water, an essential resource - european...

European Commission

L I F E I I I

Water, an essential resource

LIFE and the new European water policy

Name LIFE (“L'Instrument Financier pour l'Environnement” / The financing instrument for the environment)

Type of intervention co-financing of actions in favour of the environment in the Community, in the countries of central and eastern Europe that are applicants for accession to the European Union and in certain third countries.

LIFE is made up of three subject headings: “LIFE-Nature”, “LIFE-Environment” and “LIFE – Third countries”.

Objectives> with a view to sustainable development in the European Union, contribute to the drawing up,

implementation and up-dating of Community policy and legislation in the area of the environment;> explore new solutions to environmental problems on a Community scale.

Beneficiaries any natural or legal person, provided that the projects financed meet the following general criteria:> they match the priorities laid down at Community level and contribute to the objectives listed; > they are submitted by reliable participants from financial and technical points of view;> they can be carried out from the technical point of view, in terms of timetable and budget,

and offer a good cost-benefit ratio.

Types of project> Eligible for LIFE-Nature are nature conservation projects which contribute to maintaining or restoring natural habitats

and/or populations of species in a favourable state of conservation within the meaning of Directive 92/43/EEC.

> Eligible for LIFE-Environment are demonstration projects which bring environment-related and sustainable develop-ment considerations together in land management, which promote sustainable water and waste management or whichminimise the environmental impact of economic activities. Five areas of intervention are preferred: the management and enhancement of the territory, water management, the effect of economic activities, waste management, integrated product policy.

> Eligible for LIFE – Third countries are technical assistance projects which• Constitute a benefit for the Community, particularly on account of their contribution to the implementation of regional

and international policies and agreements; • Promote sustainable development at international, national or regional level; • Bring solutions to serious environmental problems in the region and the area concerned.

Implementation the Member States or third countries send the Commission the proposals of projects to be co-financed. The Commission sets the date for sending the proposals annually and reaches a decision on these. It monitors the financing and follow-up of the implementation of the LIFE actions. Accompanying measures enable the projects to be monitored on the ground and, in the case of LIFE-Nature, to encourage certain forms of cooperationbetween similar projects (“Co-op” measure).

Period of involvement 5 years (2000-2004).

Funds from the Community approximately 638 million EUR distributed as follows: 300 million EUR to LIFE-Nature, 300 million EUR to LIFE-Environment and 38 million EUR to LIFE – Third countries.

ContactEuropean Commission – Environment Directorate-GeneralLIFE Unit – BU-9 02/1 - 200 rue de la Loi - B-1049 Brussels – Fax: +32 2 296 95 56 Internet: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/life/home.htm

OFFICE FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONSOF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIESL-2985 Luxembourg

KH

-34-01-786-EN

-C14

A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002

ISBN 92-894-0538-4

© European Communities, 2002Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

Printed in Belgium

Printed on recycled paper

European Commission

LIFE Focus / Water, an essential resource - LIFE and the new European water policy

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities

2002 - 28 pp. - 21 x 28 cm

ISBN 92-894-0538-4

The two “Zaragoza Ciudad Ahor-radora de Agua” operations arepiloted by the Ecology and Devel-opment Foundation set up in 1992.

This joint technical assistance body isentirely dedicated to the cause of sus-tainable development, with activitiesbased on three objectives:

> to identify and put realistic ecolog-ical alternatives in place;

> to combine socially fair and eco-nomically viable development;

> to facilitate and enhance the syner-gies between public authorities,enterprises and civic society.

The Foundation has specialised inthree types of intervention:

> information and making decision-makers aware of the problems fac-ing the environment (the Founda-tion is a member of the EuropeanEnvironmental Bureau);

> the implementation of demonstra-tion projects (LIFE, ALTENER) andthe execution of local eco-audits;

> the setting up of ethical investmentfunds with companies quoted onthe stock market. A Spanish repre-sentative of the SiRi Group (“Sus-tainable Investment Research inter-national”, a pool of evaluationagencies present in 14 countries), laFundación Ecología y Desarrolloadvises investors wishing to turntowards enterprises which are“socially responsible” and environ-mentally-friendly.

With about twenty co-workers, Ecol-ogy and Development bases its activ-ities on five themes: water, waste,energy, the promotion of sociallyresponsible enterprises and coopera-tion with Latin America in environ-mental projects. Four employees arespecifically allocated to the water-sav-ing sector.

Its action in the area of water has ledthe Foundation to go on technicalassistance missions to various Span-ish authorities: the Catalan WaterAgency, the WWF-Adena (Madrid), theTown and Water Company of Vitoria(Basque country) and the Governmentof the Balearic islands.

La Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo iscurrently conducting a new LIFE-Envi-ronment awareness campaign inSaragossa designed on the samemodel as for water but involving col-lection, recycling and reusing paper.

LIFE Focus I Water, an essential resource I p. 25

The project sponsor: Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo

Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo Plaza de san Bruno, 9, 1º, E-50001 Zaragoza Tel.: +34 976 29 82 82 Fax: +34 976 20 30 92 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.ecodes.org

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Saragossa: Consumption of water per inhabitant(m3 / inhabitant per year)

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European CommissionEnvironment Directorate-General

LIFE Focus is the journal of LIFE III programme (2000-2004).

LIFE (“L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement” / The financing instrument for the Environment) is a programmelaunched by the European Commission and coordinated by the Environment Directorate-General (LIFE Unit - BU-9 02/1).

The content of LIFE Focus does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the institutions of the European Union.

Editorial Department: SOGES/AEIDL a/s Jean-Pierre Vercruysse – Managing Editor: Bruno Julien, European Commission,Environment DG, LIFE Unit - BU-9 02/1, 200 rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels – Journalism: Jean-Luc Janot – The followingpeople worked on this issue: Pierre Ergo, Jean-Pierre Vercruysse – Photos: Javier Belver, Chris Heymans, Christine Lekeu,LIFE project sponsors – Production coordinator: Christine Charlier – Graphic design: Kaligram – This issue of LIFE-EnvironmentFocus is published in 6 languages (German, English, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch) with a print-run of 16 000 copies.

LIFE, a guide to the new European water policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2

Water, always . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 8

A more ecological chemical enterprise . . . . . . . . . . p. 9

To prevent flooding and pollution at less cost . . . . . p. 10

Remote detection for coastal areas . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 11

Studying and protecting watercourses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 12

An environmental management plan for the natural Park of lake Engure . . . . . . . . . p. 13

Satellites to prevent oil slicks . . . . . . . . . . p. 14

Returning the river to the forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 16

Less iron in the water: restoration of a contaminated wetland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 18

Saragossa (Spain): the city that saves water . . p. 20

European water policy is going through considerable changes at present. The

adoption of the framework Directive on water provides a policy tool that enables

this essential resource to be protected in a sustainable way. The Sixth

Environment Action Programme (EAP) also provides for a number of measures for

the integral and appropriate implementation of the framework Directive on water,

but also other complementary policies: the nitrates Directive, the urban waste

water Directive, the bathing water Directive, inclusion of the protection of the

quality of water in agricultural and regional policies, etc.

But we are not resting on our laurels. The long-term protection of European water

requires constant and practical innovation efforts in order to identify appropriate

responses to very different environmental problems. This is where the LIFE pro-

gramme comes in, enabling, complementary to legislative measures, a series of

concrete actions to be taken in conserving natural environments or promoting

methods of sustainable water management.

Hundreds of projects concerning water have been carried out since 1992 under

the framework of the three headings of the LIFE programme. Sponsors of very

varied projects have thus explored innovative solutions for a great many environ-

mental problems. It is by assessing the results achieved in these projects that the

new series of publications LIFE FOCUS seeks to contribute to the development

of EU environmental policy, in particular on water, based on both legislation and

experimention aspect.

