RT Journal Article
T1 Easier Said Than Done? The Establishment of Baseline Groundwater Conditions for the Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Spain
A1 De Stefano, Lucia
A1 Martínez Santos, Pedro
A1 Villarroya Gil, Fermín Ignacio
A1 Chico, Daniel
A1 Martínez-Cortina, Luis
AB The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires EU countries to achieve good status of all their waters by 2015. This should be achieved through the implementation of river basin management plans (RBMPs), which in turn are based on water resources baseline data. While it is too soon to assess the WFD effectiveness, the lanning process has contributed to identify possible pitfalls of the WFD design and has provided an opportunity to enhance the knowledge of European water resources. Groundwater plays a strategic role in Spain’s economy and also in the maintenance of its aquatic ecosystems, making that country an excellent testing ground for getting an insight into the definition of baseline groundwater under the WFD mandate. This paper presents the results of compiling the information produced for the RBMPs to attain an overall picture at anational scale. In doing so, it examines some of the methodological and technical choices involved in the definition of a baseline for groundwater, assessing their practical consequences on groundwater management. This paper argues that having baseline figures for the RBMPs required compromises or shortcuts to be taken. Undoubtedly, the process leading to the first WFD Plans has been an extremely enriching learning process, but it leaves questions unanswered. The periodic (6 year) RBMP revision should become an opportunity to revisit and better tune the baseline conditions established during this first planning cycle.
PB European Water Resources Association (EWRA) / Springer
SN SN: 0920-4741 (print version) ; ISSN: 1573-1650 (electronic version)
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/35559
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/35559
LA eng
NO Fundación Botín
NO IGME
DS Docta Complutense
RD 15 sept 2024