1. WGC-2 Status Compliance and Trends
guidance document
Johannes Grath
Rob Ward
Berlin – 3 May 2007
European Commission - DG Environment
Unit D.2: Water and Marine

2. Working Group C (2007-2009) Activity WGC-2 (Status compliance & trends)
Objectives
Activity 2 aims to develop a guidance document on a common methodology to establish groundwater threshold values and on status compliance & trend assessment along the provisions set by the new Groundwater Directive. The activity will cover:
Adoption of a common methodology for the establishment of groundwater threshold values based on the outcome of the methodology developed by the BRIDGE project, and exchanges of experiences among the Member States in support of the new Groundwater Directive.
Development of the "status compliance & trends" guidance document, concerning both quantitative and chemical status issues.
With respect to trend assessment, the document will be largely based on the technical report developed in 2002, and will provide recommendations to Member States on how to undertake and interpret trend studies (including considerations on lag time of groundwater systems and how to integrate this in trend assessment);

3. Currently drafting of 3 parts
Working Group C ( ) Activity WGC-2 (Status compliance & trends)
Currently drafting of 3 parts
Chemical status assessment – version 1.0 (draft text)
Trend assessment – version 0.1 (list of content)
Quantitative status assessment – version 0.2 (basic elements)
Discussion of drafts in DG meeting 2 May 2007

4. Chemical Status assessment

5. Chemical Status assessment
Working Group C ( ) Activity WGC-2 (Status compliance & trends)
Chemical Status assessment
Legal background and requirements
General principles
Guidance for testing
Test if there is an exceedances at a monitoring point
If yes, following further tests:
Significant env. risk or significant impairment of human uses
Saline or other intrusion
Significant diminution of quality of aquatic ecosystem
Significant diminution of quality of terrestrial ecosystem
Drinking Water Protected Areas (DWPA) test
Annex: Data aggregation methods

6. Chemical Status assessment
Tests in case of exceedance of GW-QS or TV
Classification Element
Classification Test
No significant impairment of human uses (GWD Article 4.2 b (iv))
Significant env. risk or significant impairment of human uses
No significant environmental risk from pollutants across a groundwater body. (GWD Article 4.2 b (i) and paragraph 3, Annex III).
No Saline or other Intrusions
(WFD Annex V 2.3.2)
Saline or other intrusion
No significant diminution of surface water ecology. (WFD Annex V 2.3.2)
Significant diminution of quality of aquatic ecosystem
No significant diminution of surface water chemistry. (WFD Annex V 2.3.2)
No significant damage to GWDTE. (WFD Annex V 2.3.2)
Significant diminution of quality of terrestrial ecosystem
No deterioration in quality of waters for human consumption (GWD Article 4.2 b (iii)) and paragraph 4, Annex III)
Drinking Water Protected Areas (DWPA) test

7. Elements of compliance testing
Working Group C ( ) Activity WGC-2 (Status compliance & trends)
Elements of compliance testing
Need for data aggregation
Extent of exceedance
Confidence in the assessment
Location of exceedance
Flow charts for each test
Methods for
Data aggregation,
Assessment of extent of exceedance
Compliance in the assessment

8. Quantitative Status assessment

9. Quantitative Status assessment
1. Legal background
Definition of good quantitative status
WFD Annex V2.1.2
Good status requires GWB to meet a series of conditions
Good status of GWB relies on protection (objectives) of other parts of water environment
Procedure
Unlike chemical status no formal procedure
GWDD does not cover Quantitative Status

10. Quantitative Status assessment
4. Classification
Viable classification system needs to address individual elements of good status
Status comprises two parts:
overall measure of water balance
supplementary detailed aims
Framework of four tests proposed
Water balance test
Surface water test
GWDTE test
Saline intrusion test

11. Trend assessment

12. Working Group C (2007-2009) Activity WGC-2 (Status compliance & trends)
Trend assessment
largely based on the technical report developed in 2002 (WG 2.8),
Further MS experience will also be considered
will provide recommendations to Member States on how to undertake and interpret trend studies (including considerations on lag time of groundwater systems and how to integrate this in trend assessment);

13. Finally ...

14. Finally 1 guidance & close integration
Working Group C ( ) Activity WGC-2 (Status compliance & trends)
Finally 1 guidance & close integration
Common methodology for threshold value derivation
Groundwater Protected Areas guidance
DWPA
WG 2.8
Groundwater Statistics
Direct and indirect inputs guidance

15. Overall status assessment
TEST 1:
Saline or other intrusions
Groundwater
Chemical Status
Groundwater Quantitative Status G P
TEST 2:
Surface Water
TEST 3:
Groundwater Dependent Terrestrial Ecosystems
TEST 4:
Drinking Water Protected Areas
TEST 5:
General Quality Assessment
GOOD
TEST 6:
Water Balance
POOR
The results of each test are combined for overall classification of POOR or GOOD STATUS for both quantity and chemical. The worst result is reported for the groundwater body.

16. Working Group C (2007-2009) Activity WGC-2 (Status compliance & trends)
Report from Drafting Group meeting
Integration of the relationship in GWD between chemical status assessment, prevent and limit (Art. 6) and the respective guidance document, required measures at individual sites in case of exceedance according to Art. 4.5 …
Basis for assessment: Arithmetic mean value at each monitoring point. Further elaboration about period and calculation of the mean at site level.
Strengthen importance of IMPRESS information and conceptual model (e.g. land use, vulnerability, risk assessment, …) for assessment procedure
Extent of exceedance: Percentage values demonstrated via test cases
Saline intrusion
Differentiate between vertical and horizontal intrusion /
Regional problem and point problem
Application of threshold values for performing the different tests
Consideration MS trend assessment experience

17. Working Group C (2007-2009) Activity WGC-2 (Status compliance & trends)
Tentative timetable
23 May Distribution of revised draft to WGC-2 main emphasis on chemical status assessment
3 weeks time for comments
Parallel further elaboration of quantity and trends – distribution before Lisbon
21 September 2007 – Lisbon: WG C plenary meeting linked to IAH groundwater conference