This first LIFE FOCUS publication presents numerous examples of projects deal-

ing with water, carried out under LIFE-Environment and of LIFE-Nature. The pres-

entation of projects, first-hand descriptions or reports from the field are intended

to show the reader that the protection of water is a matter for us all. This brochure

reflects the efforts of many players in the field, in all four corners of Europe, to find

solutions that will provide future generations with the water resources they need.


Patrick MurphyHead of Unit – Protection of Water,

the Marine and Soil, European

Commission, Environment

Directorate-General

Despite sometimes remarkable results(e.g. improvement in the quality ofinland waters, such as the Rhine andthe Danube), the management of theEuropean Union’s water resources isstill very critical:

> a quarter of Europe’s rivers are ofpoor or mediocre quality, whichhas a serious effect on aquaticecosystems;

> 20% of surface water is seriouslythreatened by pollution;

> ground water has been overex-ploited in nearly 60% of urbanand industrial centres;

> half of the wetlands in Europe alsosuffer from overexploitation, whichamong other things causes saltwater to enter the water table in anumber of coastal areas, seriouslyaffecting the soil and drinking water;

> for almost a quarter of the agri-cultural land in the Union, theavailable water contains concen-trations of nitrates above thenorms for drinking water. For alarge proportion (87%) of thiswater, the level exceeds the targetthreshold.

The three main users of water are agri-culture, industry and households.While efficiency in the consumption ofwater has improved noticeably inmany industries, progress in the effi-ciency of consumption of water foragricultural and domestic purposeshas been slow. Overall, the extractionand consumption of water resourcesin the European Union appear to beviable in the long term, but certainregions risk water shortages, particu-larly in southern Europe.

Whatever the case, the stakes arehigh: they run from problems of pub-lic health to long-term supply ofdrinking water, from the equilibrium ofecosystems, biodiversity and theconservation of the countryside totown and country planning. Morethan ever before, water is a delicateand extremely important naturalresource.

Reform of EU legislation was longawaited, all the more so because thepiecemeal development of instru-ments with a view to rational protec-tion and management of water hadled to a great deal of inconsistent leg-islation, with different, even contra-dictory, definitions, objectives andmethods.

LIFE, a guide to the new European water policyThe framework Directive on water provides the basis

for an integrated Community policy on water.

Though the projects it supports, LIFE contributes to its implementation,

as well as to the new sixth Environment Action Programme.

Overwhelmingly approved by theEuropean Parliament in June 2000and adopted jointly by Parlament andCouncil a few months later, the frame-work Directive on water1 reorgan-ised under one and the same legalsystem the thirty or so regulations andother previous legal instrumentsregarding water, creating the basis fora concrete EU water policy.

The new legislation represents a majorchallenge because its aim is the sus-tainable use of water resources inEurope and applies to all personsdirectly or indirectly involved in theuse and the management of waterresources, both in Member Statesand candidate countries.

The framework Directive relates to allwater resources other than marinewaters: surface water(watercourses,lakes, etc., groundwater, coastal andtransitional waters(semi-salt estuarywaters, for example). It also concernsrelation between river basins, eithernatural or artificial.

The framework Directive has setitself four groups of objectives:

> the protection of the environment;

> the supply of drinking water to thepopulation;

> the supply of water for other eco-nomic uses;

> the mitigation of the effects offloods and droughts.

These objectives are combine inspace and time in order to:

> prevent further degradation andimprove the quality of the ecosys-tems in their entirety;

> promote the sustainable use offresh water throught its protection;

> monitoring consistency with inter-national agreements on the pro-tection of continental and marinewaters.

One of the cornerstones of the frame-work Directive is the development ofintegrated management plans forriver basins, which will enable workto be carried out on the quality ofwater upstream and downstream, onthe basis of predefined territorialareas. The objective is achievement of“good water status” as definedunder the Directive for all the waterresources of the European Union by2015.

The Member States have a major roleto play in these processes: they willhave to identify “river basin districts”and for each apply a managementplan as well as a programme of meas-ures. In conformity with the “polluterpays” principle, they will have to inte-grate the environmental costs in theprice of water in order to use waterbetter and reduce pollution. To thisend, the Directive imposes a systemof water pricing depending on the use(domestic, industrial, agricultural).Each category of users has to pay anappropriate price.

Until now, matters regarding waterwere mainly dealt with by administra-tive and technical bodies. For thefuture, in the interests of greater trans-parency and consultation in the man-agement of water, a joint approach isfavoured. Article 14 of the frameworkDirective on the necessity of inform-ing and consulting with the public.This approach is all the more impor-tant in an area where conflicts in usewill be more and more important. Aprogramme of work will be publishedfor comment by the public, includingconsumers.

The framework Directive will have veryimportant consequences on thefuture management of waterresources and ecosystems in Europe.It will bring with it a major conbribu-tion to industrial and agriculturaldecontamination, starting with thesuppression of hazardous sub-stances such as atrazine, lead, cad-mium, nickel and mercury.


1 Directive 2000/60/EC of the EuropeanParliament and of the Council of 23October 2000, establishing a framework forCommunuity action in the field of water pol-icy [Official Journal L 327, 22.12.2000]amended by Decision No 2455/2001/EC ofthe European Parliament and of theCouncil, of 20 November 2001 [OJ L 331of 15.12.2001]

The framework Directive on water

Implementation of the framework Directive on water

“River basin districts”, management plans and timetable

In order to apply the framework Direc-tive on water, the Member States mustfirst of all identify all river basins withintheir territory and assign them to“river basin districts”. River basinscovering the territory of more than oneMember State (Rhine, Danube,Meuse, Escaut, etc.) will be assignedto an international river basin dis-trict. An appropriate authority shouldbe designated for each of the riverbasin districts by 22 December 2003.

Member States must complete by2004 an analysis of each river basindistrict, including a review of theimpact of human activity the waterresources, and an economic analysisof water use. They should establish aregister of the areas requiring specialprotection. All waters used forabstraction for human consumption ofmore than 10m3 per day or providingwater for than 50 people per dayshould be identified.

By 2009, a management plan and aprogramme of measures must beproduced for each river basin district,taking into account the results of theanalyses and studies.

The measures included in a manage-ment plan are intended to:

> prevent deterioration and enhanceand restore bodies of surfacewater, achieve good chemical andecological status of such waterand reduce pollution from dis-charges and emissions of haz-ardous substances;

> protect, enhance and restore allbodies of groundwater, preventpollution and deterioration ofgroundwater and ensure a bal-ance between abstraction andreplenishment of groundwater;

> preserve protected areas.

These objectives should be reachedby 2015. This deadline may bechanged, but without prejudice to theother conditions laid down by theDirective.

From 2010, the Member States mustensure that water pricing policiesprovide adequate incentives for usersto use water resources efficiently andthat the different economic sectorscontribute to the recovery of the costsof water services.

By 2003, the Commission will publisha proposal which includes specificmeasures to prevent and control pol-lution of groundwater.

By 2012, and every 6 years thereafter,the Commission will publish a reporton the implementation of the Directive.The Commission will convene, when-ever appropriate, a conference ofinterested parties on EU water policywhich will involve Member States, rep-resentatives from the relevant author-ities, the European Parliament, NGOs,social and economic partners, con-sumer bodies, universities and otherspecialist.

Finally, the Directive lays down thatMember States will determine penal-ties applicable to breaches of the pro-visions adopted. This should be effec-tive, balance and dissuasive.

The Lestijoki Project in Finland hastested the efficiency of lime filterdrainage to reduce the acidity ofsulphate soils.

LIFE as a guide

Since the launching of the financialinstrument for the environment (LIFE)in 1992, 1 855 such projects havebeen financed by the European Union.Many of these have had at least oneaction relating to the sustainable man-agement of groundwater and surfacewaters.

