CIS workshop Climate Change and Water - 20/21 November 2007 1

Report Working Sessions- Indirect and Direct impacts on River Basin Management Plans

and possible action

21 November 2007

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Black Group

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

Climate impacts assessments in current processes• In the current planned WFD RBMPs climate issues are not

yet in, but hope to get it in in first cycle: FI; NO; E&W• Italy some RBD (not WFD) have aspects CC included in

planning such as drought management plans and ecological flows

• Germany has climate aspects related to floods and groundwater availability assessed (time perspective 2050)

• Germany: aspects triggered by extreme events e.g. 28 C in the Rhine puts more focus on CC impacts

• Water sector some planning and assessments – still some decisions are made on low level certainty

• NeWater mixed picture local level – some have started – stakeholder putting pressure for getting CC in planning

• Spain presentation was a good example of identify impacts and do water resource planning

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

Characterization of cc impacts• A separate chapter in RBMPs – some flexibility so it may be

covered in other chapters – and flexibility in relation to aspects covered

• Gather the current knowledge and analyse this information• Guidance of issues to be covered – problem mapping

tools/process influence diagram – (climate variables-> hydrological/physical variables (e.g.

runoff)->impact on issues (ecological status )) • Risk based approach • Risk assessments (qualitative and/or quantitative

evaluation of impacts) – prioritization/ranking of impacts• A standard set of indicators? • Example: Rhine RBD identified six main problems related to

CC

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

Monitoring• Should frequency be so high that climate

impacts can be observed?• Focused monitoring on expected CC

changes (e.g. change in species)• RBD/RBMPs should describe how climate

change impacts monitoring is done

Uncertainty on a prominent place in RBMPs

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

Status assessment• Change of ref. conditions • Change of typology• Status assessments Yes CC can change the above – but the

impact is uncertain do to knowledge gapWill be improved for future RBMPs

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3. Indirect impacts on WFD/RBMP

• Water/WFD issues have to be taken into account when planning for new developments in sectors and related issues (flood management or water supply, drought management)

• Other sectors developments have to planned in a sustainable way, including water

• Different policy plans have to be integrated (water, agriculture, energy etc.)

• Need to involve stakeholders in RBDs/RBMPs – lack of integration have to be overcome

• RBMP could describe potential conflicts due to other activities – how to solve conflicts? - to be solved at national level?

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MeasuresNegative changes and how should they be addressed

• Water scarcity and drought– win-win demand measures (more uncertainty on the effect

of measures)– supply measures focused on future situation (e.g. ensuring

groundwater recharge in regions with change to high winter precipitation and lower summer precipitation)

• Irreversible changes: salt water intrussion or melting glaciers

• extreme events management plans have to be linked/integrated with RBMPs

• Land management/land use planning have to take into account water aspects

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Yellow Group

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2.1 CC is a strong driver to prevent achieving good ecological status

• see quality and quantity problems together • increased water temperature is key driver in

effects on ecological status e.g. shallow lakes, stratified lakes combination of eutrophication and high water temperatures.

• stratification conditions change / change of habitats, oxygene

• different sensitivities of water bodies towards water temp. increase exist

• ecological tresholds / reference conditions to be changed ?

• no differentiated answers possible, first pressure and impact analyses on RB-level needed

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3. Indirect impacts on WFD/RBMP

• More water use for electricity production• Securing water flows for navigation building

sluices, considerations to use Lake Constance as buffer reservoir

• land use practices other crops more pesticides? impacting water cycle / ground water recharge

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4. Actions for 1st/2nd/3rd cycle

• overarching idea:the best way to keep ecosystems

adaptive and ready to cope with CC is to keep them in close-to-natural status

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4.1 Actions for 2nd and 3rd cycle

• keep nutrient loads as low as possible, cc aggravates eutrophication (no regret measure) effective nutrient reduction measures, improvement of waste water treatment plants (also in view of hotter summers)

• focus on phosphorus elimination, nitrogen can be taken up by cyano-bateria it is thus spoiled money

• check discharge permissions of cooling water, use extreme situations as reference for permissions not mean annual temperature

• and of waste water discharge permissions concentration issue under low flow conditions

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4.2 Actions for 2nd and 3rd cycle

