DIRECTORATE-GENERAL
RESEARCH
Directorate I - Environment
RTD I.3 – Water Cycle, including Soil-related aspects
Brussels, 19th November 2003
Informal Water Directors’ Meeting of 24-25 November 2003 - Rome
Agenda Item 15: DG Research activities in support to Water Policies
Presented by the Commission
FP5 Clusters
At the end of the 5th Framework Programme, in order to better manage a portfolio of about 150 research projects – for an EU investment of about 250 M€ -, most of which producing outputs that potentially should be valuable for water policies, DG Research established a series of project clusters with the objective, among others, to simplify the interface with decision makers, regulators and other stakeholders involved in policy development and implementation.
The major clusters established up to now are the following, related to the main water policy areas:
WATER FRAMEWORK Directive (also Municipal Wastewater and Nitrate Directives):
1. CATCHMOD (CATCHment MODelling)
This cluster is dedicated to Integrated Catchment Modelling, and its core group is constituted by 10 projects co-ordinated by the concerted action HarmoniCA. The cluster deals with the harmonisation of catchment modelling tools, with the objective to prepare and assist the technical capability for planning and management of river basins under the Water Framework Directive. Other on-going projects which deal with integrated management issues (i.e. EUROCAT, DANUBS, SWURVE, etc.), will be linked to CATCHMOD as well. The impact of river basins on the coastal zones is addressed by the correlated ELOISE cluster, grouping other 35 projects. The management of transboundary waters is addressed by the MANTRA-EAST and the TRANSCAT projects. The contact person is the co-ordinator of HarmoniCA, Dr. Geo Arnold of RIZA (NL). See at www.harmoni-ca.info
2. WFD-EQA (Water Framework Directive Ecological Quality Assessment)
This cluster puts together the projects STAR and FAME, but is also linked to the concluded projects AQEM, PAEQANN, ECOFRAME, EUROLAKES, etc.. The objective of this cluster is to produce the standard methodologies for the assessment of the ecological quality of European water bodies as required for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, and criteria for the definition of reference conditions. This group of projects has close relationships to the REFCOND Working Group instituted in the framework of the process of the implementation strategy for the Water Framework Directive. It is co-ordinated by the co-ordinator of STAR, Dr. Michael Furse at the NERC-Centre of Ecology and Hydrology(UK). See also at http://www.eu-star.at/
3. Chemical Quality (Ecotoxicological aspects of chemical water pollution)
This informal cluster groups a number of projects dealing with mixtures of pollutants (BEAM), heavy metal pollution (BIOSPEC), pollution impact in heavily modified water bodies (CITYFISH), and the Centre of Excellence on chemical pollution RECETOX.
4. ARID (Management of water in ARID areas)
This cluster provides co-ordination among three projects which deal with the management of water in arid conditions. The contact person is Dr. Phoebe Koundouri at London University (UK). See also at http://arid.chemeng.ntua.gr/
5. CITY-NET (Integrated Urban Water Management)
The cluster is being constituted among a group of projects dealing with urban water management, particularly dealing with the management of complex water and sewage grids, the management of stormwater, the integrated management of water, in order to reduce the impact of combined sewer overflows and other subjects related to urban water management. The contact person is Prof. W. Schilling at Trondheim University (NO). See also at http://www2.unife.it/care-w/citynet1.html
DRINKING WATER Directive
1. CLUED'EAU (EC Drinking water cluster)
The core of the cluster is based on four projects and it is focused on the quality of drinking water in EU. The cluster is co-ordinated by the concerted action WE KNOW, co-ordinator Dr. Theo Noij of KIWA (NL). The objective of the cluster is to act as a common entry/information point for EU drinking water research by establishing a European network. The cluster is organising workshops on selected topics and contributes for the determination of priorities, policy aspects (e.g. the revision of the DW Directive) and standardisation in the field of drinking water. See also at http://www.weknow-waternetwork.com
IPPC Directive:
1. PA-TAN-TEX
This cluster puts together a group of projects dealing with clean technologies, water saving, water recycling and end-of-pipe advanced technologies in paper mills, tanneries and textile industries. These three categories of industries are different but work with similar components and processes. The objective is to obtain a cross-fertilisation through the exchange of information on best practices and experiences that may lead to new applications of technologies developed for other sectors, and to contribute to the development/implementation of BREFs within the IPPC Directive. See also at http://www.patantex.net/
SOIL THEMATIC STRATEGY:
1. SENSPOL (Sensors for monitoring water pollution from contaminated land, landfills and sediments)
This thematic network is actively performing a clustering activity among a large group of projects related to the monitoring and remediation of contaminated sites. It regularly organises workshops inviting all EU-funded projects dealing with the subject to present preliminary or final results. It is co-ordinated by Dr. Susan Alcock of Cranfield University (UK). See also at http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/biotech/senspol.htm
2. IMAGE-TRAIN – EUGRIS – SOWA and JOINT