In line with its the objective to promotethe development of innovative tech-niques and methods, as well as tobuild on environmental policy, LIFE-Environment has contributed signifi-cantly to the drafting of the frameworkDirective on water. Projects financed(generally of 1.5 to 3 years duration)have served as an “demonstrationtool” in this area.

Out of a sample of 75 LIFE-Environ-ment projects aimed directly atwater,

> 43% are aimed at management ofriver basins;

> 16% are aimed at protection ofgroundwater;

> 16% are aimed at treatment ofwaste water;

> 16% are aimed at pollution pre-vention and reduction;

> 9% are aimed at the planning andorganisation of water management.

About half of the LIFE-Environmentprojects to date in the area of waterhave a territorial dimension in thesense that they are aimed at inte-grated management of water in adefined area. These projects are gen-erally in northern Europe, whileMediterranean countries frequentlyhave a more sectoral approach, givingpreference to rational use and recy-cling in a particular industrial sector.

As the protection of habitats andlisted species is closely linked toquality of the water, Life-Nature hasalso been of service to EU water pol-icy. Between 1992 and 2000, no lessthan 211 LIFE-Nature projectsincluded measures relating to wateror aquatic environments.


Public concern about tap water qualityis partly responsible for the importantgrowth in bottled water sales in recent years.

The territorial approach of the networkof protected areas Natura 2000,which LIFE-Nature supports, coin-cides with the spirit of the frameworkDirective. It contains a number of spe-cific measures relating to protectedareas in such a way that Natura 2000forms an integral part of the frame-work Directive. For example, theDirective requires that a register ofprotected areas, in particular Natura2000 sites, be established andupdated. The protected areas must bemapped and included in water man-agement plans.

However, the considerable pressurefrom human activity to which pro-tected areas are subjected must beevaluated. Among basic measuresthat must be applied for the whole ofthe river basin are those that enablethe Community Directives on “Habi-tats” and “Birds” to be implemented.

In the same vein, if there is a need torestore wetlands to enable a body ofwater to achieve “a good status”, thismeasure must feature in the pro-gramme of measures.

The benefits for Natura 2000 from thewater framework Directive are twofold. Firstly, Natura 2000 benefits fromthe requirements of the frameworkDirective; secondly, it can contributeto finding solutions for sustainablemanagement of water resources.

As pollution does not stop at the EUborders, LIFE – Third Countries alsoplays a role through the managementof waters in third countries borderingthe Mediterranean and Baltic Seas2.Some forty projects devoted to watercontribute to the creation of technicaland human expertise capacities andorganisation in the environment sec-tor, as well as to the development ofenvironmental policies and pro-grammes in these countries.

2 Other than the countries of Central andEastern Europe that are applicant states foraccession.

Organic treatment of waste water.

The Sixth EAP defines the main prior-ities and the principal objectives ofenvironment policy for the next five toten years, and specifies the measuresthat are to be taken.

The main priorities of the EAP are tomitigate climate change, protectnature and biodiversity, minimise theharmful effects of environmental pol-lution on health, promote sustainableuse of natural resources and manage-ment of waste.

Sustainable use and high quality ofwater resources are among the mainpriorities of the Programme. In con-crete terms, water quality levels mustbe both sufficient to be acceptableand of no risk to public health. Long-term extraction of water resources-must be assured.

Community research programmescan help in the development of mostrecent technology, best managementpractice and methodologies and toolsto support legislation on water. To thisend, the EAP provides a set of actionsintended to:

> ensure the integral and appropri-ate implementation of the frame-work Directive on water;

> ensure the integral and appropri-ate implementation of the nitratesDirective to stop eutrophisation oflakes, rivers and seas in theEuropean Union and to limit theimpact on groundwater accordingto the norms established by theDirective on drinking water;

> gradually eliminate hazardoussubstances from EU waters duringthe period set by the frameworkDirective on water (i.e. by 2020 atthe latest);

> re-examine the Directive onbathing water;

> integrate the framework Directiveon water and other policiesregarding water quality in the revi-sion of EU common agriculturaland regional policies.

LIFE, and in particular LIFE-Environ-ment plays a role as a showcase in theimplementation of these actions.


Beyond the Directive:

Water, a priority of the Sixth Environment Action Programme

LIFE is also an instrument that must compete to implement

the Community policy defined by the Sixth Environment Action Programme (EAP)

on the basis of a practical approach.

Water quality levels must be bothsufficient to be acceptable and of no

risk to public health.

> The aim of “DROP-WISE” is todemonstrate the feasibility and effi-ciency of an integrated system ofwater management in towns. Theproject involves a number of inno-vative procedures: separatedrainage of rainwater from roofsand pavements into watercourses;the use of rainwater for flushingsystems, car-washes and firehydrants; the prevention of generalrisks of pollution by combining twosupply networks, one consisting of“clean” water, and the other con-sisting of “dirty” water.

> “Smart pump-and-treat” deals withthe protection of phreatic waters,which is the subject of technicalexperiments to control sources ofpollution and potential contamina-tion. Slow pumping and controltechniques are associated withdevices for diverting contaminatedwaters. Natural methods are alsotested on different types of waterpollution;

> The project “Demonstration of inte-grated total water management” isbased on a network of eight indus-trial enterprises. It implements anenvironmental management planincluding the recovery of rainwater,the removal of discharges ofnitrates and heavy metals from thesurface water, the reduction in theconsumption of water for energy orchemical purposes, the adopting ofbehaviour aimed at a rational use ofwater at all levels, and research intosynergies between the differentexisting distribution systems;

> The “RAS” project is intended toprovide the existing systems of dis-tribution of drinking water with anew system, called “Smart Flow”,specially sealed against the pene-tration of rainwater in treatmentplants.

Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the EnvironmentEconomic and Fiscal Instruments DepartmentMr Just van Lidth de JeudePostbus 20951NL-2500 EZ The Hague Fax: +31 70 339.13.04E-mail: [email protected]

Water, always

Of the 9 Dutch LIFE-Environment projects approved in 2000-2001,

four are devoted to water.

LIFE-Environment in the Netherlands

In the Aveiro region in the north of Por-tugal, the company QUIMIGAL pro-duces nitric acid, nitrobenzene andaniline for use in the manufacture ofdyes, pesticides, herbicides and fertil-izers. This activity involves the dis-charging of large quantities of watercontaining in particular many nitratesand aromatic compounds. The LIFEproject first of all consisted of applyinga “clean” technology to the productionprocess. A reduction of almost 50% ofthe pollution resulting from nitrogenwas achieved, the remainder of thissubstance being recovered in the formof raw material (nitric acid). The proj-ect then tackled the elimination of thearomatic compounds by creatingmacrophyte beds: the waste water ispurified by passing it through thesebeds consisting of different layers ofearth, aquatic plants and micro-organ-isms. The project consisted of makingtwo beds composed of a root matrixformed of balls of expanded clay(LECA), which needs much less areathan the process normally used. The

denitrification process used demon-strates an effectiveness greater than85%, producing an effluent liquid thatcan be re-used in the industrialprocess.


Total eligible cost: 355 857 EURLIFE contribution: 106 757 EUR Beneficiary: QUIMIGAL, S.A.Quinta da Indústria – Apartado 40 – P-3861 Estarreja

Contact: Ana PiresTel.: 351-234-842 226/810 300 (Ext. 342)Fax: 351-234-841 303

Period: from 1 February 1998 to 1 January 2000.

The waste water is purified bymacrophyte beds consisting ofdifferent layers of earth, aquatic plantsand micro-organisms.

A more ecological chemical enterprise

This technology could be of great value in the fertilizer industry,

which is a major source of pollution.

