The EU and India:

PARTNERING TO ADDRESS WATER CHALLENGES

Fresh water is a precious resource comprising just one-tenth of 1% of the water on planet Earth; but it is the foundation for food and health. Entire civilisations depend on it, but it is unequally distributed in time and space, creating both technical and managerial complexities. Floods and droughts created by climate change phenomena are among the most recent of these challenges. Sustainable development is therefore a major concern worldwide; and it should come as no surprise that it figures strongly in the strategic partnership between the EU and India.

On March 30, 2016 European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk and Prime Minister Modi met in Brussels to chart the future of the EU-India Strategic Partnership. Two of the major outcomes of this Summit were Joint Declarations on Water and Clean Energy and Climate. In addition, they agreed to establish an Urban Forum based on the experience gained in inter-city exchanges in recent years and work together to promote the International Solar Alliance launched in Paris last November at the Climate Change summit. These formal agreements will drive cooperation initiatives over the coming months.

The Memorandum of Understanding on Water Cooperation signed in October 2016 between Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati and Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella has several noteworthy features:

It will promote cooperation in water governance based, on the EU side, on a Water Framework Directive promulgated in the year 2000 which has led a marked improvement in the quality of European rivers such as the Rhine and the Danube which flow through several countries and whose river basins encompass an even larger administrative area.

The Water Partnership will support the Ganga Rejuvenation initiative which is one of the flagship projects of the Indian government.

It will create a platform on which the contributions of the European Union and its Member States can be coordinated to promote synergies between various bilateral initiatives and effectiveness.

Our ongoing and planned initiatives are described in the pages that follow. I expect them to deliver excellent results, contributing to the improvement of lives in town and country.

Tomasz KozlowskiAmbassador

FOREWORDOn March 30, 2016 European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk and Prime Minister Modi met in Brussels to chart the future of the EU-India Strategic Partnership. Two of the major outcomes of this Summit were Joint Declarations on Water and Clean Energy and Climate.

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THE INDIA-EU WATER PARTNERSHIP

DESIRING to identify key environmental issues and approaches to sustainable development where exchange of experiences and cooperation could be mutually beneficial to strengthen and further develop cooperation between India and the EU in the field of water management,

SHARING the vision for a more sustainable management of water resources and the objective of tackling the challenges posed by water management in the context of growing population, competing water demands and a changing climate,

NOTING the Joint Declaration on an India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP), adopted at the thirteenth EU-India Summit held in Brussels on 30th March 2016, which has initiated the IEWP,

HAVE REACHED the following understanding:

OBJECTIVEThe objective of this Memorandum of Understanding is to strengthen the technological, scientific and management capabilities of India and the EU in the field of water management on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit…”

The Republic of India and the European Union have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on an India-EU Water Partnership in 2016 [12]. This MoU builds on previous activities, such as technical exchanges, business meetings, study visits and workshops:

River Basin Management Planning and Governance (14-15 June 2016)

India – EU Water Partnership workshop: Water & Industry (5-6 September 2016)

Workshop on Water allocation, water economics and eflows in River Basin Management (14-15 September 2016)

The text of the Memorandum states as follows:

“…The Republic of India and the European Union

RECOGNISING the inter-dependencies in the field of environment of India and the European Union (EU) and the trans-boundary character of many environmental problems,

12 Transcript of MoU: http://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019/vella/announcements/memorandum-understanding-between-repub-lic-india-and-european-union-water-cooperation_en

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Areas of CooperationIndia and the EU endeavour to encourage and promote cooperation in the water sector through the India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP) which brings together representatives of relevant stakeholders, including interested EU Member States and Indian States, European and Indian institutions, businesses and civil society.

In this context, India and the EU aim to:

Exchange views on regulatory approaches, including procurement, governance, best practices, business solutions as well as research and innovation opportunities in the water field in India and Europe, taking into account lessons learnt in the implementation of the EU’s legislation on water, in particular the Water Framework Directive, and the already ongoing exchange of information on cooperation under major river conventions, such as the Danube and the Rhine.

Continue technical exchange on water issues, including on integrated water resource management plans within river basins, and through study visits to the EU and European experts’ missions to India.

Jointly organise Indo-European Water Forum events at regular intervals to discuss and share views on water-related matters of common interest.

Support the implementation of the Ganga Rejuvenation Initiative of the Indian Government, in particular through quick-win business solutions based on EU best practices, by developing a consolidated analysis, taking into account joint research activities and identifying key problems and solutions, including innovative European solutions, and by contributing to an analysis of a possible appropriate governance and legal set-up for the Ganga River Basin. The IEWP should be part and parcel of a coordinated approach by the EU and its Member States – and in coordination with other relevant players – on these and other relevant aspects of the Ganga Rejuvenation Initiative.

EU Member State involvement in the IEWPThe India-EU Water Partnership aims for synergies with the cooperation activities of European Union and its Member States in India, such as on sanitation by VITO (Belgium) in Uttar Pradesh and GIZ (Germany) in Uttarakhand, groundwater mapping by Aarhus University and GEUS (Denmark) and IFCGR (France), the Thames-Ganga partnership (United

Jean-Claude Juncker, Narendra Modi and Donald Tusk reaffirming the commitment to strengthen the EU-India Strategic Partnership

European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella giving a speech at the WSDS 2016 © EEAS

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Kingdom), the Indo-Dutch cooperation on water, and others. Some specific cooperation activities are the following:

Sweden

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) works in India with local partners in the water and textile industries to advance knowledge, increase capacities and change policies for more sustainable, equitable and effective water use. With support from the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), SIWI, as the secretariat of the Sweden Textile Water Initiative, has been leading an award-winning sustainable production capacity building programme in India since 2013. The programme works with over a hundred suppliers and sub-suppliers to international clothing brands in Delhi NCR, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Bangalore. The programme supports factories to achieve more sustainable and efficient use of water, chemicals and energy.

Supported by the Swedish Research Council FORMAS, SIWI conducts research on the global textile trade and local impacts on life and water, with focus on the development over the past 30 years in Tirupur, India’s ‘knit city’. The project contributes to the knowledge base regarding new technical requirements and initiatives for sustainable textiles. It has been instrumental in influencing recent changes in environmental protection policy including the ‘zero liquid discharge’ approach, which is essentially unique to India but has not yet been taken up nationwide.

Denmark

The AQUIM project was initiated by the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India with the aim of mapping the structural and hydrological properties of the aquifers in six representative hydrogeological settings by using the leading edge geophysical technique SkyTEM. The SkyTEM system is operated by helicopter, facilitating cost-effective 3D high-resolution images of the aquifers systems at a scale of more than 650 km2.

The consortium consists of the technology company SkyTEM ApS, research institutions

Aarhus University and the National Geophysical Research Institute of India and experts with insight in groundwater management from the Central Groundwater Board, Ministry of India. The World Bank funded the project.

The mapping revealed unique insight in to aquifer connectivity and properties, information, which is used to optimize the groundwater management. Major findings include;

Identification of saltwater intrusion zones and freshwater in the Thar desert

Detailed images of basaltic flows and aquifers in the Deccan Traps in Maharashtra

Mapping of paleochannels in Ramgarh desert, Dausa, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gangetic plains, and Cuddalore coastal region.

Discovery of a two-layered aquifer system in Patna region, which is affected by arsenic in groundwater.

Mapping of potential water bearing fracture zones in hard rock areas of Tumkur, Karnataka and Dausa, Rajasthan.

Germany

Indo-German cooperation in the field of integrated river basin management focuses on efforts to rejuvenate the river Ganga. Technical cooperation projects implemented by GIZ include the capacity development of the key institution National Mission

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for Clean Ganga (NMCG) by knowledge exchange on the successful rejuvenation of the rivers Danube, Rhine and Elbe. Topics include efficient information and data management for decision-making and monitoring as well as successful public outreach campaigning, since only the people living in the river basin can make a difference. Implementation on the ground will focus on pollution reduction by better management of municipal and industrial waste and wastewater in the state of Uttarakhand, the chosen partnering state for Indo-German technical and financial cooperation.