• restauration of natural flood plains and wetlands, river strips as buffer zones and multifunctional areas water quality, retention, biodiv., recreation and for ecological continuity

• shade small rivers reduce water temperature• integration with other policies e.g. linkage with

floods directive and spatial / land use planning. Intergrate regions! Awareness rising, Open question: (if) and how more public participation needed

• use long term perspective for long term investments: design adapted and adaptive

• better cross-border cooperation on regional or local level needed

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4.3 Actions for 2nd and 3rd cycle

• demand management / allocation of water fight excess groundwater abstraction emergency plans to encounter accidental overflows of waste water plants

• design waste water sewers to cope with rainstorms• separation of rainfall and waste water sewer system• salt water intrusion by sea sepage or low flow

brackish water desalinisation, less salt sensitive crops, need to live with it, no final remedy

• floods: rise dykes are last option after programme room for the river

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Green Group

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

• 1st RBMP– Give a brief overview/summary chapter on

CC links to RBMP issues; identify issues for the future

– Place emphasis on the PoM (identify right measures which are also relevant for CC; win-win measures)

– Summarising chapter aims also at raising awareness on CC issues and making clear links to other sectors

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

• Next RBMPs– Availability of information on CC impacts in

the river basin is key (e.g. for status assessment)

– Checklist is quite comprehensive but clarify/emphasise issue of mixing different time-scales (CC timescale, WFD 6-y cycle)

– Monitoring in the RBMP is also very relevant to CC - Add to checklist

• We possibly need a Europe-wide water management vision (25-y time horizon reflecting key long-term changes) – issue for White Paper?

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3. Indirect impacts on WFD/RBMP

• Biofuels /biomass production is not sensitive to fertilising –> quality impacts

• Plans for HP promotion due to renewable energy policies

• Cooling for thermal power stations • Changes in land use, population distribution • Impacts from increased forestry• New tourism developments• Navigation: increased river channeling

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4. Action which could be taken Adaptation measures

• Refcond & links to CC are key issue in the adaptation discussion (process depends on it)– greater flexibility may be needed in the adjustment process

of refcond for specific WBs• Many adaptation measures will respond to issues we

already deal with (e.g. scarcity in ESP)• Use of economic instruments (pricing, markets)

targeting specific problems, e.g. scarcity• Existing processes (e.g. Flood Dir) already show us

direction for adaptation measures• Possible amendments to register of protected areas

(individual cases, e.g. fens in Anglia)

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Blue Group

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3. Indirect impacts on WFD/RBMP

Just a few examples:Higher pressures from ....• more intensive river regulation for navigation

and flood risk management purposes leading to morphological changes

• increased water demand for irrigation and urban water supply leading to stress on water resources

• shift of tourism to other regions leading to increased demand for water supply, increased pollution and pressure on aquatic and water related ecosystems

• ...

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4. Actions for 1st/2nd/3rd cycle

• In most MS first Programmes of measures are implementation of existing water related directives (basic measures), there is little room for taking into account climate change

• Implementation of WFD requires bedding of the concept of RBPl into existing policies, plans and programmes, which is an iterative learning process, requiring engagement of all government departments at all levels (Member States Compliance)...

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Actions for 1st, 2nd, 3rd planning cycle

• Integration of land-use and water-management plans and policies

• Climate change aspects need to be embedded into this iterative process over many planning cycles to achieve the WFD objectives

• Continous improvement of the knowledge of climate change trends is necessary with more specific focus on the impacts on the status of water bodies

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Actions for 1st, 2nd, 3rd planning cycle

• The Group agreed with the relevant links between climate change and WFD as suggested in the checklist (including monitoring and public consultation), however the group has the view that the issues can only be tackled in a stepwise approach over the planning cycles.