LIFE-Environment in Portugal

Nancy and its suburbs (300 000inhabitants) has 20 reservoirs ofgroundwater with a total capacity of100 000 m3. One of these, the Gentillyreservoir (12 000 m3), was built in 1970above all to contribute towards theprevention of flooding of the riverMeurthe. Since 1991, a EuropeanDirective has obliged the local com-munities also to control the concen-trated pollution in runoff from rainwa-ter. The inter-communal authorities ofNancy have therefore had to developa strategy integrating both the pre-vention of flooding and that of pollu-tion. The LIFE-Environment projecthas enabled a relatively low-cost solu-tion to be put in place by combining

three types of intervention: the use ofa weather-forecasting unit employingreal-time radar; dividing the Gentillyreservoir into three compartments,each having a specific function;increasing the number of sluices andof measuring instruments enablingoptimum and continuous control ofthe water. These various works haverepresented a total investment ofapproximately 1.5 million EUR. It isestimated that using the same modelit would be possible to modify all theother reservoirs in the urban area ofNancy for a total cost of 4 million EUR,which is about seven times less thanthe cost of the solutions that wereoriginally considered. The experience

of Gentilly, which lies in the adaptingof existing infrastructures rather thanin the building of new, costly plant,could be copied elsewhere in Europe,with 80% of urban areas on the conti-nent having similar discharge net-works to that in Nancy.

Total eligible cost: 1 064 003 EURLIFE contribution: 399 320 EUR Beneficiary: Centre International de l’Eau de Nancy149, rue Gabriel Péri – BP 290 F-54515 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy CEDEX

Contact: René Badot Tel: +33 3 83 15 87 87 Fax: +33 3 83 15 87 99

Period: from 1 October 1996 to 1 October 1999.

An optimum and continuous control of rainwater.

Water treatment plant in Nancy.

To prevent flooding and pollution at less cost

The experience of Nancy, which lies in the adapting

of existing infrastructures rather than in the building of new,

costly plants, could be copied elsewhere in Europe.

LIFE-Environment in France

The telemeasuring system developedthanks to the LIFE project enablesmaps to be drawn that give an opti-mum view of the distribution of thetypes of vegetation over vast coastalareas. The new system combines datacaptured from a distance (by satelliteor airborne scanner), geographicaldata in particular on the depth of thewater and basic biological data, whichconsiderably improves the interpreta-

tion of the data relating to the sub-merged vegetation obtained by tele-measuring. The system can be usedin different geographical areas afterthe information has been adapted. Itcan also be used in the mapping ofother fixed biological environments ofcoastal waters, such as mussel banks.


Total eligible cost: 633 491 EURLIFE contribution: 316 745 EURBeneficiary: National Environment Research Institute (NERI)P.O. BOX 325, Vejlsövej 25DK-8600 Silkeborg

Contact: Peter Bondo ChristensenTel: +45 89 20 14 00Fax: +45 89 20 14 14E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]: http://www.dmu.dk/rescoman

Period: from 1 January 1996 to 1 January 1999.

The complexity of the remote-sensingsystem used in mapping submerged

vegetation.

Remote detection for coastal areas

Remote detection had demonstrated its effectiveness

in the mapping of vegetation on Earth, but this method was not suitable

for mapping submerged coastal vegetation until an attempt was made,

with LIFE, to take on this challenge.

LIFE-Environment in Denmark

Protecting river basins is a difficulttask and is all the more complex whenone takes into account the impact ofhuman activities. These exert an enor-mous pressure and pose many risksfor watercourses, the result being thatmany aquatic habitats have been seri-ously damaged in Europe, threateningthe survival of the species that live inthese habitats. Relatively little isknown about the ecological dynamicsof watercourses and their biotopes.

Nominated as being “Sites of Com-munity importance” within the frame-work of Natura 2000, the seven water-courses affected by the project arehome to 13 noteworthy species of ani-mals such as the otter Lutra lutra, thecrayfish Austropotamobius pallipes,the salmon Salmo salar and the pearlmussel Margaritifera margaritifera.

The watercourses were chosen so asto provide a representative sample ofall the watercourses in the UnitedKingdom, according to the threatsthey face, the use that is made of thesoil along their rivers and of the socio-economic players that can influencetheir ecology.

The LIFE-Nature project has a numberof objectives:

> In consultation with the localauthorities, users and people livingalong the river, the project aims todevelop a strategy and conserva-tion measures for each of the water-courses concerned. This pilotscheme should serve as a model forprotecting other watercourses inthe United Kingdom nominated asSites of Community importance.

> Specific actions are planned for eachtype of species and habitat. Theyinclude a series of practical experi-ments: experimental farming of fresh-water pearl mussels, the reintroduc-tion of the crayfish in two rivers, astudy on the impact of the behaviourof the otter and the plant environmenton populations of fish, etc.

> In the long term, the project shouldresult in technical solutions beingdeveloped for a number of keyproblems affecting the conservationof watercourses, as well as inestablishing good practice that canbe transferred throughout theUnited Kingdom and to other coun-tries in Europe.

Total eligible cost: 2 241 039 EURLIFE contribution: 1 120 519 EURBeneficiary: English Nature, Northminster House, PE1 1UA Peterborough,Cambridgeshire (UK)

Tel: +44 1733 455 000Fax: +44 1733 568 834E-mail: [email protected]

Period: from 1 August 1999 to 1 January 2004.

Studying and protecting watercourses

Carried out by a partnership

of public-sector agencies responsible for the quality of fresh water

and the protection of aquatic habitats, this LIFE-Nature project relates to 871 km

of watercourses of Community interest spread throughout the territory

of the United Kingdom.

LIFE-Nature in the United Kingdom

With a surface area of 41 km2, lakeEngure – to the west of Riga – is thethird largest lake in Latvia. This stretchof fresh water was formed by thegradual silting up of the Baltic coastand only a strip of dunes 20 km longand 2 to 4 km wide now separates itfrom the sea.

The lake is not at all deep: scarcely 20or 30 cm of clean water cover a verythin layer of mud that has accumu-lated since the digging of a canal inthe 19th century. Added to this, it hasbeen seriously polluted with phos-phorus and nitrates, which hascaused algae and reeds to proliferate.In summer the water is unfit for fish-ing, while in winter many fish die ofsuffocation beneath the ice. Manyspecies have disappeared, startingwith the eel that gave its name to thelake (“engure” means “eel” in Latvian).

18 types of habitat were identifiedaround the stretch of water, which isstill home to a number of interestingvarieties of fish and some 800 vari-eties of aquatic plant, while manybirds, including the eagle and 11 otherspecies protected by the “Birds”Directive, have chosen to live alongthe side of the lake. This latter forms

the heart of the natural Park of lakeEngure, an area of 3 500 ha protectedsince 1957. The pollution of the water,the deforestation of the banks due toexcessive forestry activities, as well asthe growing pressure due to tourismrequired urgent and coordinated inter-vention.

LIFE-Nature enabled an environmen-tal management plan to be developed.In addition to the operations of depol-luting the water, the plan consists of:

> clearing 300 ha of reeds and restor-ing 107 ha of meadows with farm-ers living alongside the lake;

> buying back 49 ha of private forestto put a stop to deforestation;

> channelling tourist flows onto naturepaths with observation towers;

> building a performance and confer-ence centre;

> employing rangers in view of themassive area covered by the Park.


Total eligible cost: 520 270 EURLIFE contribution: 390 203 EURBeneficiary: Latvian Fund for Nature, Kronvalda blvd 4, 1842-Riga, Latvia/LatvijaTel.: +371 7 034 894Fax: +371 7 830 291E-mail: [email protected]: www.daba.lu.lv


300 hectares of reeds have beencleared.