Netherlands

In the framework of the IEWP a 2 day workshop was organized on September 5 and 6, 2016 on Water & Industry in Delhi and Muzaffarnagar. The initiating body of this workshop was the EU project Indigo Policy which facilitates cooperation between

Ghat in Haridwar at night © GIZ

The project gathered various best practices and approaches to the identification, planning and management of flood-risk zones

the EU and India in different technology fields. The Indigo Policy teamed up with the EU Delegation in Delhi to introduce European technology platforms to the IEWP initiative and share best practices on Water & Industry.

Although industry is not the major contributor to total water consumption in India (UNICEF 2013), industries play an important role in achieving rapid improvement of the state of water resources. Europe has a long track record on industrial water reuse and as India is heading towards a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) policy India and the EU joined forces to organize a multi stakeholder meeting to discuss challenges, constraints and solutions.

On September 5, 2016 a joint workshop was organized at the premises of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Delhi to introduce the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform and the European Innovation Partnership on water. Different challenges policy measures and technology developments were discussed from the EU and Indian perspectives.

On the second day, a multi stakeholder meeting was organized in Muzaffarnagar together with the local paper and sugar industry. This meeting was organized in close cooperation with the 2030 Water Resources Group which focuses on rejuvenating the Hindon River basin. With 20 paper mills and 5 sugar mills in the area, the EU and India explored solutions to reach ZLD by March 2017.

Sewage Treatment facility for the town of Haridwar © Nitin Bassi 2016

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The Muzaffarnagar paper and sugar mills are willing to take the next steps in public-private cooperation.

Belgium

Despite being one of the poorest OECD countries in relation to water availability, Belgium produces 25% of all EU deep frozen vegetables and hosts the second largest chemical site in the world confirming that Belgium has the appropriate knowhow, products, solutions and governance in relation to water issues. Several Belgian companies are already active in India and can showcase excellent references related to environmental safeguards (Ecorem), water quality monitoring (Applitek), removal and treatment of river sediment (DEME, Envisan) and wastewater treatment (Waterleau, Aquaplus).

The challenges in Belgium and India are similar, namely providing sufficient water of good quality at a reasonable price. The Flanders Knowledge Center Water Vlakwa, (an independent division within VITO) achieves this by uniting all water stakeholders in Flanders such as research institutes , water end users (chemistry, food, textile, agriculture, steel), drinking water companies, water utilities and governmental organizations. Vlakwa also initiates, coordinates and facilitates international RDI projects and partner matchings.

All interested EU Members will be involved in the EU-India Water Partnership.

EU-Rajasthan State Partnership The recent State Partnership concluded between the EU and Rajasthan resulted in a water policy on integrated water resources management (IRWM) for the state[13], as well as in the preparation of a Panchayat-based action plan for 3200 villages in 82 blocks of 11 districts. Following the EU’s intervention, Rajasthan also approved a water regulatory act in 2013.

13 Report on the EU-Rajasthan State Partnership: http://water-resources.rajasthan.gov.in/IWRM/Pali%20District/Jaitaran%20Block/9.1.5.pdf

Sewage Treatment facility for the town of Haridwar © Nitin Bassi 2016

River Daugava in Riga: Sea Water surges pose the greatest flood threat to the city

Community mobilisation in the State Partnership Programme in Rajasthan on water © European Commission

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Business cooperation The European Union has developed, in recent decades, a world-leading water sector that includes 9,000 active SMEs and provides almost 500,000 full-time equivalent jobs in over 70,000 water services companies. The sector represents an annual investment of over €33 billion and a turnover of €72 billion per year. An increasing number of these companies are interested in the global water market, and many companies are able to provide solutions which fit not only European but also Indian challenges.

Some European businesses are already operating in India, such as those presented below.

DHI India is a wholly owned subsidiary of the DHI Group. Established in India as an independent company in 2001, it represents over 15 years of dedicated research and expertise from projects executed all over India.

DHI India focuses on water resources, and marine and environment consultancy services. Over the past ten years, DHI has embarked on research and development projects to discover solutions that

Flowchart indicating the methodology for hydraulic analysis using MIKE URBAN for 222 Towns and Cities of Rajasthan © DHI

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However, an anaerobic process produces on average 0.4 m³ of biogas for every kg of COD removed. The biogas contains between 65 and 70% of methane with a caloric value of 25 MJ/Nm³. This corresponds to an electrical output of 1 kWhelectric per kg COD removed (via CHP). Anaerobic digestion functions best at temperatures above 25 °C (favourable for India) and produces 5 - 10 times less sludge (composted into fertilizer).

With over 2,500 employees located across eight regional and project offices in 26 states in India, AECOM India Pvt. Ltd. has the resources and the expertise to see projects from concept through to completion.

can best address these challenges. DHI India has made contributions to the Kolkata Environment Improvement Programme, which aims to improve basic urban services in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area as well as to protect the environment from adverse development impacts.

In Rajasthan, where acute water deficiency severely impedes the progress of the state, the Government of Rajasthan has tapped DHI’s expertise to assess the water distribution system and equalise water pressure to enable equitable distribution of water. With MIKE URBAN, DHI was able to model 222 towns of Rajasthan and provide economical solutions to maintain residual pressure at acceptable range. This will help in equitable distribution of water.

Urban and industrial water discharges lead to failure in river resilience and scarcity of drinking water. VITO (www.vito.be) and its partners Europem and Ion Exchange implement ANDICOS™, Anaerobic Digestion by Combining Organic material and Sludge, to promote fast recovery of this resilience.

Sewage water is concentrated by membranes and the purified water is immediately discharged. The remaining concentrate is combined with kitchen waste to improve anaerobic digestion. The biogas produced can be transformed into electric and thermal energy. Less than 10 % of all the water needs to be treated.

Conventionally, domestic wastewater is treated in aerated activated sludge systems requiring oxygen for the degradation of organics into CO2. This consumes 0.3 - 0.4 kWh/m³ (i.e. 15 - 25 kWh per person per year).

Membrane unit of an ™andicos concept

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Its water professionals work in and across the major markets of drinking water, wastewater, and conveyance to deliver comprehensive solutions that safeguard human health and the environment. From flood protection to wastewater treatment and reuse to desalination — its goal is to do more with less, ensuring that clients have access to globally sustainable technologies, locally delivered.

Its operates across the entire project life cycle — from initial planning studies, project pre-feasibility study, feasibility study, masterplan, preliminary design, detailed design, construction management

and supervision through final construction — on both traditional and alternative project-delivery options (design-build, public-private partnerships and financing).

Some key projects include the Project Management Consultancy for Yamuna Action Plan Project, Phase-III, Preparation of Master Plan for Sewerage System of Delhi for the year 2031, Detailed Project Report and Bid Processing for 400 MLD and 150 MLD Sea Water Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant for Chennai City and Consultancy Services for Preparation of Master Plan for flood and sediment management in Kosi River Basin.

Deltares is an independent institute for applied research in the field of water, subsurface and infrastructure based in The Netherlands, with a focus on deltas, coastal regions and river basins. Deltares employs over 800 people and is based in Delft and Utrecht.

AECOM Waste water treatment plant © AECOM

Active stakeholder participation in Ganga project

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Deltares does not aim at a financial margin (it is a not for profit organization) but rather aims at a knowledge margin. Furthermore, it believes in openness and transparency, as is evident from the free availability of a selection of its software and models.

Deltares (before 2008 under the name Delft Hydraulics) has implemented several projects in India, always focusing on providing innovative state of the art solutions. Some examples are the Hydrology Project aimed at upgrading the institutional capabilities of central government agencies and participating states to measure, collect, store, disseminate and analyse hydrological and related climatological data; and the Cyclone Hazard Mitigation and Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project for Andhra Pradesh. It leads the ADB project on Operational Research to Support Mainstreaming of Integrated Flood Management under Climate Change. For Kalpasar it provided training and support to the National Institute of Ocean Technology, specifically on numerical modelling (i.e. Delft3D).

At present, Deltares supports the strategic basin planning efforts of the Government of India and the involved states in the Ganga basin. The focus of the project is on technical assistance to government through modelling and analytical work combined with multi-stakeholder engagement processes.