• Particular emphasis should be given to the iterative climate proofing of the programmes of measures; for this development of practical and pragmatic approaches and methodologies is urgent

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Actions for 1st, 2nd, 3rd planning cycle

• The proposal of a separate chapter on climate change in the first RBMP seems to be reasonable for several reasons:– It shows the general awarness of climate

change trends in compilation of the RBMP– It helps in public consultation because

information on climate change is easy accessible

– It allows for incorporating national and regional trends (climate change information regularly not yet available at river basin scale)

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Actions for 1st, 2nd, 3rd planning cycle

• It is recommended that the chapter on climate change includes an outlook on future steps for encorporating climate change trends into the planning process with a view to ensuring the adaptiveness of the programmes of measures

• Guidance on recommended content of such a chapter might be helpful

• Information, awareness raising and educational measures addressing the relevance of climate change for water management should be part of supplementary measures to improve the understanding of the links by all actors

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Additional Remarks

• The questions in the checklist suggested by ecologic should be rephrased in order to make them more specific ( „how“, „to which extent“ instead of „could“)

•

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Pink Group

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

Reference conditions may change – we are working towards a “moving target”– observable for some indicators (e.g. fish), less clear for

others– will be more relevant for later WFD cycles– potentially additional requirements for monitoring

Pragmatic solution: address it from the “measures” end (e.g. ensure continuity not only for salmon, but for all migrating fish)

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

Art. 4.6: Temporary deterioration - “prolonged drought”:

A clearer definition is needed. Work on this definition should take climate change into account.

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3. Indirect impacts on WFD/RBMP

• Energy: shifts in type of production (e.g. hydropower, wind, bioenergy) could lead to shifts in pressures– Hydropower/Norway: increased river flows could partly be

allocated to minimum flow release• Navigation: Current focus (in DE) is on research on

climate impacts on navigation. Concerns about potential indirect impacts.– The Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine is currently

working on common climate scenarios for the Rhine river.• Tourism: temporal and spatial shifts in tourism

patterns lead to changes in pressures on water

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4. Actions for 1st/2nd/3rd cycle

• Climate-proofing of measures in the first plan is feasible and necessary– Use no-regret measures (right-direction-

measures at little extra cost)– Make sure that measures are flexible

• Should be the focus in 1st RBMP

…but: avoid large additional work load for WFD implementers!

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4. Actions for 1st/2nd/3rd cycle

• Many measures in RBMP likely to be climate-proof! • But: adaptation measures may run counter to

WFD objectives (e.g. building new reservoirs for water supply)– UK: for some regions it was concluded that demand

management will not be sufficient to solve water scarcity problem-> new reservoirs planned

• And: consider link to mitigation (e.g. higher energy demand for treatment)

• Adaptation may require using exemptions (e.g. Art. 4.7)

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4. Actions for 1st/2nd/3rd cycle

• RBMP reporting should show if and how climate change is addressed– could sum up what is already being done in different

sectors– could be used to raise awareness and outline future

strategy for dealing with cc impacts– one separate chapter on climate change is the preferred

option• CC enhances the need for sectoral integration an

co-ordination between actors and countries• Adaptation can in many cases be based on already

existing management tools designed for coping with variability (in particular for moderate changes)

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4. Actions for 1st/2nd/3rd cycle

• Explore options for linkage with the Floods Directive

• Legislative basis for water protection at national level could be reviewed with regard to climate change aspects (e.g. standards for effluent discharge based on average flow levels)

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Red Group

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2. Direct impacts on WFD/RBMP

• Monitoring will become more important because of Climate Change (related to uncertainty).

• Consider updating the reference conditions/definition of status in the long-term and with supporting data (eg from monitoring).

• Exemptions need to be used in the same way as without climate change.

• Use RBMP to communicate on Climate Change - in the first plan this should be general and in a sensible way.

• Pricing policies: regional approach is needed and don’t use drinking water if you can -as a substitute- use ‘grey’ (treated) water.

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3. Indirect impacts on WFD/RBMP

• More electricity demand;• More water demand (from agriculture,

cooling water);• As a consequence, more infrastructure for

water storage facilities and multi-purpose reservoirs might be built, which might affect the water status.

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4. Actions for 1st/2nd/3rd cycle

• Surface water quantiy monitoring should be included in the WFD monitoring

• 1st plan: – Look for win-win situations (e.g. carry out infrastructure

projects including ecological measures or build flood prevention measures that could mitigate low water levels in case of drought)

– Relevant sectors (tourism, electricity, navigation etc) have to take climate change into account.

• Take account of carbon impacts of WFD measures;• 2nd/3rd cycles, look into broader water management

issues related to climate change (sediment management, land use, spatial planning, water demand/supply management)