An environmental management plan for the natural Park of lake Engure

The pollution of the water, the deforestation of the banks due to excessive

forestry activities, as well as the growing pressure due to tourism required urgent

and coordinated intervention.

LIFE-Nature in Latvia

Some 600 000 tonnes of oil every year– three times more than the oil slickcaused by the Amoco-Cadiz in Brit-tany in 1978 – are spilt into theMediterranean due only to “natural”losses from ships and tankers beingcleaned. Added to this is illegal dump-ing (estimated, in coastal areas, at330 000 tonnes every year or even agreat deal more according to somesources) and losses, varying greatly involume, due to accidents. A sea routethat is heavily used in a confined geo-graphical area, the Mediterranean suf-fers worryingly from attacks on itsecosystem, as well as from a seriousattack on the fishing and touristresources of its coastal areas.

At present, pollution at sea is detectedmainly by sensors on aircraft or boats.While this approach remains essential,combining it with satellite detectionwould enable a greater geographiccoverage and better prevention ofrisks. It is then a matter of guarantee-ing the rapid and relevant processing

of teledetection data, communicatingurgent information to the authoritiesconcerned and the immediate avail-ability of methods of intervention inorder to act as quickly as possible toprevent sheets of oil from reachingcoastal areas.

Meeting these needs is the objectiveof the PROMED project, first of all tar-geting oil pollution at sea and basedon the development of the latest tech-niques: synthetic aperture radar imag-ing (SAR), advanced very high resolu-tion radiometry (AVHRR), etc.Innovative because of its completeand integral character, but alsobecause of the flexibility of use of itsdifferent modules, the system devel-oped by PROMED can be applied atthe European level and can be used inthe event of other risks to the environ-ment such as forest fires and flooding.Another asset is its cost/benefit ratio.

Its success depended on the avail-ability of a large range of observationdata so that the results obtained arereliable and can be transferred fromthe area of research and developmentto that of practical application by theauthorities responsible and the oper-ators involved. This is why thePROMED team evaluated a number ofprototypes of risk detection systemsand data management systems,developed both within the EuropeanUnion and by the international scien-tific community. The choice fell on adetection module with two aspects(the first using the computer programErdas Imagine and the second thesoftware Map Objects) and on a mon-itoring and assistance system basedon the approach of the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administra-tion (NOAA) in the United States,adapted in the pilot phase to the con-ditions in Crete. Complementing theGreek project, a Spanish team workedalong the same lines, but only on thebasis of Erdas Imagine.

Satellites to prevent oil slicks

To deal with oil pollution in the sea, the LIFE-Environment project PROMED

tackles the problem both from very high up – by using the latest satellite imaging techniques –

and from the ground up by taking into account the needs of the administrations

and the operators involved.

LIFE-Environment in Greece

To fight oil pollution, the PROMEDproject is based on the development of the synthetic aperture radar imagingand very high resolution radiometry.Circle on left picture indicates thelocation of a possible oil slick.

Once the risk is detected, thePROMED system uses Erdas Imagineto process satellite images, whichenables the different parameters to betaken into account, any correctionsthat are necessary to be applied, per-form the “georeferencing” of the SARimages (plotting them on the map) anddetermine accurately the perimeter ofpollution and the areas threatened.

In addition to this high-technologyresearch, a great deal of informationhas been collected about the needsand requirements of the public admin-istrations as well as of companiesinvolved in the approach to marinepollution that has been put forward.This has been the subject of varioustests in Crete, under the auspices ofcivil defence, and in Spain under theaegis of SASAMAR (the coastguardorganisation). A decisive step hasbeen the establishing of a detailedthematic cartography of Crete basedon various pieces of information pro-vided by the Region.

PROMED has also carried out ananalysis of the harmful effects of oilthat have taken place in Greece inorder to improve their knowledge,which until now has been very unsat-isfactory, establish statistics and drawup a list of the regions that are mostat risk, with Crete heading this list. Theproject also involved an evaluation ofthe best materials and methods for

dealing, in practical terms, with oil pol-lution of coastal areas, taking theiroutline into account. In this respectand contrary to popular opinion, thebest method is not necessarily to sendcleaning teams, whose interventionoften has the negative effect of push-ing the fuel oil into the sand and in par-ticular between the rocks, resulting inmore damage to the environment thanletting nature take its course.

Finally, PROMED undertook a study ofthe threats to the environmentthroughout the Mediterranean basinand according to various activitiesincluding mass tourism, fishing, etc.which have their own negative effectson the ecosystems and the resourcesof the coastal areas.


Total eligible cost: 1 232 851.43 EURLIFE contribution: 516 089.51 EURBeneficiary: Institute of Meteorology and Physics of the Atmospheric Envi-ronmentLofos Nymfon, Thission, PO BOX 20048GR-11810 Athens

Contact: Ms D.N. AsimakopoulosTel.: +30 1 3490112Fax: +30 1 3490114E-mail: [email protected]


Straightening the Danube more than ahundred years ago to facilitate rivertransport caused a certain amount ofdamage to the vast alluvial forests ofthe plains of the Danube to the east ofVienna. Accelerating the current led tothe river bed being deepened. Thecreation along the bank of a low dikesuitable for motor vehicles (the “Trep-pelweg”) isolated the many ox-bowlakes which cross the forest, resultingin raising of the ground following thedepositing, during flooding, of sedi-ment which can no longer flow back.Once heavily flooded, the forest isnow dry for most of the year.

This gradual drying out had weakenedthe dynamism of the alluvial ecosys-tem, altered the structure of the forestand adversely affected biodiversity.Mature standing timber now predom-inates over the original plant forma-tions, and willow plantations, as wellas the beaches of pebbles and mud,have virtually disappeared.

Only by restoring an “adequate sys-tem of atmospheric changes” will it bepossible to arrest this process in thelong term. A project stabilising the bedof the Danube by moving massivequantities of pebbles to certain placeswas started in 2001 by the Austrianadministration of navigable water-ways. Other works aim to lower theTreppelweg locally and remove thevarious obstacles to water flowingacross the plain. One of these projectswas a small-scale one carried out in1996 in the Regelbrunner Au area, in aforest owned solely by the WWF. Itwas completely successful, openingup the way for other initiatives undervery favourable auspices. The LIFE-Nature project, launched in 1998, wasbased mainly on an action of this kind.

After a delay on the timetable due tomore complicated procedures thanexpected regarding the awarding ofpermits, the works were able to startduring 2000. Concentrated on the

Orth site of the National Park, theyinvolved joining ox-bows of the riverto the bed of the Danube, lowering theTreppelweg, moving a dike, creatingan island of gravel, strengtheningbanks with gravel, as well as theworks intended to recolonise water-courses with a dogfish, Umbrakrameri, which was thought to beextinct in Austria until it was sensa-tionally rediscovered in 1992.

A whole range of public awarenessand dissemination of results cam-paigns has also been carried out:information posters and leaflets, pub-lic debates and activities in schools,an information brochure on Umbrakrameri, etc. LIFE-Nature has alsofinanced the drawing up of a detailedrevitalisation plan.

Returning the river to the forest

The aim is to return natural dynamism to the ecosystem of the alluvial forests

by arresting the drying out process which it has been suffering for more than a century:

the challenge being one of scale. In order to address it, bold measures

have been introduced in the National Park of the plains of the Danube.

The LIFE-Nature project, which will produce very positive results in the short term,

is a milestone along this road.

LIFE-Nature in Austria

In view of the size of the problems – ofwhich the National Park, the benefici-ary of the project, is perfectly wellaware - the involvement of LIFE-Nature has continued to be relativelylimited in what it has achieved in prac-tical terms. It will nevertheless haverapid and significant effects on theecosystem and is a decisive step onthe ambitious road to the generalrestoration of the environment whichstill requires more radical solutions inthe decades to come.

