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In This Issue
Blueprint to preserve EU waters
3rd EP water intergroup
Water efficiency
News
Thematic Workshop: Flash Floods and Pluvial Flooding
IFAT ENTSORGA 2010
Earth Day
Publications
A low carbon water industry
XEROCHORE
Water footprint manual
Calendar of events
26-28 April 2010
Conference on Integrated River Basin Management under the Water Framework Directive
10th
– 11th
May 2010
European Conference
Sharing the Costs for Sustainable Water Management
Berlin
, Germany
(
more
)
26-27 May 2010
SAWA Mid-Term-Conference
Göteborg
, Sweden
(
more
)
26-28th May 2010
Thematic Workshop: Flash Floods and Pluvial Flooding
Cagliari, Italy (
more
)
2-4 June 2010
IWA Specialist Conference “Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants in Towns and Communities of the XXI Century: Technologies, Design and Operation”
(
more
)
Moscow, Russia
2 – 4 June 2010
7th
IWA Leading Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies
Phoenix (Arizona), USA (
more
)
3-5 June 2010
Save Energy, Save Water, Save the Planet – International Conference and Exhibition
Sofia, Bulgaria (
more
)
14-18 June 2010
21st
International specialized course OPERATION AND CONTROL OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESSES USING MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS
Perugia Italy (
more
)
13 – 17 September
IFAT ENTSORGA
16th
International Trade Fair for Water – Sewage – Refuse – Recycling
Munich, Germany
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Policy agenda
27-28 April 2010
Meeting of the WFD working group Floods
Brussels, Belgium
5 May 2010
4th
meeting of the EP intergroup on water
Brussels, Belgium
5-6 May 2010
Meeting of the WFD Strategic Coordination Group
Brussels, Belgium
20-21 May 2010
Meeting of the WFD working group C “groundwater”
Madrid, Spain
26-28 May 2010
CIS thematic workshop on pluvial and flash floods
Cagliari, Italy
27-28 May 2010
Water Directors meeting
Segovia, Spain
23 June 2010
5th
meeting of the EP intergroup on water
Brussels, Belgium
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Dear reader
,
With the receipt of this monthly letter you will not only be well informed about the different activities and initiatives of the EWA, but also of the new events organised by our association. We will also be providing you with interesting inside news directly from the EU capital Brussels
, from the European Commission and the European institutions. The EWA newsletter also gives a good insight into the EWA member associations, into their activities and aims.
We hope that you will agree that the EWA newsletter provides expertise information and therefore proves to be of interesting reading, so that you might want to recommend it further to other water professionals and experts.
The EWA newsletter service is provided monthly and is free of charge.
CAP reform
At the 3rd forum on the future of Agriculture (Brussels, 16 March 2010) Commissioner Janez Potocnih presented the views of DG ENV on the upcoming CAP reform. He outlined the role of agriculture in maintaining half of the EU territory and made a vibrant plea for integrating environmental and agricultural policies. He stressed in particular that environmental issues such as water, soil and biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation are to be recognized as key tasks for land use. To learn more about the CAP reform visit the link:
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capreform/index_en.htm
Barcelona
Ministerial conference
The IV Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Water was held in Barcelona, Spain on 13 April 2010. In this Conference, following the agreements achieved in the Ministerial Conference of Jordan in 2008, the adoption of a "Long-Term Strategy for Water in the Mediterranean" was discussed. In addition, this event provided an excellent opportunity to facilitate the dialogue among Water Administrations and discussrd solution to common hydrological problems in the region, such as the linked effects to climate change or extreme phenomena, such as droughts and floods. (
more
)
On March 15 2010, the Environment Council adopted conclusions on the on the conclusion of post 2010 biodiversity strategy but failed to clarify a way forward on the adoption of a soil directive: Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Malta continue to form a blocking minority in the Council on the grounds of respecting the principles of subsidiarity (i.e. soil being not a cross border issues) and proportionality over its expected cost (to be compared with the costs of non action) and administrative burden.
In April 2010, the EC Commission launched the 3rd
call for proposals under CIP eco-innovation program. This is especially targeted at SMEs willing to market new products or services in order to turn environmental challenges into business opportunities. Four priorities have been set up: material recycling / sustainable building products / food and drink sector / green business (i.e. smart purchase). Deadline is on 9 September 2010 (
more
).
The preparation of the Blueprint strategy will keep EU water actors busy until 2012. More details are available on the work ahead.
-
The assessment of the River Basin Management Plans will require huge efforts. 170 basins will have to be scrutinized according to a already defined set of criteria. It was made clear that the assessment is about the WFD implementation. Any consideration to revise the directive itself is out of scope.
-
As it concerns the Water Scarcity and Drought policy review, the gap analysis is to begin in autumn 2010. Some building blocks have been already identified: water efficiency (supply infrastructure, building, agriculture), better planning (integration WS&D in RBMP, drought risks management, land-use), European Drought Observatory / JRC, alternative sources of supply, water footprint of products, ecolabel, green procurement, etc.
