European water management 'facing more challenges'

Water management throughout Europe is facing more and more challenges as ecosystems get weaker.

This is the message conveyed by new research from the European Environment Agency (EEA), which were published during the course of 2012 and early 2013.

Jacqueline McGlade, EEA executive director, said that the farming, planning, energy and transport sectors need to actively look at managing water, taking into account sustainable limits.

A recent report entitled 'European waters - current status and future challenges' showed a mixed picture for the status of Europe's water bodies, and the EEA noted that these findings are worrying when it comes to ecosystems' ability to deliver essential services.

The organisation noted that strong ecosystems need to be maintained in order for them to provide these services.

For instance, while restoring a wetland is great for biodiversity, it also benefits water filtration, water retention and flood prevention. Despite this, these services are not taken into account when it comes to government's financial or economic systems.

Ms McGlade commented: “Water is finite, and cannot continue to absorb limitless amounts of pollution without damaging the resources and ecosystems we rely on.

“Farmers, planners and companies need to cooperate more, to make sure that the combined pressures on ecosystems do not pass harmful limits.”

Furthermore, according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD), it was found that ecosystems are declining, with less than half of Europe's surface water bodies likely to hold good ecological status by 2015.

In order to avoid this prediction becoming a reality, water bodies must cut nutrient pollution and restore more natural features.

Ecosystems are being damaged by the modification of water bodies, it was found, with artificial alternations like dams or reservoirs potentially preventing plants and animals from migrating or reproducing.

It was found that 63 per cent of lakes and river habitats in the EU have an unfavourable conservation status, according to the experts, leading to these harmful modifications.

Posted by Joseph Hutton