This perspective is part of a politicalcontext which has been difficult since1984 when a hydraulic dam-buildingproject in Hainberg triggered a stringof controversies until the decision in1996 to create the National Park.Many riverside residents were not infavour of the Park and the restrictionswhich it meant for hunting, fishing orwater sports. The municipalities inparticular were reticent about the proj-ects involving the dumping of thismaterial outside the Park. On the otherhand, the highest authorities, namelythose who are in charge of manage-ment of the Danube basin, are experi-enced in the ecological objectives ofthe National Park. The protection ofVienna against flooding by environ-mentally-friendly methods is one of

the major stakes. The awarenesscampaigns for inhabitants and visitorsare particularly important in thiscontext.

Although, with their birdlife, the river-side forests are one of the majorpoints of interest in the National Parkin the context of the Nature 2000 net-work, the LIFE project has notinvolved specific forestry manage-ment measures. The project sponsor’sstrategy is primarily based on the abil-ity of the alluvial forest to graduallyreturn to its original structure. Aforestry inventory, drawn up alongsidethe project, will make it possible to

determine the management measuresrequired in future. One of the ideastaken into consideration is the rationaluse of the wood to be burned. Thecreation of buffer zones between thepark and its surroundings is also con-sidered, whereas a management planfor the leisure activities should enabledamage to be prevented.


Total eligible cost: 2 822 030 EURLIFE contribution: 1 411 015 EURBeneficiary: Nationalpark Donau-Auen GmbHFadenbachstraße 17A-2304 Orth

Contact: Dr. Michael Kaplan, Dir. Mag. Carl Manzano, Dr. Christian BaumgartnerTel.: +43 2212 3450Fax: +43 2212 3450 17E-mail: [email protected]

Period: from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 2002.

The works involved joining ox-bows of the river to the bed of the Danube.

Implemented in the region of Tonmawrin West Glamorgan (Wales), the LIFEproject involved the treatment of minewaters discharged into the tributariesof the river Pelenna. It was a case ofrestoring the water quality in order toprotect the fish and other wild floraand fauna, and to put an end to theunsightly colour of the river caused bythe waters from the mines.The pollution of the river was directlyconnected with the changes in thelevel of the groundwater which hadaccompanied the working, then theclosure of the mine: the phreatic layerhad gradually fallen due to pumping,

thus exposing iron pyrites to the airand the formation of soluble iron com-pounds. When the mining workstopped, the pumping stopped, thephreatic layer returned to normal andthe iron compounds dissolved in thewater, as the groundwater level rose,and the mines were flooded. Finallythe contaminated water emerged atthe surface and mixed with the localwaters receiving it. The characteristic yellow orangecolour of the Pelenna river resultedfrom the precipitation of the ironcompounds, or ochres, which occurwhen iron-containing mine waters are

Less iron in the water: restoration of a contaminated wetland

LIFE-Environment has supported the first attempt carried out

in the United Kingdom to restore the water quality of a river

by the sole use of organic techniques.

In 2000, the project was awarded the “Rural Wales” prize.

LIFE-Environment in the United Kingdom

discharged into a watercourse. Notonly were these mine waters directlytoxic to aquatic life on account of thehigh concentrations of iron dissolvedin the water, but the deposits formedon the substrates also had long-termeffects on the habitats of invertebratesand the gravel serving as a spawningground for the fish.In order to rehabilitate this area, it wasdecided to create a large-scale sys-tem that treats the discharged watersby natural biological processes, with-out using machines, pumping devicesor chemical treatment. It was neces-sary to reduce the quantity of iron dis-charged upstream from two tributar-ies of the river: 95% reduction in theNant Gweffrwd river and 50% in theBlaenpelenna river. The ultimateobjective was to make the water-courses suitable for recolonisation bymembers of the salmon family.Structures built of concrete and/orbrick were installed in the wetlands.They were covered with an imperme-able membrane or a layer of clay, thena substrate of peat-free compost 700mm thick, with a constant maximumwater level of 300 mm.To treat some of the most acid dis-charged waters, it was necessary toset up a separate treatment unitupstream of the wetlands, with burieddrains filled with lime.During subsequent phases of the proj-ect, other elements were introducedsuch as aeration cascades, ochre col-lection terraces and juxtaposeddevices with alkalising properties. Afiltration tank and a decanting tankwere built at certain points to regulatethe flow and pre-treat the water.

Compost was used to make up a plantsubstrate from bullrushes, rushes, yel-low marsh iris or the common reed. Itwas possible to regulate undergroundand surface flow by buried drains.A certain number of demonstrationelements were added, in particularwetlands for the flow of surface watersand groundwater, different types ofsubstrate (bark mulch) and differenttypes of plants (Typha cultivated in agreenhouse and Juneus, a local plant).This project was a complete success:the monitoring and evaluation workproved the effectiveness of the waterpurification system which made itpossible to restore the water quality ofthis river to the extent that it couldaccommodate salmon again. Thelevel of iron eliminated is currentlyapproximately 90%. It will take longerto improve the aesthetic appearanceof the river because the iron deposits

and the stains which have accumu-lated through the years are only elim-inated gradually by the water.The results show that the operatingand investment costs are not highcompared with those of other sys-tems. The measure put in place alsooffers additional environmental bene-fits such as the diversification of thehabitat of wild fauna and flora.Having made it possible to createcomputer modelling programs, theproject had a resounding success inthe United Kingdom, elsewhere inEurope and in other regions of theworld, by demonstrating sustainableand non-aggressive methods of elim-inating the iron contained in the minewaters, by the detailed description ofthe processes involved in these sys-tems, as well as by the implementa-tion of engineering processes and dif-fusion methods.


Total eligible cost: 1 505 311 EURLIFE contribution: 647 284 EURBeneficiary: Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Civic Centre, Y Ganolfan Ddinesig SA11 3QZ Neath Castell-NeddUnited Kingdom

Contact: Andrew Parry-Jones Tel.: +44 1639 764412Fax: +44 1639 764129 E-mail: [email protected]


Wearing a white coat and with thecalmly hurried air of a hospital doctor,Dr. Sebastien Celaya guides us intothe maze of basements of the hospi-tal Royo Villanova of which he is incharge. The object of the exercise isto observe the new ionisation waterpurification system with which thehospital was recently equipped. Thiswas an investment of 60 000 EURwhich was advantageous on twocounts: it saved water but it also con-siderably reduced the relatively highrisks of legionnaires’ disease in a hos-pital environment. “Before installingthe system, it was necessary to turn on

all the taps in the hospital every monthand let them run for about ten min-utes; today, a very simple annualcheck is all that is required. In additionto the reduction in the risk of legion-naires’ disease, we now have waterconsumption of 412 litres of water perbed per day, compared with 760 litresin the Norwood Hospital in Boston,which is a benchmark in this field.” Sit-uated in the outskirts of Saragossa,the Royo Villanova general hospital –200 beds, 600 employees – is one ofthe 50 “Buenas Prácticas” (goodpractices) establishments of the“Zaragoza Ciudad Ahorradora de

Agua” operation (Saragossa, water-saving town) which has alreadyenabled water consumption to bereduced by 5 to 6% in the largeAragon town (600 000 inhabitants).

Saragossa (Spain):The city that saves waterLIFE-Environment was the trigger for

the “Zaragoza Ciudad Ahorradora de Agua” operation,

a global and integrated operation aiming to make rational use

of the limited water resources of the capital of Aragon. A model to be followed.

