Akey requirement of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the preservation or restoration of the good status of all water bodies by the year 2015. This law is a revolutionary step worldwide, but at the same time marks the smallest common denominator upon which member states and interest groups managed to agree. The EU leaves it up to the member states how they adopt the Directive into national legislation. There is also considerable interpretation leeway as to how the English term “river basin management” in the WFD should be translated into the different languages. And the WFD does not say anything about when the water body to be restored had its natural condition – was it prior to industrialisation, or even before the last Ice Age?
The WFD at least provides some clarity on the development of transnational (as in the case of the Danube) and national river basin management plans to be submitted to the EU. Key components in this respect are the involvement of stakeholders, the polluter pays principle and the cost transparency to be achieved in water management.
No answer is provided as to which size the individual river basin management units should have, who will be in charge of management, and how stakeholders should be involved. Unlike Germany, Austria favours a top-down approach of river basin management. The Water Framework Directive and its implementation are therefore work in progress and provide ample opportunities for learning by doing. One thing is certain: the development of large river basin management plans alone will not suffice to meet the requirements set out in the Water Framework Directive.
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(Source: aqua press Int. 4/2009, Mag. Christof Hahn)
