implementation of the wfd in greece

High Level Conference on River Basin Management Planning

Ankara 28 February 2012

Implementation of the WFD in Greece

P. Pantelopoulos, Director, Special Secretariat for Water



The development of the RBMPs - Main issues

Set up of the required legislation framework and re-organisation of the administrative structure for the implementation of the WFD and the RBMPs.

Interpretation of the WFD requirements and their adaptation to the specific conditions of our country, in cooperation with acknowledged national institutes:– Hellenic Center for Marine Research (HCMR)– Greek Biotope/Wetland Center (GBWC)– Institute for Geology and Mineral Exploration (IGME)

Public Participation: a new concept of decision-making



Legislative actions

12 legislative acts for the implementation of the WFD, the Groundwater Daughter Directive and relative Directives e.g.:

– Administrative organization for the implementation of the RBMPs

– Monitoring network– Threshold values for groundwater– Transposition of the directives 2006/118/EC,

2006/11/EC, 2007/60/EC, 2008/105/ EC, 2008/56/EC, 2009/90/ΕC etc



NATIONAL WATER

COMMITTEE

NATIONAL WATER

COMMITTEE

NATIONAL WATER COUNCIL

NATIONAL WATER COUNCIL

SPECIAL SECRETARIAT FOR WATER

SPECIAL SECRETARIAT FOR WATER

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT ENERGY AND

CLIMAT CHANGE

13 WATER DIRECTORATES

13 WATER DIRECTORATES

DECENTRALISED ADMINISTRATION

WATER COUNCIL OF THE DECENTRALISED

ADMINISTRATION

WATER COUNCIL OF THE DECENTRALISED

ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTUREADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTUREInter- Ministerial committee for formulation of the national water policy Stakeholders

Responsible for the implementation of the

national water policy and the relative EU Directives

Responsible for the water management and the implementation of the RBMPs at Regional Level

Stakeholders

14 River Basin 14 River Basin Districts Districts

(5 International)(5 International)

45 River Basins45 River Basins



Monitoring Network

• Design of a comprehensive, effective and cost-efficient monitoring program that serves the water quality and quantity management needs

• Monitoring of all parameters required by WFD and Daughter Directives (biological, priority substances, quantity, etc.). For the first time in Greece, monitoring of biological parameters in an organised way.

• Production of complete water status reports.



Monitoring network – Surface Monitoring network – Surface waterwater

616 stations 616 stations

Operational: 377Operational: 377

Surveillance: 239Surveillance: 239



Monitoring network – Monitoring network – GroundwaterGroundwater

1392 stations 1392 stations

Operational: 1098Operational: 1098

Surveillance: 294Surveillance: 294



6 projects for the development of RBMPs in the 14 RBDs of the country; of these:

• 4 projects (10 RBDs) in progress; consultations initiated & conclusion expected in June

• 2 projects (4 RBDs) pending; target for end of year

Development of RBMPs



Specific conditions of the country

• Relatively small river basins• Significant transboundary river basins• Complicated geological structure• Extensive coastline• Unequal geographical distribution of resources• Significant seasonal variation of resources• Extensive use of groundwater resources, mostly for

agriculture (>80% of consumption from all resources)• Strongly variable seasonal water demand • Limited public awareness on water issues• Inadequate qualitative & economic data



WFD Application: River typology, 1/2

Re: Unequal geographical and seasonal distribution of the water resources: Annual effective rainfall (*): variation of up to 10 times river basin size (alone) not reliable rather annual flow Slope determines turbidity of flow significant parameter Many rivers have only winter flow

Parameters & values of Type A do not adequately reflect

typology of Greek rivers

(*) effective rainfall = rainfall – evapotranspiration



WFD Application: River typology, 2/2

New (type B) typology developed in cooperation with the HCMR. Typology based on biological correlations with: Biogeographical area (3 types, ref. next page) Annual flow, evaluated from:

– river basin size– mean annual effective precipitation, and – runoff coefficient (dep. on geology)

(3 types, separated at 100 and 2.000 hm3/yr) slope (2 types separated at 1,2%o), and elevation (2 types separated at 700 m)



Biogeographical areas of Greece [Zogaris et al., 2009; modified]



WFD Application: River water bodies

River water bodies defined as units of same typology.