Capacity building for government agencies at multiple levels is inherent in the project design.

Research and Innovation NaWaTechThe NaWaTech project aims to enhance the potential of natural and technical water treatment systems in order to improve their performance and reliability to cope with water shortages in India. The NaWaTech concept is based on the optimised use of urban water flows by a multi-barrier approach. Considering the different natures and various degrees of pollution, each water flow is managed,

NawaTech, Verticak Flow Constructed wetland Planted with scrirpus in Spain

Actual flood extend in the 2011 Rengali flood - right - compared to a model simulations

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treated and reused individually, supplementing traditional water sources to cope with shortages in Indian urban settlements. This holistic approach minimises the urban water footprint and enhances the water security of the area. It also minimises the pollution of water sources for downstream users.

One case study is in Pune; where the college of engineering houses 2000 students and has utilized three systems to treat three different water qualities (black, grey, and mixed sewage). To manage their water the project integrates 4 innovative technologies:

System A uses an anaerobic settler, anaerobic baffle reactor and anaerobic up flow filter;

System B uses constructed wetland combined with disinfections treatment; and

System C utilises a combination of system A&B.

The NaWaTech project showed great success, especially with System C which achieved a 90% improvement in water quality with treatment of sewage water. System A and B achieved a 72-73% and 81-87% decrease in Biological and Chemical Oxygen Demand, respectively. Yet system B showed clear superiority in treating Kjeldahl Nitrogen and Phosphorus (96% and 80% decrease respectively), as well as increase in dissolved oxygen (86%).

Water4Crops‘Water4Crops’ is the acronym for “Integrating Bio-treated Wastewater Reuse and Valorisation with Enhanced Water Use Efficiency to Support the Green Economy in Europe and India”. Water4Crops is a Euro-India research project, co-funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the European Commission. The project brings together an Indo-European consortium of 36 organizations,14 Indian and 22 European, belonging to research institutions, universities, large industries and SMEs.

The overall strategy of Water4Crops is to advance individual key technologies and methodologies,

AECOM Waste water treatment plant © AECOM

Valve for dissipation of Energy and decantation-infiltration pond - Segovia, Spain

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both in Europe and in India, supported by the two pillars “Innovative Biotechnological Waste Water Treatments for Improved Water Recycling in Agriculture” and “Improved Water Use Efficiency through Agronomics, Plant Breeding and locally adapted Irrigation Technologies and Techniques”.

Throughout the many developed programmes, Water4Crops has achieved:

Design, construction and installation of a multi-functional laboratory test unit for polymers aimed at the specific recovery of valuable phenols (carbon source for soil) from water.

Development and optimization of a biodegradable polymer production olive oil mill wastewater using microbial cultures

Investigation and production of nano biocatalysts for tertiary technology based treatments of wastewater at lab and pilot scales.

Optimization of constructed wetlands through improvement of infrastructure set up (vertical flow vs horizontal flow) and identification of halophytes as efficient organic matter and suspended solids remover from wastewater.

Implementation of constructed wetland systems in both private and public agencies for the management of urban wastewater, agro-food industries, farms and municipalities.

SWINGS“Safe-guarding Water Resources in India with Green and Sustainable Technologies”, or SWINGS, is a programme establishing waste water treatment, management and reuse while saving energy, producing methane and minimizing sludge. The integration of multiple systems involving anaerobic digestion and constructed wetlands with solar-powered anodic oxidation and UV disinfection systems has resulted in the treatment of black water (sewage) to produce treated water with almost domestic water quality standards with minimum

power usage and operational cost. These systems, based on Constructed Wetlands (CW) technology, Anaerobic Digestion using UASB and solar driven AO and UV disinfection units have proved to be highly successful in treating significant quantities of wastewater for use in agriculture, fish rearing, reuse in toilet flushing, etc.

One of the important innovations of this project is the scientific design and execution of the constructed wetlands based on different configurations (vertical flow, horizontal flow, and French type). The selected plants for the CWs are indigenous and compatible with the wastewater, climate, environment and media. Further, utilizing solar Anodic Oxidation (AO) to disinfect the treated water body by the removal of viruses and bacteria has been successfully validated. The system built in IGNTU, a University built in a very remote tribal area, includes the treatment of black water from the hostels through constructed wetland and later through AO technique. The treated effluent is being used to produce vegetables; and the technology put together has a promising application in waste water treatment in rural and tribal regions.

NawaTech, Experimental high rate algal pond of the GEMMA Group

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SARAWATIEven though treatment technologies for waste water including municipal sewage have been in place for decades, many systems keep failing. The SARAWATI project is analysing the causes for the inefficient performance of such technologies.

A natural waste water treatment plant designed for Madhya Pradesh shall be efficient in producing the treated affluent with parameters well within the permissible limits and with low operational and maintenance cost.

Another project, known as GROW involves the treatment of grey water recycling systems. The gray water treatment plant uses macrophytes to absorb the pollutants. The treated affluent is found to exhibit quality well within the limits for reuse in urban environments. The pilot project has proved to absorb all toxic organic and inorganic elements. Furthermore, a mobile sludge digester and a closed vessel composting system have been applied with excellent results.

Energy-Efficient, Community Based Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems for Deployment in India (ECO-INDIA)ECO-INDIA is a novel project addressing the treatment of natural waters to provide safe drinking water and demonstrating low cost wastewater treatment system for reuse in remote rural areas where communication, transportation and electricity are in scares supply.

The project has succeeded in augmenting surface water from small and medium catchment regions and treats it by using Silt Traps, Horizontal Roughing Filters, Slow Sand Filters, Activated Carbon Filters and by finally disinfecting with liquid chlorine. Ground water is pumped up to supplement surface water supplies for drinking and domestic use, using photovoltaics.

While the surface water sources do not seem to be contaminated with arsenic, its levels exceed permissible levels in ground water, making necessary the proper treatment of ground water. In order to do so, two types of arsenic removal units were designed by the India-EU team, and both were installed for comparison of cost, performance and maintenance.

Online monitoring systems have also been developed and are used to sense the pertinent physical and chemical parameters. NawaTech, Floating plant wetland system

NawaTech, Vertical Flow Constructed wetland planted with scrirpus in Spain

Valve for dissipation of Energy-Segovia, Spain

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Fight against Antimicrobial Resistance Antibiotics are major tools in combating bacterial diseases worldwide. However, use and misuse of antibiotics have made antibiotic resistant bacteria a major threat for humanity. Water plays a major role in emergence and dissemination of multidrug resistant bacteria, being early identification a key strategy to hinder spread of resistance. In this context, a Spanish-Indian consortium of the

Join the India Europe Water PartnershipJoin the partnership with the following purpose:

to work with EU partners in overcoming your water management challenges;

to know what has happened so far in the Partnership, and what activities will happen in the coming period;

to attend a workshop or other event or meeting;

to be informed about EU funding opportunities for research and innovation projects;

to find suitable partners in the EU for joint research and innovation projects;

to promote your innovative water technology or approaches via the European Innovation Partnership in Europe;

to identify business solutions and the EU companies that can provide them to you;

to contact EU water management authorities for technical exchange and joint projects;

and many more…

Contact the European Union Delegation to India email: delegation-india-env@eeas.europa.eu

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, has focused its efforts in the project ‘Translational Research to Combat Emerging Antimicrobial Resistance in India’. The Consortium has identified high-risk multi-resistant bacteria in India in sewage water, including new antibiotic resistance genes, using genomic approaches. The project has elicited implementation of genetic tools in India, and translation of the knowledge into specific prevention actions, ultimately saving lives of a high number of patients with bacterial infections.

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WATER CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES IN THE EU AND INDIA

Water Challenges In IndiaIntroductionIndia receives an average annual precipitation of 4000 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) which is the main source of fresh water in the country. The total water resource potential, occurring as natural runoff in the rivers (both as surface runoff and base flows) during the year, is estimated to be 1869 BCM on average. However, due to constraints of topography and uneven distribution of water resources over space and time, only about 690 BCM of surface water can be consumed annually. Additionally, about 433 BCM of annual replenishable groundwater can be utilised. Thus, a total of 1123 BCM of water can be consumed per annum.

