Dietmar MÜLLER Federal Environment Agency Austria

1. WG C – GroundwaterActivity WGC-3Integrated Risk Assessment and Management Dietmar MÜLLERFederal Environment Agency Austria

2. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Outline of the Presentation • Objectives • Topics to be addressed • Planning of activities

3. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)OBJECTIVES • Improved & Integrated Risk Assessment for Groundwater at River Basin Level • completing the characterisation under Art. 5 of the WFD • supporting the preparation of the 1st River Basin Management Plans

4. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)OBJECTIVES • Gathering and exchanging knowledge to issue recommendations on how to improve groundwater risk assessment including • harmonisation of conceptual modelling • databases, mapping (e.g. vulnerability, hydrogeology) and visualisation of subsurface processes • Exchanges of good management practices (e.g. artificial recharge, transboundary aquifer management) in order to develop technical recommendations supporting the implementation of the new GWD (Art. 6!)

5. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-activities • Integrated Risk Assessment and Management (general) • Groundwater quantitative management in the Mediterranean

6. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-activity 1 MODULES • IRAM: Risk assessment (characterisation) and management • Contacts: to be defined • Conceptual modelling (including databases, mapping & visualisation) • Contacts: to be defined • GWD Art. 6 (prevent or limit) • Contacts: to be defined

7. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-act. 1/1 (IRAM) Envisaged: recommendations • review technical report on GW risk assessment as discussed at the WG C Workshop, January 2004 • new scientific and practical approaches since 2004 • review of Art. 5 reports • update and synthesis Working Mode: to be defined (cooperation to RISKBASE) Timeframe: • pending – to be defined • draft recommendations: March 2008

8. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-act. 1/2 (Conceptual Models) Envisaged: recommendations • gathering knowledge on conceptual modelling, databases, mapping and visualisation if subsurface • synthesising a common framework and the necessary elements Working Mode: to be defined (cooperation by JRC) Timeframe: • pending – to be defined • draft report: March 2008

9. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-act. 1/3 (GWD Art. 6 P & L) Envisaged: technical recommendations • exchanges, collection and evaluation of good management practices • synthesis and development of new common approaches to support the implementation of GWD Art. 6 Working Mode: to be defined Timeframe: • pending – to be defined • draft report: March 2008

10. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-activity 2 MODULES IN COOPERATION TO/BY • Expert Network Water scarcity and droughts • Contacts: Giorgio Pineschi, Giuseppina Monacelli (IT) • Med EUWI WG Groundwater Management • Contacts: Spyros Tasoglou (GR), Sylvie Detoc (COM) • Med EUWI WG Shared basins • Contacts: Vangelis Constantianos (GWP-Med)

11. Mediterranean Groundwater WGSpecificities/Challenges • Role in the water economy of the countries of the Mediterranean (groundwater is often the main supply source & demand is expected to increase) • Coastal aquifers play a crucial role for economic activities, and also being prone to saline intrusion due to overexploitation. • Deep aquifers in some countries that have huge volumes of water but are non renewable. • Shared aquifers between countries in Balkans, Southern and South-eastern parts of the region. • conflicts between the different end-users of water (e.g., the tourism industry vs. agriculture) • lack of reliable and chronic data on groundwater conditions and trends (especially information on groundwater quality)

12. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-act. 2/1 (WS & D) Envisaged: Technical document including • Clarifications on the linkages between WS&D issues and groundwater management, in particular as regards the quantitative objective; • A list of potential measures to address WS&D and to be included in the Programme of Measures to achieve the quantitative objective; • Examples of good practises for measures implemented to achieve quantitative status, based on case studies. Working Mode: to be defined – based on MS contributions Timeframe: pending – to be defined

13. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-activity 2/2 (MED WG GW-M) Envisaged: Technical elements and recommendations for optimal groundwater exploitation and pollution control • collection of information on existing methodologies, practices and tools already used • Identification and evaluation of best practices and “success stories” for controlling exploitation and preventing/reducing pollution Working Mode: to be defined Timeframe: • 1st Meeting: 20.09.07, Lisbon (back-to-back to WGC) • 2nd Meeting: early 2008 (back-to-back to WGC) • First drafts of the report: March 2008

14. Activity WGC-3 (IRAM)Sub-act. 2/3 (MED WG Shared Basins) Envisaged: recommendations and best practices on shared groundwaters • Analysis of best practices • to promote common approaches and methodologies on shared water resource management Working Mode: to be defined Timeframe: • 1st Meeting: Autumn 07, (2nd week Beirut Water Week) • 2nd Meeting: first semester 2008 (to be defined) • First drafts of recommendations: March 2008

15. WG C Act. 3: What is next ? • Work Plan & Working Mode: comments, proposals • May 2007 • Identification of contact persons and contributing experts for the different modules • Work Plans for the different modules • June 2007 • Exchange and collection of information and data • July – December 2007 • 1st outline (contents) of reports/recommendations • October 2007 • (1st drafts of) reports/recommendations • (March 2008) …. JUNE 2008 !!!

16. 1st RISKBASE WP5 Workshop RISK MANAGEMENT VIENNA, JUNE 28th/29th, 2007

17. Objective is to develop:integrated, risk assessment-based management approaches enabling the prevention and/or reduction of the negative impacts caused by human activities on the soil-sediment-water-system • Deliverables: • overarching concept, generic approach and guiding principles to integrated risk based management of EU river basins • recommendations towards evolution and implementation of risk based management in national and community policies and towards implementation in management • proposal for the European research agenda related to risk based management.

18. Risk to what? • Ecosystem goods and services(provided by the soil-sediment-water-system) • Focus on resilience* of system • “working with nature” complementary to engineering and technical approaches • * resilience = reverse, but more positive, pro-active connotation of vulnerability • Further considerations on Risks? • Spatial scale(not dealing with site-specific risks but river basin level), Time scale & Uncertainties • Global and other changes (e.g. land-use) • Critical* ‘Source-Pathway-Receptor’ linkages under the above mentioned conditions*critical = beyond the limits of resilience

19. YOUR INPUT ! • WG C Act. 3 • Work Plan & Working Mode: comments, proposals • interest in cooperation • now and until 1.06.2007 • Contacts: • Philippe Quevauviller (Philippe.Quevauviller@ec.europa.eu) • Dietmar Müller (dietmar.mueller@umweltbundesamt.at) • RISKBASE WP5 Workshop (Vienna 28/29 June 2007) • Dietmar Müller (dietmar.mueller@umweltbundesamt.at)

20. WG C – GroundwaterActivity WGC-3Integrated Risk Assessment and Management THANK YOU !