Additional criteria for definition of water bodies: heavily modified segments separately differences in protection level, and differences in pressures river branching

Notes:

- rivers with permanent flow mostly considered

- main river branches & tributaries considered



WFD Application: River classification, 1/3

Use of microinvertebrate taxa as biological indicators.Following systems were applied [HCMR, S. Birk]:

1. The Hellenic Evaluation System (HES) [Artemiadou & Lazaridou, 2005] based on the Iberian BMWP. Considers taxa diversity & their pollution sensitivity/tolerance.

EQR=HES/HESu where HESu for undisturbed stations of same type




2. The European Intercalibration Common Multimetric index (ICMi), applicable for particular types of water bodies, as defined in the intercalibration exercise for the Mediterranean.

EQR = ICMi/ICMiu where ICMiu is evaluated in undisturbed samples of same type.




Findings to date (HCMR, 2009): 6% of water bodies in high ecological status 41% of WB in good ecological status 31% of WB in moderate ecological status 20% of WB in poor ecological status 2% of WB in bad ecological status75% of water bodies assessed



WFD Application: Heavily modified rivers

Some river water bodies are heavily modified because of:

(a) hydromorphological changes, I.e. dams >> reservoir creation flood protection embankments sand abstraction etc.

(b) hydrological changes, I.e appreciable reduction of water flow e.g. downstream of dams



WFD Application: Lake typology, 1/2

Natural lakes > 0,5 Km2 considered; some are heavily modifiedReservoirs are considered as heavily modified or artificial bodies

For natural lakes, the typology depends on [Moustaka & Katsiapi, 2010]:

average depth lake size water chemistry climatic conditions (affect phytoplankton)9 different types defined (A to I)



WFD Application: Lake typology, 2/2

For large & deep reservoirs, typology defined through intercalibration by correlation with phytoplankton, based on:

river basin size geology elevation rainfall temperature alkalinity.As a result, 3 types were identified for Greek reservoirs



WFD Application: Transitional WB types

2 types of transitional water bodies identified:

Estuaries, including: downstream segments of large rivers and affected sea areas around estuaries (default: arc 500 m)

Lagoons



WFD Application: Coastal typology

Coastal water bodies considered up to 1 n.m. from shoreline.Working Group “Coast” proposed characterisation on basis of

following parameters (limits defined by Med intercalibration): coastal substrate (2 types, rocky & sedimentary) depth (2 types, more or less than 40m) degree of exposure to wave action (3 types)

For Greece, 5 oceanographic entities defined, namely:- northern, central and southern Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea- enclosed gulfs



WFD Application: Groundwater bodies

GW body defined in Directive as aquifer I.e. one with:– significant flow (deemed as affecting surface water) or– significant abstraction (>10 m3/day or for 50 people)

Greek aquifers classified in 3 main types [IGME]:– karstic (high permeability)– sedimentary (low permeability, local water availability) – porous deposits (also high permeability)



WFD Application: Groundwater bodies

Groundwaters in Greece: Karstic & porous are used for water supply (WS) and irrigation Sedimentary are often used for local water supply

extensive salination of coastal aquifers

WS >> all above need to be included GW bodies and protected.

Full protection of karstic & porous aquifers protection of sedimentary aquifers in zones around

abstraction points



WFD Application: Groundwater Chemical status

Criteria for assessment of chemical status:- quality standards, i.e. nitrates & active pesticides [2006/18]- comparison w. threshold values

Threshold values defined on national level for:- physico-chemical: pH & conductivity- metals: As, Cd, Pb, Hg, Ni, Cr, Al- Ammonium, Chlorides, Sulphates, Nitrates- Total & active pesticides- Man-made synthetic substances

Higher values permitted where background values are higherAdditional/lower values required for (natural or human) uses



WFD Application: Economic instruments, 1/3

Current projects include assessment of cost recovery; water pricing will be assessed in a future project.

