Sustainable River Basin Management under the European Water Framework Directive: an Effective Protection of Drinking-Water Resources

Abstract

In the Netherlands drinking water is produced both from surface water and groundwater. Due to the shortage of space, resources are often found in combination with other activities, such as those pertaining to industry or agriculture, in the same neighbourhood. These combinations impose strong demands on the water management of the river basin and the legal instruments that are at hand. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000) ensures sustainable availability of good-quality groundwater and surface water. Current drinking-water directives are partially addressed in the WFD, along with ‘new’ obligations such as the river basin approach. One of these obligations is to develop suitable measures for meeting the drinking-water standards taken up in the regulations and to reduce the time needed for treatment of drinking water. This study focused on setting up a protocol - elaborated and evaluated at three different abstraction sites (pilots) - to develop these measures. The so-called ‘area dossier’ offers good insight into the factors influencing water quality for all parties involved and makes it possible to develop suitable and effective measures. The general approach taken in this protocol will enable it to be used by other European Member States.