This accompanying measures have the scope of clustering several projects dealing with contaminated sites, groundwater pollution and remediation, risk-assessment, etc., through workshops, training courses and an internet-based portal (EUGRIS). See also at http://www.eugris.org/
3. SEDNET (European Sediment Research Network)
This thematic network is providing a platform where organisations responsible for the sustainable management of river basin/fresh water body related sediments and dredged material can meet and communicate with organisations, which help to provide solutions. It is providing a clustering activity towards all EU and national projects dealing with the subject. It is co-ordinated by Dr. Jos Brils of TNO (NL). See also at http://www.mep.tno.nl/SedNet/
COMMUNITY ACTIONS in relation to FLOOD EVENTS:
1. ACTIF (FLOOD forecasting)
This cluster will group together eight projects on flood forecasting which belong to the Water Key Action and to the generic activities on flood control. It is co-ordinated by Paul Samuels of HR-Wallingford (UK). See also at http://www.actif-ec.net/
DAUGHTER DIRECTIVE on WATER CHEMICAL QUALITY:
1. CREDO (endocrine disrupters)
Constituted after the conclusion of the joint call between the Environment and the Quality of Life programmes, it is constituted by a group of projects representing an investment of about 35 M€. It is the centre of co-ordination and synthesis of European environment and human health research on endocrine disrupters. The cluster co-ordinator is Andreas Kortenkamp at the University of London (UK). See also at http://www.credocluster.info/intro.html
2. PHARMA (Residues of PHARMAceuticals in freshwater bodies and in soil)
This cluster groups together four projects on the assessment of the risk and the remedies to face with the increasing presence in surface and groundwaters of residues of veterinary medicines, human medicines and personal care products. The contact person is the co-ordinator of POSEIDON, Dr. Thomas Ternes of BfG, Koblenz (DE). See also at http://www.eu-poseidon.com
FP5 – Ongoing projects
Several ongoing FP5 projects are now coming to their final stage or have recently finished (FIRMA, GOUVERNE, BASELINE, W-SAHARA, AQEM, INCA, EMERGE, PAEQANN, ECOFRAME, EUROLAKES, EVALUWET, BEAM, etc…). The results and ideas coming from these projects will provide great benefits for carrying forward the EU’s policies on water and for implementing the Water Framework Directive.
Preliminary results have been already published in scientific papers and there are available in the various project web sites. For this purpose we are preparing a specific section at the Library service of our Circa web site: FP5-Project results.
http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/rtd/eesdwatkeact/library?l=/projects_information&vm=detailed&sb=Title
So far 65 executive summary reports, intermediate or final, have been uploaded and are publicly available for consultation.
In addition, these results have been widely disseminated to various stakeholders. This is very promising in view of the optimum use of the project results by the end-users.
Research results from several ongoing projects have been already used in various reports prepared in the context of the WFD implementation’s working groups (i.e. flood and wetlands documents). In addition, some dedicated workshops have been co-organised with our colleagues in DG ENV in the context of the preparation of the GWD. These workshops gave the opportunity to various project consortia to discuss the technical provisions of the proposed GWD and highlight the implications of their results.
Within the context of CATCHMOD activities a technical workshop was organised on 16-17 September 2003 in Amsterdam, allowing common issues to be discussed amongst European and non-European experts on catchment modelling. The workshop has got very promising results and has shown the huge potential behind the CATCHMOD cluster to deliver useful guidelines and standardised procedures for river basin planning and management purposes.
A conference to establish a firm link between the Implementation of Water Framework Directive and the research community on river basin planning tools is scheduled for the 18-19th February in Brussels.
These activities are a very good opportunity to discuss and synthesise work from ongoing projects and therefore the participation of Water Directors and/or their representatives will be very important and welcomed. Both events were and are organised by the Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment/RIZA (NL).
The Water and Soil Times newsletter is edited and diffused by DG Research every two months. It contains updates on EU research results and provides numerous links with projects, events and European calls for proposals. For subscription, see the site http://europa.eu.int/comm/coreservices/mailing/index.cfm?serviceid=1187
Newsletters have been also produced by several projects giving short information on research news and reports from meetings and announcing conferences and workshops. A recent newsletter on the Human Dimension of Water Management should be mentioned. The newsletter links expertise and competence from several ongoing FP5 projects on a wide range of fields comprising sociology, economics, psychology, political sciences or participatory integrated assessment and others. Managers and scientists is the main target of this newsletter. In fact, water managers will receive insights into research and its potential applications. On the other hand scientists from similar fields will find references to current publications and latest research results which will facilitate the integration of human dimension aspects into water resources management projects.