For each water service, costs include: assessment of financial cost (incl. investment cost +

operational, maintenance & replacement costs) assessment of environmental cost, where the status

adversely affected (*) >> difficulties in assessment… assessment of resource cost, where competing uses exist.

(*) where treatment plants in operation, associated costs in financial costs




Preliminary findings, recovery of financial cost: cost recovery high (~90%) for water supply cost recovery medium (~40-70%) for agricultureNotes: agricultural water privately pumped or distributed by

cooperatives cost recovery is 100% for private wells




Pilot study on water pricing, for new irrigation system of lake Karla (in place of groundwater abstraction); due consideration of social acceptance of project and pricing policies:

from 2015 to 2020: full recovery of O&M costs and 10% of investment costs, resulting in an increase of 40%

from 2021 to 2026: 40% recovery of investment costs, resulting in a further increase of 33%

from 2027 to 2032: 80% recovery of investment costs, resulting in a further increase of 33%

from 2033 to 2037: full recovery of financial costs and 30% of environmental costs, resulting in a further increase of 23%.

This plan was accepted by the Commission for project financing.



Transboundary issues: Turkey, 1/2

Common river is Evros/Maritsa. Joint Declaration of cooperation betw. Ministers of Environment

[May 2010] >> established Joint Committee for:- cooperation for sustainable development- collaboration on protection of water quality and management

of water quantity- coordination of flood risk management- development of early flood warning system with Bulgaria- coordination of river basin management plans and flood risk

management plans



Transboundary issues : Turkey, 2/2

Joint Committee met twice and established Working Group for exchange of information on:

quantitative and qualitative monitoring methodology and results (surface water and groundwater)

pressures and their impacts flood risk managementThe working group has also met twice



Transboundary issues: Bulgaria

Common rivers: Strymon/Struma Nestos/Mesta Evros/Maritsa and Ardas/Arda

Joint Declaration of Cooperation betw. Ministers of Environment [July 2010] >> established Joint Expert Working Group on:

- common methodology for measurement and exchange of data on quality and quantity

- coordination of river basin management plans- collaboration on protection of water quality- coordination of flood risk management plans (serious issues)Since then: 2 meetings of WG held



Transboundary issues: Prespa

Agreement [February 2010] for protection & sustainable development of the Prespa Area park between:

Greece Albania FYROM, and the European Commission

Agreement was ratified by European Commission [May 2010] Ratification pending in Parliaments of the 3 countries

FYROM

GREECEALBANIA



Public participation – main actions

• Establishment of a special interactive web site targeted to the 50% of the population (in 2010 1 out of 2 households in Greece has an internet connection).

• Organisation of open meetings all over the Greece for the presentation of the main issues of the RBMPs.

• Organisation of specialized meetings with the main users (farmers, energy, industry, tourist industry etc)

• Questionnaires on management issues and on the consultation process available to anyone interested



The web site - http://wfd.opengov.gr

The site was developed in 2 levels – the 1st level concerns all the people - contains simplified

information about the main issues of the draft RBMPs in a simple way.

– the 2nd level is for the stakeholders - includes all the available documentation (the draft RBMPs and the supporting documents) which is available to download.

The site also gives the possibility of comments on the content of each available document. The comments are open to the visitors of the site.



Organization of the open meetings

• Press releases in the local media• Involve the regional political and administrative

structure in the organization• Send special invitations to the main stakeholders,

NGOs, regional media • Organize local press conferences of the Special

Secretary in order to maximize the publicity



The identity of the communication process

In order to promote and motivate the active participation to the open meetings we have prepared special simplified documents for the participants and simple questionnaires which are also available in the website.



Nafplion - Peloponnese



Komotini - Thrace



Ioannina - Epirus



Larissa - Thessaly



The feedback

The average participation in the open meetings is ~180 persons – relatively high participation for the Greek standards.

All the expressed opinions of the participants in the meeting are uploaded in the web site.

The writing comments are classified/evaluated in view of their incorporation in the final RBMPs

The meetings are filmed to record all the comments of the participants so that they can properly be incorporated in the final RBMPs

The answers to the questionnaires are statistically elaborated in order to illustrate the main trends of the public opinion on the water management issues.

implementation of the wfd in greece

Documents