-
In order to support activities on climate change adapation, the EC Commission has contracted assistance to assess the EU vulnerability to impacts of climate change on water and to survey adaptation measures to be either promoted or prevented at EU level. The assessment framework is to be finalized in June 2010 while reference scenarios are expected in October 2010
3rd EP water intergroup – focus on water scarcity
Water scarcity was the major focus of the 3rd
EP water intergroup meeting that took place on April 2010. EUREAU presented the views of the water services operators (i.e. demand management, losses prevention) and the Spanish Presidency explained how this is dealt with throughout the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (i.e. infrastructure planning and pricing policies). Water scarcity is mostly a regional issue but concerns are not only Mediterranean. Central Europe will also be affected (cf. Hungary) as well as Northern densely populated areas. Finally DG Environment expressed views that quantitative water management should receive new attention because of significant room for improvement in water efficiency and of the need to better balance supply and demand in order to ensure long-term quality. Other sectors of the policies must get involved. First of all is agriculture.
Water efficiency
Taking as example the existing legislation on energy consumption in built environment, the EC Commission intends table a proposal for a new regulation on water efficiency. This is pretty much in line with a DG ENV study in 2007 that concluded on a 40% saving potential of water use across the EU through better technology. Up to some extent, some consideration could be given to rain water use and treated waste water reuse.
The environmental trade fair, IFAT ENTSORGA, the 16th International Trade Fair for Water – Sewage – Refuse – Recycling, will take place from 13 to 17 September in 2010.
It is the world’s most important trade fair for innovations and new developments in the fields of water, sewage, refuse and recycling. The event offers an attractive exhibition programme featuring state-of-the-art technology and a broad range of professional services for water, sewage and refuse management.
The European Water Association will organise a one-and-a-half-days International Symposium “Sustainable Wastewater Management New Strategies, Technologies and Innovative Solutions” (14-15 September 2010) (
more
)
If you are interested to present a poster during the symposium, please do not hesitate to
contact us
.
Thematic Workshop: Flash Floods and Pluvial Flooding
The Working Group F on Floods
(WG F) of the European Commission, under the umbrella of the Common Implementation Strategy
of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD – CIS) and its working programme
, has planned the organization of single thematic workshops on specific issues regarding the implementation of the Floods Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks.
In this framework, ISPRA in co-operation with the Commission, the Italian Ministry for the Environment and the Protection of Land and Sea (MATTM) and the Sardinia Region is organizing in Cagliari a workshop on “Flash Floods and Pluvial Flooding
” programmed for 26–28 May 2010.Participation in the workshop is limited to the members of WG F “Floods” of WFD-CIS and/or their delegates and is subject to confirmation from the organisation committee after registration
For more information:
http://www.isprambiente.it/site/en-GB/Archive/Events/Documents/flash_floods.html
Earth
Day – 22nd April 2010 – 40 years celebration
The Earth Day was celebrated for the first time on 22 April 1970 and it was founded by the U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson. The day is devoted to inspire the environmental protection and to provoke awareness of the greatest perils the Earth is facing.
The Earth day is celebrated not only by environmentalists, but also by artists, music and film makers, children and politicians in all parts of the world. More than 200 countries joined the celebration with different initiatives. It is expected that more than 500 million people across the globe join the celebrations.
Groundwater report COM (2010) 1096
According to Article 3.5 of the new Groundwater Directive, groundwater quality standards (called "threshold values") were established by Member States by the end of 2008. The Commission has prepared a report and a Commission staff working document on the establishment of these national standards that is a first important step of the implementation of the Directive. (
more
)
WISE
On World
Water Day, 22 March, the European Environment Agency (EEA) is enriching the information on the web-based Water Information System for Europe (WISE) with two new sets of data on urban waste water and pollutant releases. (
more
)
Pharmaceuticals in the environment
A decade ago, the EEA and others first drew attention to the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals. Since then awareness has increased and research projects funded by the EU and others have expanded understanding of the use, exposure, fate, accumulation and impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment. To help assess and disseminate the research findings to date, the EEA organised an expert workshop in January 2009. The workshop's conclusions, set out in the present report, highlight the need for action to improve further our understanding and management of risks. (
more
)
EEA Signals 2010 - Biodiversity, climate change and you
The European Environment Agency (EEA) publishes Signals each year, providing snapshot stories on issues of interest to the environmental policy debate and the wider public in the coming year. (
more
)
Soil biodiversity: functions, threats and tools for policy makers
On February 2010, DG Environment made public the above report it contracted to Bio-Intelligence, IRD, NIOO (
more
)
New translation in English: Guidelines of Integrated Urban Drainage (IUD)
December 2006, 40 pages, DIN A4
ISBN 978-3-941089-71-6 *€ 41,00
As a framework of action concerning the detailed regulations for urban drainage, the given Standard
"Guidelines of Integrated Urban Drainage" is intended to
• ensure comprehensive processing as "integrated urban drainage";
• contribute to sustainable wastewater disposal;
• enable the superior aim of reducing the interferences that result from urban drainage for the natural
habitat of water bodies and other uses of water bodies;
• work towards a holistic view of the existing conditions and future developments and necessities for the
purpose of the European Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy);
• help to define aims, strategies and priorities for future measures involving urban drainage;
• support operators in developing a stable foundation for financial budgeting and in securing the drain
and sewer systems' long-term maintenance of value.
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