Full Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education, Issue ...

82Barreiraand ground water. To this end, the directive obligesmember states to prevent further deteriorationand to enhance and restore the status of aquaticecosystems. The most important result of itsimplementation will be the achievement of the goodstatus of waters by 2015. This goal is translatedinto environmental objectives for surface waters(good ecological and chemical status), groundwater (good quantitative and chemical status) andto protected areas (compliance with standardsand objectives specified in community legislationestablishing those areas). The environmentalobjectives are to be achieved with the developmentand implementation of river basin managementplans and of programs of measures. It alsoprovides specific obligations on active and realpublic participation in the preparation, review. andupdating of the river basin management plans formember states. In accordance with some initiativesto give specific weight to economic instrumentsin environmental policy, the Water FrameworkDirective fosters the use of water-pricing policiesto motivate its sustainable use and recover the costof water services 10 . Table 1 shows the key elementsof the Water Framework Directive.The Environmental ObjectiveThe environmental objectives that insist onthe achievement of a good and non-deterioratingstatus for all bodies of waters (surface and groundwater) are legally binding. There are a number ofobjectives for protecting water quality. The keyones at the European level are general protectionof aquatic ecology, specific protection of uniqueand valuable habitats, protection of drinking waterresources, and protection of bathing water. Allthese objectives must be integrated for each riverbasin. It is clear that the last three—special habitats,drinking water areas and bathing water—applyonly to specific bodies of water (those supportingspecial wetlands; those identified for drinkingwater abstraction; and those generally used asbathing areas). In contrast, ecological protectionshould apply to all waters: the central requirementof the treaty is that the environment in its entiretybe protected to a high level.For surface waters, good status is determined bya good ecological and chemical status. The ecologicalstatus is determined by biological, hydro-morphologicaland physico-chemical quality elements.The chemical status requires the reduction of thepresence of priority substances and the eliminationof priority hazardous substances by 22 December2020. In the case of bodies of water designated asartificial and heavily modified, member states shallprevent deterioration and shall protect and enhancethem with the aim of achieving good ecologicalpotential and good surface water chemical statusby December 2015.For ground water, good status is determinedby its quantitative status and its chemical status.Nevertheless, Article 4 of the Water FrameworkDirective also provides for certain exceptions tothe binding environmental objectives when all theconditions that it specifies are met (see Table 2).One of the innovations of the directive is that itprovides a framework for integrated managementof ground and surface water for the first time at theEuropean level.Institutional Structure: River BasinAuthorities and PlansOne of the important concepts of the WaterFramework Directive is the organization andregulation of water management at the levelof river basins, taking into account the naturalgeographical and hydrological unit, instead ofusing administrative or political boundaries. Tothis effect, river basin districts are the managementunits comprising the area of land and sea, made upTable 1. Key Elements of the European Water Framework Directive.••••••protecting all waters, surface and ground waters in a holistic waygood quality (“good status”) to be achieved by 2015integrated water management based on river basinscombined approach of emission controls and water quality standards, plus phasing out of particularlyhazardous substanceseconomic instruments: economic analysis, and getting the prices right to promote prudent use of watergetting citizens and stakeholders involved: public participationUCOWRJOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY WATER RESEARCH & EDUCATION