Imagining is believing

The “Good Practices” operation is thecontinuation of a LIFE-Environmentproject which was implementedbetween 1997 and 1999. “It involvedmoving from a policy of supply to apolicy of demand, by promoting moreresponsible consumption of theresource and, in the long term, by cre-ating a new water culture”, explainsJavier Celma, head of the Environ-ment Unit for the municipality ofSaragossa. “The LIFE project fittedvery well into the Sustainable Devel-opment Plan which the town haddrawn up in 1994 and which in partic-ular plans a 20% reduction in waterconsumption between now and 2010.There was also a considerable collec-tive and mobilising dimension, while atthe same time tackling the problemfrom a global perspective… What ismore, the project was approached notas though expecting an imminentcatastrophe but, quite the contrary, ina positive and creative spirit: the con-crete realisation of the slogan ‘Imagin-ing is believing’ to some extent.”

Besides the government of Aragonand several private partners (savingsbank, enterprises, associations, etc.),the town has joined up with the initia-tor of the project, la FundaciónEcología y Desarrollo (Ecology andDevelopment Foundation, see box),the beneficiary of a LIFE-Environmentgrant of 480 230 EUR, half of which isborne by the European Union.

“We set ourselves a quantitativeobjective of one thousand million litresof water to be saved in one year”, saysMarisa Fernández, the coordinator ofthe project within the Foundation. “Inoperational terms, six criteria guidedour approach: to break a vicious circlein water management – the increase insupply encourages waste and viceversa -, therefore concentrate ondemand and no longer on supply,introduce the principle of sharedresponsibility involving all the play-ers/users, adopt a technologicalapproach which prolongs water-sav-ing beyond the end of the project,mobilise all types of water users, affecta maximum number of people in orderto change mentalities and trigger atrue cultural change in water con-sumption.”

The project took the form of an aware-ness campaign setting concrete tar-gets for the consumer:

> purchasing new sanitary ware (toi-lets, taps, showers, etc.) enablinghouseholds to save water;

> replacing old public sanitary warewith new, more water-saving sani-tary ware;

> purchasing domestic appliances(washing machines, dishwashers,etc.) with built-in water savers;

> installing individual meters for hotwater;

> introducing various measures anddevices making it possible to savewater (repairing leaks, reusingdomestic water, etc.);

> encouraging people to change theirwater consumption habits.


Saragossa promotes the use of lowwater consuming plants in gardens.

“The pump has been primed”

The initial preparation phase started inFebruary 1997. It consisted first of allof mobilising the sanitary ware distrib-utors as well as the organisationslikely to contribute to the success ofthe campaign (media, associations).The implementation phase proper waslaunched in October 1997. It took theform of a massive information cam-paign, using most of the promotionaltools available: newspapers, televi-sion, radio, posters, advertisingposters on buses, brochures, stickers,display cases in businesses, post-cards, etc. A telephone helpline wasset up, a website on saving water wascreated (www.ecodes.org/agua/). Thecampaign ended on 25 January 1999with an international symposium onthe effective use of water in an urbanenvironment.

The operation in which 150 organisa-tions and 183 schools (70 000 pupils,474 teachers) actively took part, madeit possible in 1998 to save 1.176 thou-sand million litres of water. More than140 companies in Saragossa are nowmarketing water-saving products. Twothirds of the shops selling sanitaryware, taps and domestic appliance andmeters actively took part in the project,usually in the form of discounts onwater-saving products. The sales of

domestic appliances with built-in watersavers increased by 15%. Four timesas many individual meters and 6 timesas many water-saving taps were sold.Before the campaign, only one house-hold in three practised any kind ofwater-saving measure (a device or con-sumption habit); at the end of the oper-ation, this proportion had increased totwo out of three.

This initial success has to be placed incontext, however: “certainly we areexperiencing a ‘flurry of interest’, saysAntonio Marin, the owner of five sani-tary ware shops which had taken partin the campaign. “We are certainly sell-ing more and more water-savingdevices, but another market is growingjust as quickly as the quality of life isincreasing: jacuzzis and so on that con-sume large quantities of water, etc. Thefact still remains that in terms of newwater-saving behaviour, the pump hasbeen primed, there is no denying it!”

This important domestic appliancemanufacturer is one of the 10 industrial

enterprises which participate in thewater saving project.

Continuing what has beenstarted: LIFE as a springboard

It was important not to stop, havinggot so far. Knowing that the aware-ness campaign was only a first step,the “Zaragoza Ciudad Ahorradora deAgua” partners decided to start a new,more targeted phase based on con-crete investments by large water con-sumers (public and private buildings,industries, parks and gardens).

As the LIFE-Environment project hadended, a new partnership was put inplace around the Foundation, consist-ing of the same partners as for LIFEbut also with the ACESA, a publicwater management agency of theEbre basin, and the international foun-dation AVINA, active in sustainabledevelopment projects.

Laurent Sainctavit, a water engineer atthe Fundación Ecología y Desarrolloand a spokesman for industrial enter-prises, explains: “the LIFE project tar-geted four groups of consumers: dis-tributors, communities, schools andhouseholds. Furthermore it was morea question of ‘intangible’ operations,aiming to change habits. In the case ofthe new, ‘Buenas Prácticas’ cam-paign, we opted for a strategy and,above all, different targets: the ideawas to move up a gear by encourag-

ing large ‘beacon’ consumers to investin water-saving, in the hope that theywould carry along the rest of theirindustrial sector and the population ingeneral.”

Planned up to 2003, the Good Prac-tices campaign is working hard tomobilise industrial enterprises. Andten of the largest in Saragossa arealready taking part in the project.“Unlike the LIFE campaign based onmass information, the current opera-tion started with a personalised lettersent to the city’s enterprises repre-senting various key sectors. Thoseinvolved sign a collaboration contractwith us. We then carry out an eco-audit in situ, followed by a formalreport including a series of costed rec-ommendations. When the investmenthas been made, the enterprise is giventhe label ‘Buenas Prácticas’ which isassociated which a series of advan-tages giving it the image of a ‘respon-sible’ enterprise. Our campaign sup-plements the ISO 14000 or EMAS1

actions in which some of these enter-prises are already involved.”

At the end of the programme, theEcology and Development Foundationis also hoping to award the Good

Practices label to 50 large “symbolic”consumers: in addition to the 10industrial enterprises already men-tioned, 30 public establishments havebeen identified (including the Royo Vil-lanova hospital and a school with 1800 pupils), as well as 10 green areasor gardens. “The latter have a dualinterest in this: they are large con-sumers of water and the water-savinggardens which have been created atvarious places in the town may inspirea large number of private individuals”,says Diego Checa, who is in charge ofthe Foundation for this sector and anauthor of a Practical Guide on water-saving technologies for communitiesand public services, one of the variousmethodological publications whichhave been produced as part of theoperation. Nor is the general publicforgotten in this: a thousand “water-saving kits” (consisting mainly ofwater filters) are soon going to be dis-tributed at a low price.


183 schools have been equipped to save water.

Democracy and the right price

The Good Practices campaign is infact only the most visible dimension ofthe long-term task taken on in Aragonand more particularly in Saragossa: atmunicipal level, a coordinating andwater monitoring committee has beenset up and the town is involved in aseries of large projects aiming toreduce its water consumption from 80to 64 cubic hectometres per year. Allthe municipal services (offices, swim-ming pools, leisure centres, etc.) havebeen subjected to a water manage-ment audit, the drinking water distri-bution network is currently beingimproved (budget of 120 million EUR)and a new treatment plant for wastewater will very soon make it possibleto save 4 cubic hectometres of waterannually.