This is a non-exhaustive list of the currently available newsletters published by EC-funded projects on water issues:
Human Dimension in Water Mgmt: http://www.harmonicop.info/newsletter.php
ELOISE – Land-Ocean Interaction: http://www.nilu.no/projects/eloise/
Arid areas: http://environ.chemeng.ntua.gr/wsm/Newsletters/Issue3/Editorial_03.htm
Nitrate and Phosphorus: http://euroharp.org/news/newsletter/newsletter001.htm
Endocrine Disruptors: http://www.credocluster.info/resources.html#
Drinking Water: http://www.weknow-waternetwork.com/publish/cat_index_12.shtml
Transboundary Water Management: http://www.mantraeast.org/newsletter.php
http://transcat.isq.pt/transcatenews01.pdf
Contaminated sites, soil remediation, etc.: http://www.nicole.org/
Sediments and dredging materials: http://www.sednet.org/newsletter.asp
Monitoring: http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/biotech/senspol/senspol_newsletter.htm
Combined Sewer Overflows: http://www.tu-dresden.de/CD4WC/home/home.php
Stormwater management: http://www.daywater.org/
Regarding the integrated management of transboundary river basins, with particular reference to the Accession Countries and the future outer border of the European Community with Russia, the MANTRA-EAST project has recently finalised the manuscript for a book on practical methodologies to be applied, with an expected publication date in winter 2003/04.
The 1st WE KNOW European Drinking Water Conference was recently hold in Kuopio (FI); it was the occasion for the presentation of e series of position papers produced within the CLUED’EAU cluster that were used by DG ENV as basis for discussion papers that were then later discussed in Brussels within a workshop on the revision of the Drinking Water Directive.
Concurrently with the Rome informal Water Directors meeting, a workshop is being hold in Bologna on flood forecasting, organized within the ACTIF cluster.
The functioning and the management of the water-soil system at river basin scale will be the subject of the EU-workshop that will be held in Orleans from 26th to 28th November, jointly organized by the JOINT and IMAGE-TRAIN projects and collecting experiences from about 20 running or concluded EU projects, that have the scope of synthesising outputs that should be useful for the soil thematic strategy.
FP6 – State of play
The 6th Framework Programme (FP6) for Research and Technological Development (2002-2006) conducted by the DG RTD includes two main priorities that integrate research in support of water policies, namely the Priority 6.3 ‘Global change and ecosystems’ and the so-called Priority 8 ‘Scientific Support to Policy’. While the priority 6.3 opens the possibility to fund research projects dealing with policy in general, the priority 8 has been designed to respond to direct policy needs expressed by various General Directorates. In this context, specific topics are identified and terms of reference are drafted by responsible services for publication in targeted calls for proposal (generally launched twice a year).
Research Priority 6
The first call for proposals in priority 6 was closed in April 2003. Within this call, three topics for the new very large instruments introduced by FP6 (Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence) were particularly relevant for the WFD:
II.2.1.a) Assessment of ecological impacts of global change on freshwater bodies, development of ecological indicators of ecosystem health and related remediation strategies. On this subject, the 5-y Integrated Project EURO-LIMPACS has been selected and is going to be contracted. It is co-ordinated by Simon Patrick of University College London (UK). This Integrated Project will explore areas of interest for several EU water policies, mainly the WFD and the Nitrate Directive.
II.2.2.a) River-soil-groundwater system functioning. On this subject, the 5-y Integrated Project AQUATERRA has been selected and is going to be contracted. It is co-ordinated by Peter Grathwohl of the University of Tübingen (DE). Within its activity, it may produce relevant inputs for the Groundwater Directive and for the development of the Soil Thematic Strategy.
IV.2.a) Integrated Flood-Risk Management Methodologies. On this subject, the 5-y Integrated Project FLOODsite has been selected and is going to be contracted. It is co-ordinated by Paul Samuels of HR Wallingford (UK). This Integrated Project, also coupled with the third call (2004) research topic on floods and droughts, may provide the scientific reference for all European political and operational actions on floods.
In addition to the above topics, proposal for smaller and shorter-term projects were also submitted in priority 6 in topics related to “Twinning European/third countries river basins”. Following the evaluation, 4 selected projects are intended to establish partnerships between river basins in Europe, in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union and in Africa to mutually improve the quality of their water management, in support to the EU Water Initiative.