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Welcome to WISE - Freshwater
Resources
This WISE Freshwater section is offering several data (derived) products, such as dashboards, interactive maps and layers, which present or are used as basis for assessing the status of freshwater resources. In most of the case the sources are databases storing data and information reported by Member States under legislative reporting obligations and managed by the Reportnet infrastructure .
Europe’s Freshwater
This section introduces to specific assessments, following the same structure and order of the other WISE Freshwater sections, the content is organised by main legislative framework (which is structured according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD), and its daughter Directives.
Policy and Reporting
The section of the portal is presenting an overview of the current environmental policies related to freshwater topics, the European policy agenda for the upcoming years and he EU Water policies contributing to the international context.
Countries
The country profile pages aim to showcase selected environmental data, reported by Countries, under different European legal instruments contributing to the protection of freshwaters or national laws, implementing these policies. Statistics at Country level, usually calculated under the coordination of the European Environment Agency, could also be included to complement the overview of freshwaters’ status and of the policies’ implementation.
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Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive
The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) requires Member States to ensure that urban areas collect and treat waste water which would otherwise pollute rivers, lakes and seas. By doing so, urban waste water treatment (UWWT) plays a key role in supporting the EU towards the zero pollution ambition set out in the European Green Deal, protecting human health and aquatic ecosystems. UWWT also has an important role to play in the circular economy, enabling the reuse of treated waste water and sewage sludge, the production of renewable energy, and the recycling of nutrients. The importance of access to clean water and sanitation is embedded in Goal 6 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals . Supplying clean water and collecting waste water has required huge investment across Europe in recent decades.
Floods Directive
Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) on the assessment and management of flood risks requires Member States to assess if all water courses and coast lines are at risk from flooding, to map the flood extent and assets and humans at risk in these areas and to take adequate and coordinated measures to reduce this flood risk.
WISE Freshwater
Water resources of Europe
On average, Europe has plenty of water to meet its needs, but large differences in climate makes water much less abundant in southern than in northern Europe. Our changing climate is likely to make the differences more extreme.
Environmental legislations
This section presents an overview of the European water related policies, focusing on their main scope and reporting process. It introduces the state of European freshwater section, where the outcomes - when possible - of the policies’ assessments are described.
Rivers and their floodplains
Floodplains are a very important part of the river system because when in their natural state they deliver multiple important ecosystem services and offer protection in a changing climate. Today, they are, however, widely environmentally degraded.
Free-flowing rivers
Healthy free-flowing rivers allow free movement of water, sediment, fish and other organisms. However, for several decades, human interventions have disrupted river connectivity and degraded river ecosystem functioning. In Europe, very few free-flowing rivers remain.
Hydromorphology
Natural hydromorphology refers to the hydrological, morphological and river continuity conditions of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters in undisturbed state. Natural hydromorphology is crucial for the good functioning of the aquatic environment. The restoration of aquatic ecosystems largely depends on restoring hydromorphological conditions to a more natural state.
Content from SWMI
Nature based solutions and NWRM
Alternative water supply
Freshwater themes
On this page, you will find a variety of popular water related themes and topics of your interest. The pages are updated from time to time so we invite you to explore them. They will give you easy access to general, as well as more detailed information and provide you with references to further information.
Latest EU policy initiatives
Europe’s future depends on a healthy planet. Current climate and environmental-related challenges require an urgent and ambitious response. The EU has committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Reaching this objective will require a transformation of Europe’s society and economy, that will need to be cost-effective, just, and socially balanced.
Global Policies
In the international context, very relevant for water policies is the Sustainable Development Goal: ‘SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all‘.
Country profiles on urban waste water treatment
This section presents key data related to the implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) in Europe. Country profiles are available for each EU-27 Member State, as well as for Norway and Iceland. The European Union profile presents similar information, aggregated to EU-27 level.