India continues to experience high economic and population growth. As a consequence, water demand for meeting various domestic and productive needs are also rising. As the country has only about 4% of the world’s renewable water resources, but is home to nearly 18% of the world’s population, there are challenges for planning and managing available water resources to meet the growing demand. The National Water Policy of India 2012 identifies some important water challenges:

Rapid growth in demand for water due to population growth, urbanization and changing lifestyle pose serious challenges to water security.

Issues related to water governance have not been addressed adequately. Mismanagement of water resources has led to a critical situation in many parts of the country.

Temporal and spatial variation in availability of water may increase substantially due to a combination of climate change and incidences of water related disasters, such as floods and droughts.

Yamuna river north of Delhi - People continue to fish in the river © Lase Bredsten 2016

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Children playing in a river- Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir © Lasse Bredsten 2016

Access to safe water for drinking and other domestic needs continues to be a problem in many areas.

Groundwater is perceived as individual property and is exploited inequitably and without any consideration for its sustainability, leading to its over-exploitation.

Inter-regional, inter-State, intra-State, as also inter-sectoral disputes in sharing of water, strain relationships and hamper the optimal and scientific utilization of water on a basin/sub-basin basis.

Inadequate maintenance of existing irrigation infrastructure has resulted in wastage and under-utilization of available resources.

Growing pollution of water sources, especially from industrial effluents, is affecting the availability of safe water besides causing environmental and health hazards. In many parts of the country, large stretches of rivers are both heavily polluted and devoid of the required flows to support aquatic ecological and, cultural requirements.

Low consciousness about the overall scarcity and economic value of water results in its wastage and inefficient use.

A shortage of trained personnel for scientific planning, utilizing modern techniques and using analytical capabilities incorporating information technology constrains good water management.

Some of these challenges are discussed further in the subsequent sections.

Increasing Water Demand and Water StressAccording to the Central Water Commission (CWC) classification, India has about 20 river basins. Due to increasing water demand for domestic, industrial and agricultural uses, most river basins are water stressed. In fact, only a few rivers are perennial (with year around water flow) and most other rivers have become seasonal in nature.

Water stress is further accentuated by the fact that water demands are unevenly distributed across the country. On average, irrigation constitutes about 80% of the total water demand, but western and north-western India, which have high cultivable land per capita and thus high irrigation water demand, are water scarce, whereas

The EU has some of the world’s highest environmental standards. Environment policy helps to green the EU economy, protect nature, and safeguard the health and quality of life of people living in the EU.

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eastern India with significantly lower cultivable land per capita and hence less irrigation water demand generally has surplus water.

Growing population coupled with increased economic activity is also intensifying demand on already stressed water resources. According to estimates, by 2050, overall water demand will increase by 67% of the 2010 level (Table 1). On the other hand, the national per capita annual availability of water has reduced from 1816 cubic meters in 2001 to 1544 cubic meters in 2011. Though, water availability remains high in some water rich basins, such as the Ganga, it has declined significantly in some other basins, such as the Krishna and Cauvery. Also, there is high variation in per capita water availability, ranging from 263 cubic metres per annum in the Sabarmati basin to 20,136 cubic meters per annum in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna system.

Table 1: Sectoral water demand in India

SectorWater demand in BCM

2010 2025 2050

Irrigation 557 611 807

Drinking Water 43 62 111

Industry 37 67 81

Energy 19 33 70

Others 54 70 111

Total 710 843 1180

(Source: National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development)

With the country already experiencing water stress (in physical or economic terms), there is need to augment both water supply in water rich regions lacking required infrastructure and manage water demand in water scarce regions (by water use efficiency improvements, water pricing, etc.).

Groundwater OveruseGroundwater plays an important role in India’s agrarian economy, supporting livelihoods and food security for millions of people. It caters to about 85% of rural domestic water requirements, 50% of urban water requirements and more than 60% of irrigation requirements.

Unregulated groundwater development has led to its overuse in many parts of the country. This has resulted in declining groundwater level, drying of springs and shallow aquifers, and increased cost of water lifting. The lack of well-defined ownership rights in groundwater (water entitlements) and highly subsidised electricity supply for abstracting groundwater have also contributed to its unsustainable use.

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Groundwater Development in India, 2011 © Central Ground Water Board

According to the Central Ground Water Board report (2011), the annual ground water draft is 245 BCM which is about 62% of the net annual ground water availability. Out of this, about 91% was used for irrigation. However, the effects on ground water in different areas of the country have not been uniform. Results from the assessment of 6607 groundwater units in the country reveal that:

16% of units in various States have been categorized as over-exploited i.e. the annual ground water extraction exceeds the net annual ground water availability and significant decline in long term ground water level has been observed either in pre-monsoon or post-monsoon or both.

3.5% of units are critical i.e. extraction of ground water is above 90 % and within 100% of net annual ground water availability, and significant decline is observed in the long term water level in both pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods.

There are 11% semi-critical units, where ground water development is between 70% and 100% and significant decline in long term water level has been recorded in either pre-monsoon or post-monsoon.

About 92 blocks in the country are completely underlain by saline ground water.

The problem of groundwater salinity is more common in the coastal tracts of the country. However, inland salinity in ground water is also prevalent in the arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Several places in Rajasthan and southern Haryana have salt concentrations in groundwater, which are so high that the groundwater is non-potable. High concentrations of fluoride, arsenic, iron & heavy metals in groundwater samples are observed in isolated pockets of the country.

Management of Climate Variability: Droughts & FloodsIndia has significant variability in rainfall and temperature. Average annual rainfall in the country varies from less than 100 mm in western Rajasthan to more than 10,000 mm at Mawsynram in Eastern India (Figure 2). Similarly, average temperature varies from sub-zero in many places in the Western Himalayas to about 25 degrees C in Peninsular India during winters. Given the vast climate variability across seasons and between years, India experiences

Intense precipitation leads to flash floods in many Indian cities. Photo by Supriya Biswas

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Area prone to floods in India © National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India

both floods and droughts, periodically with various environmental, social and economic impacts. Between 1980 and 2010, around 7 major droughts and 184 major flood events have been reported.

Nearly one third of the country’s area is drought prone. Recurrent drought results in widespread adverse impact on people’s livelihoods and young children’s nutrition status. Most drought events in India occur in parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh. The National Commission on Agriculture in India defines three types of droughts:

Meteorological drought, defined as a situation when there is significant decrease from normal precipitation over an area (i.e. more than 10 %);

agricultural drought, signifying the situation when soil moisture and rainfall are inadequate to support healthy crop growth;

hydrological drought resulting from prolonged meteorological drought manifested in depletion of surface and sub-surface water resources, which could occur even when the rainfall is normal, if there has been a substantial reduction in surface water holding capacity.

In India, about 40 Million hectares (Mha), which is 12% of the total geographical area of the country, is prone to floods (Figure 3). In the Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains, occurrence of floods is an annual feature. On average, about 7.5 Mha of area is actually affected by floods every year, with a range of consequences. Flood damages in economic terms (at current prices) are estimated to be about US$ 125 billion during the period 1953-2010.

Spatial rainfall variability in India (average Annual Rainfall for the period 1971-2005)

Source: Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India

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Surface Water PollutionThere are quality standards in India for both surface and groundwater. These have been set under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. The basic objective of this Act is to maintain and restore the wholesomeness of national aquatic resources by prevention and control of pollution. The present water quality monitoring network in India is comprised of around 2500 stations covering 445 rivers, 154 lakes, 12 tanks, 78 ponds, 41 creeks/seawater, 25 canals, 45 drains, 10 raw water treatment plants and 807 groundwater wells.

Monitoring results obtained by Central Pollution Control Board during 2011 indicate that organic pollution (BOD and Coliform Bacteria) continues to be the predominant polluters of rivers, lakes, ponds, tanks and groundwater. Further, in some river stretches, as high as 63% of water samples did not meet the water quality standards for dissolved oxygen (DO), 73% for pH and 14% for Electrical Conductivity (EC).

