, clarifying GWD Article 6 requirements First draft of TV methodology + skeleton of Status & Trends guidance Discussion of WPs for WGC-1 and WGC-3: “Land use & groundwater” (WFD & Agriculture) Possible consideration of “other diffuse sources” to be discussed in WGC-3 (WGC-1 out?) Next plenary meeting: Lisbon on 21 September 2007

Groundwater & protected areas in the context of the WFD European Commission - DG Environment Unit D.2: Water and Marine

Protected areas in the context of the WFD (Annex IV): TWO INTERPRETATIONS First interpretation: DWPA = part of a GW body, or extending over parts of two or more bodies, or corresponding to GW body boundaries. In this context, safeguard zones may not be needed in addition of DWPAs where measures are to be focused. Second interpretation: DWPA = whole groundwater body (Article 7.1 WFD). The protection may be focused on (but not necessarily restricted to) zones around actual or planned abstractions, i.e. safeguard zones (similar to DWPAs defined in the 1st interpretation). Regardless of which interpretation is used, Article 7.3 objectives apply.

Guidance based on 2nd interpretation – IN SUMMARY – DWPA = whole groundwater body DWPAs cover actual abstraction zones (safeguard zones) and other zones of potential abstraction Protection measures are focused on safeguard zones normally linked to DW abstractions that are at risk of deterioration. This does not rule out wider measures if a MS wishes to provide protection e.g. to an area that is identified for future abstraction. As noted in the GWD, safeguard zones may be part of a GW body/DWPA, cover parts of two or more bodies, or cover the whole territory of a Member State.

LINKS WITH PROTECTED AREAS X – Threshold value: 25 µg/l (account of NBL + interactions) X – DW safeguard zone (DW standard of 10 µg/l): minimum treatment should apply= compliance to Art. 7(3) of WFD AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM GROUNDWATER BODY= DWPA DW safeguard zone X X TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM X X X X X X X X X X X X X Other protected areas e.g. NATURA 2000 X THE MOST STRINGENT PROTECTION REGIME SHOULD PREVAIL

About exemptions and derogations Exemptions/derogations to WFD’s objectives listed in Article 4.1(a) and 4.1(b) by forward references to paragraphs 4.4 - 4.8. No forward reference to Article 4.1(c) but paras 4.4 – 4.8 refer back to Article 4.1 as a whole, hence including 4.1.(c) However, Articles 4.8 and 4.9 indicates that the application of Articles 4.4-4.7 should be consistent with other Community legislation. Therefore, there cannot be a relaxation of objectives from those stated in the Community legislation has been designated. How this relates to timescales is unclear. Proposal that guidance document stresses that this issue is to be clarified in the “Exemption” expert group

STRATEGIC CO-ORDINATION GROUP CMA Progress Report & Planning 2007 STRATEGIC CO-ORDINATION GROUP WG E PLENARY CMA (GW, SW/MW) WG C or WG E (joint meetings) CMA-1 Exchange of best practices CMA-2 QA_QC CMA-3 Standardisation (CEN TC/230) Analytical methods, sampling Practical exercises Sediment and biota Follow-up of COM decision Discussion of common strategy (EAQC-WISE) Identification of standards Follow-up of CEN work Links with RTD Most recent milestone: Berlin plenary CMA meeting on 2 May 2007: Worth noting ‘WFD Monitoring Conference’ in Lille (280 participants from 30 countries) Surface Water Monitoring guidance ‘frozen’ as interim report until PS Directive 1st reading Revised version of QA/QC draft decision sent for opinion to EC Legal Service Discussion of WPs for CMA-1 and CMA-3 with concrete developments regarding CEN Next plenary meeting: Brussels on 16 October 2007 (back-to-back WG E meeting)