“Saragossa has become the mostwater-saving town in Spain, with aweekly consumption of 96 litres ofwater per inhabitant”, says JavierCelma, the head of the EnvironmentUnit proudly. “We very much sub-scribe to the philosophy of the newframework Directive on water and,through the ‘Saragossa an economi-cal town’ campaign we have concen-trated first of all on developing a civicconsensus among the population,which should sooner or later be pre-pared to pay the right price for water:at 0.5 EUR per cubic metre for house-holds, Saragossa is the fifth on the listof large European towns where wateris cheapest…“

“The Spanish are going to have to seri-ously review their relationship withwater”, says Victor Viñuales, Directorof la Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo.“What we are doing at Saragossa is asolution which is both viable and dem-ocratic, totally within the ethos of thenew framework Directive and whichmay serve as a model to some 8 000municipalities in the country”.

The facts are beginning to confirm thathe is right: other towns and regions inSpain are turning to his team. Onecase in point is the government of theBalearics which has asked the Foun-dation to lead a wide-ranging consul-tation of the people on water man-agement and to draw up aself-evaluation guide directed atschools so that, by involving thepupils, they can carry out their owneco-audit and put in place their ownwater-saving management pro-gramme. This is also true for theauthorities in Vitoria, in the Basquecountry, which have included theFoundation in drawing up an inte-grated management plan for drinkingwater.

Viable and democratic, the Saragossamodel can also be reproduced in con-siderably different contexts; with theaid of the Foundation, Barcelona hasdistributed water-savers to 4 000households in the Catalan capital,while a “Ciudad Ahorradora de Agua”campaign is currently being con-ducted in Andorra, in a large villagewith 8 000 inhabitants in the very aridprovince of Teruel.

1 ISO 14000: environmental managementstandard created by the InternationalStandards Organisation (ISO); EMAS(Environmental Management and AuditScheme): an environmental quality labelcreated by the European Union.

The water-saving gardens which havebeen created at various places inSaragossa may inspire a large numberof private individuals to follow suit.

A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002

ISBN 92-894-0538-4

© European Communities, 2002Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

Printed in Belgium

Printed on recycled paper

European Commission

LIFE Focus / Water, an essential resource - LIFE and the new European water policy

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities

2002 - 28 pp. - 21 x 28 cm

ISBN 92-894-0538-4

The two “Zaragoza Ciudad Ahor-radora de Agua” operations arepiloted by the Ecology and Devel-opment Foundation set up in 1992.

This joint technical assistance body isentirely dedicated to the cause of sus-tainable development, with activitiesbased on three objectives:

> to identify and put realistic ecolog-ical alternatives in place;

> to combine socially fair and eco-nomically viable development;

> to facilitate and enhance the syner-gies between public authorities,enterprises and civic society.

The Foundation has specialised inthree types of intervention:

> information and making decision-makers aware of the problems fac-ing the environment (the Founda-tion is a member of the EuropeanEnvironmental Bureau);

> the implementation of demonstra-tion projects (LIFE, ALTENER) andthe execution of local eco-audits;

> the setting up of ethical investmentfunds with companies quoted onthe stock market. A Spanish repre-sentative of the SiRi Group (“Sus-tainable Investment Research inter-national”, a pool of evaluationagencies present in 14 countries), laFundación Ecología y Desarrolloadvises investors wishing to turntowards enterprises which are“socially responsible” and environ-mentally-friendly.

With about twenty co-workers, Ecol-ogy and Development bases its activ-ities on five themes: water, waste,energy, the promotion of sociallyresponsible enterprises and coopera-tion with Latin America in environ-mental projects. Four employees arespecifically allocated to the water-sav-ing sector.

Its action in the area of water has ledthe Foundation to go on technicalassistance missions to various Span-ish authorities: the Catalan WaterAgency, the WWF-Adena (Madrid), theTown and Water Company of Vitoria(Basque country) and the Governmentof the Balearic islands.

La Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo iscurrently conducting a new LIFE-Envi-ronment awareness campaign inSaragossa designed on the samemodel as for water but involving col-lection, recycling and reusing paper.


The project sponsor: Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo

Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo Plaza de san Bruno, 9, 1º, E-50001 Zaragoza Tel.: +34 976 29 82 82 Fax: +34 976 20 30 92 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.ecodes.org

200

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

700.000

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500.000

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300.000

200.000

100.000

0

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

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1986

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1992

1994

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1998

Saragossa: Consumption of water per inhabitant(m3 / inhabitant per year)

(m3

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habi

tant

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r ye

ar)

Inha

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Years ConsumptionInhabitants

European CommissionEnvironment Directorate-General

LIFE Focus is the journal of LIFE III programme (2000-2004).

LIFE (“L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement” / The financing instrument for the Environment) is a programmelaunched by the European Commission and coordinated by the Environment Directorate-General (LIFE Unit - BU-9 02/1).

The content of LIFE Focus does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the institutions of the European Union.

Editorial Department: SOGES/AEIDL a/s Jean-Pierre Vercruysse – Managing Editor: Bruno Julien, European Commission,Environment DG, LIFE Unit - BU-9 02/1, 200 rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels – Journalism: Jean-Luc Janot – The followingpeople worked on this issue: Pierre Ergo, Jean-Pierre Vercruysse – Photos: Javier Belver, Chris Heymans, Christine Lekeu,LIFE project sponsors – Production coordinator: Christine Charlier – Graphic design: Kaligram – This issue of LIFE-EnvironmentFocus is published in 6 languages (German, English, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch) with a print-run of 16 000 copies.

European Commission

L I F E I I I

Water, an essential resource

LIFE and the new European water policy

Name LIFE (“L'Instrument Financier pour l'Environnement” / The financing instrument for the environment)

Type of intervention co-financing of actions in favour of the environment in the Community, in the countries of central and eastern Europe that are applicants for accession to the European Union and in certain third countries.

LIFE is made up of three subject headings: “LIFE-Nature”, “LIFE-Environment” and “LIFE – Third countries”.

Objectives> with a view to sustainable development in the European Union, contribute to the drawing up,

implementation and up-dating of Community policy and legislation in the area of the environment;> explore new solutions to environmental problems on a Community scale.

Beneficiaries any natural or legal person, provided that the projects financed meet the following general criteria:> they match the priorities laid down at Community level and contribute to the objectives listed; > they are submitted by reliable participants from financial and technical points of view;> they can be carried out from the technical point of view, in terms of timetable and budget,

and offer a good cost-benefit ratio.

Types of project> Eligible for LIFE-Nature are nature conservation projects which contribute to maintaining or restoring natural habitats

and/or populations of species in a favourable state of conservation within the meaning of Directive 92/43/EEC.

> Eligible for LIFE-Environment are demonstration projects which bring environment-related and sustainable develop-ment considerations together in land management, which promote sustainable water and waste management or whichminimise the environmental impact of economic activities. Five areas of intervention are preferred: the management and enhancement of the territory, water management, the effect of economic activities, waste management, integrated product policy.

> Eligible for LIFE – Third countries are technical assistance projects which• Constitute a benefit for the Community, particularly on account of their contribution to the implementation of regional

and international policies and agreements; • Promote sustainable development at international, national or regional level; • Bring solutions to serious environmental problems in the region and the area concerned.

Implementation the Member States or third countries send the Commission the proposals of projects to be co-financed. The Commission sets the date for sending the proposals annually and reaches a decision on these. It monitors the financing and follow-up of the implementation of the LIFE actions. Accompanying measures enable the projects to be monitored on the ground and, in the case of LIFE-Nature, to encourage certain forms of cooperationbetween similar projects (“Co-op” measure).

Period of involvement 5 years (2000-2004).

Funds from the Community approximately 638 million EUR distributed as follows: 300 million EUR to LIFE-Nature, 300 million EUR to LIFE-Environment and 38 million EUR to LIFE – Third countries.

ContactEuropean Commission – Environment Directorate-GeneralLIFE Unit – BU-9 02/1 - 200 rue de la Loi - B-1049 Brussels – Fax: +32 2 296 95 56 Internet: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/life/home.htm

OFFICE FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONSOF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIESL-2985 Luxembourg

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