The major contributors to pollution in aquatic resources are partially treated and untreated wastewater from urban settlements and industrial establishments (Table 2). It is estimated that wastewater from urban centres will exceed 100,000 million litres per day (mld) by 2050. Rural India is estimated to generate not less than 50,000 mld. Moreover, implementation of and adherence to water quality standards is poor. One of the major reasons is that the institutions at the Central and

Yamuna river north of Delhi - By Wazirabad sewers leads wastewater into Yamuna making foam clouds to form and float down the river © Lase Bredsten 2016

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State levels which are in charge of setting water quality standards are the same as those which monitor them. Moreover, States often under-report pollution levels in the river stretch passing through their territories.

Efficiency and AwarenessAs per the National Water Policy of India, low consciousness about the overall scarcity and economic value of water results in its wastage and inefficient use. Nevertheless, as water pricing is a politically sensitive subject in India, most of the water supplied for domestic and irrigation use is highly subsidised, providing little incentive for users to be efficient.

Further, water revenue recovery is also poor in India. Water supply utilities frequently run at a loss and are unable to even recover the operation and maintenance cost of water supply systems. This results in poor system efficiency and performance characterised by water losses and lower water delivery to the end-user.

Xavier Leflaive (OECD), Vinod Tare (IIT Kanpur), Birgit Vogel (Austria) and Mark Harvett (UK) assessing water economics in river basin management in a workshop under the India-EU Water Partnership. One of the key conclusions of the workshop is that States in the Ganga River Basin vary as regards their experience with water allocation and abstraction, pollution charges and related regulations. States in the basin would gain from sharing experience on water allocation and water abstraction and pollution charges, to converge towards mutually compatible instruments. The discussion could be organised at sub-basin or bi-/multilateral levels as well, to reflect local priorities. National authorities could take part in the process.

Find more information at http://www.eip-water.eu/india-eu-water-partnership-workshop-water-allocation-water-economics-and-eflows-river-basin

The inhabitants use thick hoses and large containers to secure their daily supply of water - Sanjay Colony, New Delhi © Lasse Bredsten

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Inter-State Conflicts over Water SharingThe Indian Constitution grants full control over river waters to the States (Entry 17, List II, Seventh Schedule, Article 246 of the Indian Constitution). However, the States’ rights are subject to any law enforced by the Parliament regarding the regulation and development of inter-state rivers (as per Entry 56, List I, Seventh Schedule, Article 246 and Article 262 of the Indian Constitution). In fact, Parliament can enact laws relating to interstate rivers to be enforced at the Union/national level (such as River Boards Act, 1956 and the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956). This means that inter-state rivers could be regulated, developed and managed nationally in the public interest.

However, no single River Board has been constituted under the River Boards Act, 1956. This is largely due to the fact that in Section 4(1) of the Act, the exercise of power of the Government of India to establish a River Board is dependent on a request being received from the State Government and such a request has never been made.

Most of the water planning and development in the country is therefore undertaken within administrative boundaries rather than by using river

basins as the hydrological unit. This approach has led to water conflicts as most rivers basins are shared by several States (Table 3) and water demand for meeting domestic, industrial and agricultural needs within each riparian State has gone up remarkably. In the absence of river basin management plans and active river basin authorities these issues have intensified.

Some recent conflicts on water sharing, especially during years of low rainfall, between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (Cauvery river basin), Orissa and Chhattisgarh (Mahanadi river basin), and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra (Krishna river basin), highlight the need for effective legal, institutional and governance mechanisms to resolve such issues.

Minister for Water Resources Prof. Sanwar Lal Jat and Ambassador Kozlowski at first India EU Water Forum

Secretary Shashi Shekhar, Director-General of the Environment DG Daniel Calleja Crespo and Minister for Water Resources Prof. Sanwar Lal Jat

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Table 3: Overview of shared river basins in India

Sr. No. River BasinNumber of states

sharing basinStates covered

1 Indus (India Part) 6

Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab,

Rajasthan, Haryana and the Union Territory of

Chandigarh

2 Ganga (India Part) 11

Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,

Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Union

Territory of Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and

West Bengal

3Brahmaputra (India

Part)6

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya,

West Bengal and Sikkim

4 Barak and Others 6Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Tripura and

Nagaland

5

Minor Rivers draining

into Myanmar and

Bangladesh

4 Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura

6 Godavari 7Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha,

Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka

7 Krishna 4Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and

Karnataka

8 Subernarekha 3 Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal

9 Mahanadi 4 Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Maharashtra

10 Cauvery 3 Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala

11 Pennar 2 Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka

12 Mahi 3 Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh

13 Sabarmati 2 Rajasthan and Gujarat

14 Narmada 4Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and

Chhattisgarh

15 Tapi 3 Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra

16West flowing rivers

from Tapi to Tadri6

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa and Union

Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu

17

West flowing

rivers from Tadri to

Kanyakumari

4Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of

Puducherry

18

East flowing rivers

between Mahanadi

and Pennar

2 Andhra Pradesh and Odisha

19

East flowing rivers

between Pennar and

Kanyakumari

4Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Union

Territory of Puducherry

20

West flowing rivers of

Kutch and Saurashtra

including Luni

2 Rajasthan and Gujarat

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WATER CHALLENGES AND MANAGEMENT IN THE EU

and nitrates pollution in 1991, and industrial pollution in 1996. Based on a policy dialogue in the mid-1990s, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) was adopted in 2000 with the following key principles:

expanding the scope of water protection to river basins, including all inland, transitional and coastal waters, covering surface waters and groundwater;

achieving “good status” for all waters by a set deadline;

The EU Water Framework DirectiveWater supports life. It is a crucial resource for humanity, generating and sustaining economic growth and prosperity. It is also at the core of natural ecosystems and climate regulation.

Despite decades of protection efforts, Europe’s water is still under pressure. Half the surface water bodies in Europe are reported to be deteriorated and not in good status. One fifth of the groundwater bodies are polluted and one of every ten aquifers is overexploited.

The causes are manifold: diffuse pollution by fertilisers and pesticides from agriculture affects more than 40 % of Europe’s rivers. Further, areas anthropogenically transformed in order to facilitate energy production, transport, flood safety and urban development areas have altered around 40% of water habitats in rivers, deltas and estuaries.

The increasing demand of European citizens and environmental organisations for cleaner rivers and lakes, groundwater and coastal beaches is one of the main reasons why the European Union has made water protection one of its priorities.

European water policy has undergone a thorough restructuring process, from its initial focus on drinking water standards in 1975, urban wastewater

Commissioner Vella during visit to New Delhi, India 2016

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Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Ambassador Tomasz Kozlowski at the World Sustainable Development Summit 2016

getting the prices right;

involving citizens for greater transparency and easier implementation; and

streamlining legislation.

One advantage of the framework directive approach is the rationalisation of EU water legislation by the replacement of the seven previous directives by one. The operative provisions of these directives are taken over in the framework directive, allowing them to be repealed.

Effective water management, as required by the WFD, helps Member States prepare for extreme weather events which, due to climate change, are becoming more frequent and cause tremendous damage. To complement the WFD, the Floods Directive was adopted in 2007 and requires Member States to assess and map flood risks and hazards and to manage them by putting in place flood risk management plans (FRMPs).

In comparison, the draft Indian Water Framework Law is much more policy and social matters-oriented, with the principal objective of establishing common governing principles for all States and especially a Right to Water throughout the country. It is also a less legally binding instrument, without the firm deadlines and penalties in the case of non-compliance, of the WFD.

A Single System of Water Management: River Basin ManagementThe best model for a single system of water management is management by river basin - the natural geographical and hydrological unit - instead of by administrative or political boundaries. Initiatives taken forward by the States concerned for the Maas,

Effective water management, as required by the WFD, helps Member States prepare for extreme weather events which, due to climate change, are becoming more frequent and cause tremendous damage.

Commisioner Vella discussing the Indo-European Water Partnership at the WSDS 2016 © EEAS

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Schelde or Rhine river basins have served as positive examples of this approach, with their cooperation and joint objective-setting across Member State borders or, in the case of the Rhine and the Danube, even beyond EU territory.

For each river basin district a river basin management plan has been established for the 2009-2015 and 2016-2021 periods and will be updated every six years.

The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is an example of a successful international cooperation framework for river basin management. The following ‘success factors’ can be attributed to the ICPDR:

With the Danube River Protection Convention (DRPC), a shared legal framework for cooperation is a pre-requisite for practical work.

The EU Water Framework Directive’s and the EU Floods Directive’s forward-looking legislation comprising key elements like river basin management and public consultation requirements.

A relatively broad spectrum of Expert Groups, composed of country and stakeholder representatives, which have the mandate to draft documents and prepare for actions of the Commission related to specific topics. The Expert Groups are chaired by elected country representatives,

report to the Commission and are supported by the Secretariat.

Of special importance among the Expert Groups is the River Basin Management Expert Group, which provides strategic guidance and coordination to ICPDR activities and prepares interim reports on progress of implementation.

A strong Secretariat with limited but efficient staff, which is able to support crucial functions of the ICPDR.

A comprehensive Danube River Basin Management Plan, which focuses on key issues which are important for basin-wide cooperation and which includes a Joint Programme of Measures and conclusions on funding as well as evaluation mechanisms for implementation.

For further reading, the European Commission’s 2012 WFD Implementation Report[1] includes a pan-EU assessment and learned lessons on governance and transboundary management.

Co-ordination of Objectives - Good Status for all Waters by a Set DeadlineOne of the innovations of the Water Framework Directive is that it provides for integrated management of groundwater and surface water for the first time at European level.

The key objectives of the Water Framework Directive with respect to the protection of water quality at the European level are general protection of the aquatic ecology, specific protection of unique and valuable habitats, protection of drinking water resources, and protection of bathing water.

1 The WFD Implementation Report describes in detail the key aspects of the results of the assessment based on the information, reported by Member States and other related official sources of information, and provides a view of the status of implementation of the WFD across the EU - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/wa-ter-framework/

Wetlands in Spain (Doñana wetland). © Guido Schmidt

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Its objectives were to be achieved by 2015, but exemptions are possible until 2021 or 2027 when properly justified.

The Directive requires all surface waters to be covered, aiming for “good ecological status” and “good chemical status”. Good ecological status is defined in terms of the quality of the biological community, the hydrological characteristics and the chemical characteristics. Good chemical status is defined in terms of compliance with all the quality standards established for chemical substances at European level.

The case of groundwater is different: the presumption is that groundwater should not be polluted at all. A small number of standards have been established at European level for particular chemicals (nitrates, pesticides and biocides), and these must always be adhered to. But the general approach is essentially a precautionary one. It comprises a prohibition on direct discharges to groundwater, a requirement to monitor groundwater bodies to detect changes in chemical composition, and a reversal of any upward pollution trend caused by humans.

Quantity is also a major issue for groundwater. There is only a certain amount of recharge into groundwater each year, and of this recharge, some is needed to support connected ecosystems such as wetlands. The Directive limits abstraction to only that portion of the recharge which is not needed by the ecosystem.

The river basin management planThe river basin management plan is a detailed account of how the objectives set for the river basin (ecological status, quantitative status, chemical status and protected area objectives) will be reached within the timescale required. The plan is preceded by a thorough analysis of: the river basin’s characteristics, a review of the impact of human activity on the status of waters in the basin, estimation of the effect of existing legislation and the remaining “gap” to meeting these objectives; and a set of measures designed to fill the gap. All these elements are included in the River Basin Management Plan.

Additionally, an economic analysis of water use within the river basin must be carried out. This is to enable rational discussion on the cost-effectiveness of various possible measures. It is essential that all interested parties are fully involved in this discussion and in the preparation of the river basin management plan as a whole.

The planning process has been and still remains a challenge for many implementing authorities. Although progress has been significant, achieving the WFD environmental objectives will require more effort and time than initially estimated.

Irrigation ditch in the Po valley, Italy

Alte Donau Urban Lake

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The text of the Water Framework Directive is in many instances open to different interpretations. In order to ensure that all Member States implement the directive in a satisfactory manner, a cooperation and coordination process was established in 2001. Under this ‘Common Implementation Strategy’ (CIS)[2] Member States have built joint work programmes, carried out experimental implementation in Pilot River Basins, had technical discussions and exchanged ‘good practices’ in Working Groups. The process has resulted in numerous ‘Guidance Documents’ which are agreed by the Water Directors (highest level civil servant) of the EU Member States.

2 All Agreed CIS guidance documents can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/facts_figures/guidance_docs_en.htm

The India-EU Water Partnership Capacity-Building Workshop on River Basin Management Planning and Governance recommended the start of River Basin Management Planning in India stepwise, prioritising data collection, management – and with increased commitments towards clearly defined aims.

Find more information at http://www.eip-water.eu/india-eu-water-partnership-workshop-river-basin-management-planning-and-governance.

Getting the prices rightThe need to conserve adequate supplies of a resource for which demand is continuously increasing is also one of the drivers behind what is arguably one of the Water Framework Directive’s most important innovations - the introduction of fair water pricing which acts as an incentive for the sustainable use of water resources and thus helps to achieve the environmental objectives under the Directive.

The India-EU Water Partnership Capacity-Building Workshop on River Basin Management Planning

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European Member States are required to ensure that the price charged to water consumers - such as for the abstraction and distribution of fresh water as well as the collection and treatment of waste water - reflects the true costs, including environmental and opportunity/resource costs. Whereas this principle has a long tradition in some countries, this was not the case in others (e.g. Ireland), which has only recently introduced water pricing. Derogations are possible, e.g. in less-favoured areas or to provide basic services at an affordable price.

Better implementation and increased integration of water policy objectives into other policy areas, including funding policies such as the EU Common Agriculture Policy and the European structural and investment funds, is required. The results of the 2007-13 financing period show that Member States’ have not exploited to the full extent EU funding possibilities to support objectives under the Water Framework Directive, notwithstanding some good examples, e.g. in Flanders and Denmark. To foster the correct implementation of water pricing in the 2014-2020 period, the EU has established ex-ante conditionalities which countries need to fulfil to

access Rural Development and Cohesion policy funds for water policy objectives.

The 2009-2015 River Basin Management Plans confirm that neither incentives to use water efficiently nor transparent water pricing are applied across all Member States and all water-using sectors, partly due to the lack of metering. In order to implement incentive pricing, consumptive uses should, by default, be subject to volumetric charges based on real use. This requires widespread metering, in particular for agriculture in those basins where irrigation is the main water user.

Despite significant progress by some Member States’ in adapting water pricing policies to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, measures to ensure the recovery of environmental and resource costs are limited. The lack of cost recovery, including for environmental, resource and infrastructure costs, only adds to the bill to be paid by future generations in those areas which will face dramatic water scarcity and failing water infrastructure.

Public Participation The role of citizens and citizens’ groups is crucial in making European waters clean.

There are two main reasons for increasing public participation. The first is that decisions on the most appropriate measures to achieve the objectives in the river basin management plan will involve balancing the interests of various groups. The economic analysis requirement is intended to provide a rational basis for discussions and decisions, but it is essential that the process is open to the scrutiny of those who will be affected.

The second reason concerns enforceability. The greater the transparency in the establishment of objectives, in imposition of measures, and in reporting of standards, the more care Member States will take to implement the legislation

Daily distribution of water in Sanjay Colony, Okhla, New Delhi. Municipal authorities distribute water in trucks to colonies without water installed on a daily basis - © Lasse Faegermann

32

in good faith, and the more influence citizens will have on the direction of environmental protection, whether through consultation or, if disagreement persists, through the complaints procedures and the courts. Caring for Europe’s waters will require more involvement of citizens, interested parties, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). To that end, the Water Framework Directive requires information and consultation when river basin management plans are established: the river basin management plan must be issued in draft, and the

background documentation on which the decisions are based must be made accessible for a period long enough to allow all concerned citizens to react.

Another tool to increase involvement and cooperation between Member States, citizens and citizens groups are biannual conferences[3], which are organised in order to provide for a regular exchange of views and experiences in implementation. It is important for the European Union to act before it is too late – i.e. before Member States are already behind schedule and out of compliance. The Framework Directive, by establishing very early on a network for the exchange of information and experience between water professionals throughout the Community, ensures that this does not happen.

Efforts to involve the public have varied across EU Member States, with some of them developing best practices such as “fiches” for water bodies to promote the ownership of the understanding of problems and solutions. The transparency of the online working platform CIRCABC is another tool for informing and involving the public, the documents being seen as presenting an informal consensus position on best practice agreed by all partners.

3 To see the list of Biannual Water conferences from 2007 to 2015, use this URL: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/conferences.html

Gomti River (tributary of Ganga) Front Development project in Lucknow © Nitin Bassi 2016

EU-India water conference in Pune in April 2016. Vivek Dham

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Water Scarcity & Droughts in the European UnionWhile Europe is by large considered as having adequate water resources, water scarcity and drought are increasingly frequent and widespread phenomena in the European Union. The long term imbalance resulting from water demand exceeding available water resources is no longer uncommon.

In 2007 at least 11 % of Europe’s population and 17 % of its territory was affected by water scarcity,

Many opportunities for improved governance of Indian water management were discussed during the India-EU Workshop on River Basin Management Planning and Governance. It is recommended to start changes in governance informally with easy topics for cooperation and to practice “learning by doing”; as well as to establish mechanism for resolving conflicts in an early stage.

Find more information at http://www.eip-water.eu/india-eu-water-partnership-workshop-river-basin-management-planning-and-governance.

Discussions were held on water governance at the Workshop on River Basin Management Planning and Governance

putting the cost of droughts in Europe over the past thirty years at € 100 billion. Further deterioration of the water situation in Europe is expected if temperatures keep rising as a result of climate change. Water is no longer the problem of a few regions, but now concerns all 500 million Europeans.

The main overall objective of the European Union’s water policy is to ensure access to good quality water in sufficient quantity for all Europeans, and to ensure the good status of all water bodies across Europe. Policies and actions are set designed to prevent and to mitigate water scarcity and drought

34

situations and move towards a water-efficient and water-saving economy.

To foster proper management of droughts and water scarcity, the European Union has developed guidance documents on drought management plans, ecological flows, water reuse, and the establishment of water balances. It has also promoted research projects and pilot actions on these topics, in order to identify good practice, as well as barriers to innovative approaches[4].

Furthermore, in the 2014-2020 period, more than €3bn of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development will be invested for increased water use efficiency in irrigation, in particular in Greece, Spain, Italy, Romania, France, Cyprus and Bulgaria.

4 WFD Guidance Documents exist to provide assistance for the Water Framework Directive implementation. The list of published Docu-ments can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/facts_figures/guidance_docs_en.htm

Left to right, Carlos Benítez (Spain), Luit-Jan Dijkhuis (The Netherlands), Joginder Singh (India) and Mark Harvett (UK) explained their experience and ideas at the Workshop on Water Allocation organised by the India-EU water Partnership. One key recommendation is to develop robust regimes, which allocate water where it is most needed in normal times and in times of scarcity, as an essential driver for sustainable development.

More information can be found at http://www.eip-water.eu/india-eu-water-partnership-workshop-water-allocation-water-economics-and-eflows-river-basin.

River Daugava in Riga - Sea water surges pose the greatest flood threat to the city of Riga, Latvia

Water reuseThe potential role of treated wastewater as an alternative source of water supply is now well acknowledged and embedded within international, European and national strategies. The UN Sustainable Development Goal on Water (SDG 6) targets a substantial increase in recycling and safe reuse globally by 2030.

Reuse of treated wastewater can provide significant environmental, social and economic benefits. Water reuse can improve the status of the environment both quantitatively, by substituting abstraction, and qualitatively, by relieving pressure of discharge from urban wastewater treatment plants to sensitive areas. Moreover, when compared to alternative sources of water supply such as desalination or water transfer, water reuse often turns out to require lower

35

investment and energy, thereby contributing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

However, water reuse encounters numerous barriers in the EU. Limited awareness of potential benefits among stakeholders and the general public, and lack of a supportive and coherent framework for water reuse are two major barriers currently preventing wider spread of this practice.

On 2 December 2015, the European Commission presented the circular economy package. In particular, it committed to developing actions to promote further uptake of water reuse at EU level.

Guidelines on integrating water reuse into water planning and management in the context of the Water Framework Directive were

developed within the Common Implementation Strategy of the WFD, and published in July 2016. Based on existing practice in the EU and third countries, they contain recommendations on how to better integrate water reuse in water planning and management within the EU policy framework taking into account underlying environmental and socio-economic benefits.

The European Commission will propose legislation on minimum requirements for water reuse in irrigation and aquifer recharge at the beginning of 2017.

Industrial water reuse is already a common practice in many sectors. The European Commission will look into further integration of water reuse in the development and review of Best Available Techniques Reference Documents (BREFs) for relevant industrial sectors under the scope of the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU).

Support to research and innovation in water reuse along with EU funds for investments in water reuse projects complement the package of activities.

River rejuvenationOnly one in five of Europe’s rivers and flood plains is in its natural state. Working with nature to restore original flow patterns brings countless benefits, for people and for nature. River rejuvenation can:

improve water quality;

prevent extreme events: river restoration actions to recover the lateral connectivity and floodplain are an effective green infrastructure solution to contribute to flood control and groundwater recharge; and

protect biodiversity by rehabilitating river systems.

Some examples of successful river restoration projects, funded by LIFE, the European Union

Restoring and improving water use in farming for the conservation of Las Tablas de Daimiel and other protected wetlands In the Upper Guadiana Basin © WWF Spain and The Coca-Cola Foundation

36

fund for the environment, are:

the “Restoration of habitats in the Basque Country’s estuaries” considered in 2016 as one of the ‘best of best’ LIFE projects;

the ‘ReMiBar’ project which has removed around 300 barriers, mainly in smaller rivers and streams in northern Sweden, to the benefit of migrating fish and other riverine species. The ‘LIFE Free Fish’ project is similarly removing migration barriers in Bulgaria;

the ‘Vindel River LIFE’ project which addressed the degradation of a river fragmented by channels used to float timber downstream; and

‘LIFE HAPPYFISH’ which restored oxbow lakes in the Emajõgi River and the Alam-Pedja Natura 2000 site in Estonia, to improve conditions for several protected fish species.

As a particular aspect of river rejuvenation, Natural Water Retention Measures are multi-functional measures that aim to protect water resources and address water-related challenges by restoring or maintaining ecosystems as well as natural features and characteristics of water bodies using natural means and processes. They often target primarily flood risk areas to retain water and protect human life, cities and industrial areas. More than 250 such projects [5]have been catalogued, and include projects as “Room for the River” (The Netherlands) [6], the Órbigo River (Spain), the Belford catchment (UK), the Nummela “gateway” wetland park (Finland) and wetland restoration in Persina (Bulgaria).

RESTORE[7], a UK project co-financed by LIFE, has created a network linking policy-makers, river basin planners, practitioners and experts, and set up a website that has become the main source of information on river restoration in Europe. This site is complemented by RiverWiki, an online database of river-restoration case studies that currently includes more than 1,000 studies from 31 countries.

Furthermore, a recent research project REFORM (Restoring rivers for effective catchment management[8]) provided the guidance and tools needed for successful and cost-effective river restoration.

5 A list of projects can be found at following URL: http://www.nwrm.eu/about-nwrm-project/documents

6 More information at https://www.ruimtevoorderivier.nl/english/

7 Database for river restoration schemes around Europe: https://restore-rivers.eu/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

8 Key results, conclusion and recommendation of REFORM are found at the following URL: http://www.reformrivers.eu/

Aquatic life rejuvenation observed after river restoration

Flooding in Passau, Bavaria

37

At one of the Workshops under the India-EU Water Partnership, Dave Tickner (UK), Suresh Babu (India), Rafael Sánchez (Spain) and Madhav Chitale (India) assessed the implementation of ecological flows in India. A stepwise approach to eflows is recommended, building on the experiences of other countries in the world, in particular Mexico. Eflows should be embedded in wider assessments, e.g. on water allocation, as the environment is one of the users to be factored in a robust water allocation regime.

Find more information at http://www.eip-water.eu/india-eu-water-partnership-workshop-water-allocation-water-economics-and-eflows-river-basin

Learning by Doing - Common Implementation StrategyThe implementation of the Water Framework Directive raises a number of shared technical challenges for the Member States, the European Commission and the EU’s neighbouring countries, as well as stakeholders and NGOs. Many European river basins are international, crossing administrative and territorial borders and, therefore, a common understanding and approach is crucial to the successful and effective implementation of the Directive.

To address the challenges in a co-operative and coordinated way, the Member States, Norway and the European Commission agreed on a Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) for the Water Framework Directive only five months after its entry into force in the year 2000.

This Common Implementation Strategy and bilateral processes have helped Member States by clarifying the WFD’s requirements, creating new implementation tools, and proposing solutions based on previous experience. The results of this work - for instance guidance documents, key

38

events and additional resource documents related to different aspects of the implementation - are available on CIRCABC[9].

More details on the overall concept, the numerous activities and the mandates of the Working Groups under the Common Implementation Strategy are given in the work programmes informally agreed by EU Water Directors.

The common strategy also supports the Commission in delivering on its obligations for further policy development (Daughter Directives on groundwater and on priority substances). In addition, the Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks is closely coordinated with the Water Framework Directive. The Common Implementation Strategy therefore also supports the

9 https://circabc.europa.eu/faces/jsp/extension/wai/navigation/container.jsp

implementation of the Floods Directive, through a specific Working Group on Floods.

The documents prepared in the context of the Common Implementation Strategy and many other useful documents are available on a specific information exchange platform which was set up for this process, the so-called WFD CIRCA Interest Group “Implementing the Water Framework Directive”.

Innovation for jobs & growthIn addition to its environmental and social benefits, EU water policy has also made it possible for the European Union to develop a dynamic, world-leading water sector that includes 9,000 active SMEs and provides almost 500,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

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River Basins in the EU

The Water Policy is therefore much more than a response to an environmental imperative: it is a building block for the EU to spark green and blue growth and become more resource efficient.

For instance, water management technologies are at the heart of eco-innovation and the European Commission has launched the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Water in 2012[10] to facilitate

10 European Innovation Partnership on Water: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/innovationpartnership/about_en.htm.

the development of innovative solutions, which have the potential to contribute to sustainable water management.

EIP Water aims to remove barriers to water innovation by advancing and leveraging promising solutions. It promotes and initiates collaborative processes for change and innovation in the water sector across the public and private sector,

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non-governmental organisations and the general public. 29 Action Groups develop their innovation under EIP Water, involving 600 organisations from Europe and abroad.

Eight priority areas have been chosen for EIP Water. They centre on challenges and opportunities in the water sector, and on innovation driven actions that will deliver the highest impact. These include:

Water reuse and recycling and wastewater treatment, including recovery of resources;

Water-energy nexus;

Flood and drought risk management;

Ecosystem services;

Water governance;

Decision support systems and monitoring; and

Financing for innovation

The EIP Water Online Marketplace[11] offers innovative approaches from almost 2,000 projects and more than 250 products & services and links to almost 300 demonstration sites in Europe, to identify the best testing facilities. Innovators are invited to include their initiatives on the Marketplace for free!

11 http://www.eip-water.eu/

Screenshot from the EIP Water Marketplace with projects in several European countries; The search can be refined further, e.g. by looking only for visitable demonstration sites (left bar, see below), with highest numbers in Denmark.

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LIFE Water projects LIFE is the EU’s funding instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action. Managed by the European Commission, it contributes to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental and climate policy and legislation (for instance, the targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy or the 7th Union Environmental Action Programme) by co-financing projects with European added value. Since LIFE was born in 1992, it has co-financed 4306 projects, of which more than 900 dealt with water issues.

Such projects address both water quality and quantity issues, contributing to the goals established in the Water Framework Directive and other water-related EU policy and legislation.

In particular, LIFE projects have contributed solutions for optimising water use in different sectors; conceiving new technologies for improved water quality; developing cost analysis methodologies and water pricing services; and up-scaling methods of monitoring and planning water resources. LIFE has also supported the fight against climate change, especially regarding water scarcity and issues around natural water hazards.

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Concerning water quality, one project worth noting is ‘BIOTTOPE’. The project developed and validated an automated tool to detect endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in wastewater, which have been proved to have negative environmental and health impacts (developmental disorders, such as sexual development problems in aquatic organisms). This tool - called FroBox- enables EDCs to be monitored at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), allowing additional treatments accordingly.

Additionally, the project tested an innovative tertiary treatment technique, Actiflo(R)Carb. This technique, based on activated carbon adsorption, has proved capable of removing estrogen hormones and

Aeration pond during the wastewater treatment process

pharmaceuticals with an efficiency of 90-100% and 50-100%, respectively.

Another good LIFE project, this time on water quantity, is ‘Investing in Water’. This Maltese initiative fostered the adoption of water saving practices among Malta’s secondary and tertiary sectors. To this end, the project carried out a series of information campaigns and audits, focusing on identifying water-saving opportunities and encouraging and assisting enterprises to adopt them. The project implemented audits in 136 enterprises. Additionally, it elaborated a review of water saving techniques and an online self-assessment tool for companies (available at http://www.investinginwater.org/SelfAssessment). This software tool enables

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The TREASURE technology can also be used for treating contaminated drinking water

enterprises to estimate and assess their water consumption, proposing measures and solutions to reduce it.

By the project’s end 16 companies had adopted water-saving measures, saving an estimated 141 million litres of water annually, enough to supply the needs of two medium-sized four stars hotels and three large factories. Furthermore, the project drew up specific policy recommendations on water saving that were submitted to the participating economic sectors, the Maltese government and the European Commission.

More information about these projects and others can be found on the LIFE website ( http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/index.htm) and the project database (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm)

The European Union promotes the interests of its Member States in policy areas that go from climate, environment and health to external relations, research, education and training, security, justice and migration. The EU is based on the rule of law: everything it does is

ABOUT THEEUROPEAN UNIONThe European Union is a unique economic and political union of 28 European countries that together cover much of the continent. Its original objectives were to safeguard peace through economic interdependence and to establish of a single market for good, services, capital and people. In this it has been outstandingly successful.

founded on treaties, voluntarily and democratically agreed by its members. It is managed by a Council representing the Member States, a directly elected European Parliament as the legislative arm, the European Commission which develops proposals and implements decisions, and a Court of Justice which adjudicates disputes relating to European law.

Wetlands in Spain (Doñana wetland). © Guido Schmidt

The EU has some of the world’s highest environmental standards. Environment policy helps to green the EU economy, protect nature, and safeguard the health and quality of life of people living in the EU. EU energy policy works towards security of supply, competitiveness and sustainability. The European Energy Union aims to ensure secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy for EU citizens and businesses by creating a trans-European network to allow energy to flow freely across national borders in the EU. New technologies, energy efficiency measures and renewed infrastructure will help to cut household bills, create new jobs and boost growth.

To become a sustainable, low-carbon and environmentally-friendly economy leading the way in renewable energy and the fight against global warming, the EU has set ambitious energy and climate targets: for the year 2020: reducing greenhouse gases by at least 20% (compared to 1990 levels); obtaining 20% of its energy from renewable sources; and bringing about a 20% energy efficiency improvement. By 2030 it plans to achieve a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; at least 27% EU energy from renewables; Increase energy efficiency by 27-30%; and 15% electricity interconnection. By 2050: it is targeting a 80-95% cut in greenhouse gases.

EU-India Relations For over 50 years the EU and India have worked together to reduce poverty, prevent disasters, expand trade, and promote joint research in energy, health, agriculture and many other fields of mutual interest.

At the most recent meeting of leaders at the EU India Summit in Brussels last March, attended by European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Clade Juncker and Prime Minister Modi both sides agreed to step up cooperation in security matters, trade and investment, research and sustainable development. An ambitious India EU Water Partnership was signed in October 2016.

More information at: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/india

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Delegation of the European Union to India5/5 Shanti Niketan, New Delhi 110 021, INDIAEmail: delegation-india-env@eeas.europa.euTel. +91 11 6678 1919 / Fax +91 11 6678 1955Website: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/india