WHATYOUNEEDTOKNOWBEFORE
READINGTHISGUIDE
Water managers, spatial and urban land use planning bodies, nature protection
organisations, agricultureprofessionals and forestmanagers,public authorities and
stakeholders show an
increasing interest inNaturalWater RetentionMeasures
(NWRM)
.Their interest lies with the multiple benefits NWRM can potentially
deliver, and their capacity to contribute simultaneously to the achievement of the
objectives of different EuropeanUnion (EU) policies, including
inter alia
: theWater
Framework Directive (WFD)
1
, the Floods Directive (FD)
2
, the EU Biodiversity
Strategy
3
, theEUActiononWater Scarcity andDrought
4
, theEUClimateChange
Adaptation Strategy
5
or theMarine Strategy FrameworkDirective (MSFD)
6
.
To support the implementation of NWRM, the European Commission (EC)
has launched a number of
initiatives on NWRM
over the last few years, in the
context of theCommon Implementation Strategy (CIS) of theWFD. Inparticular,
these have included: (1) a
scoping study
aimed at identifyingNWRM along with
their expected costs and benefits
7
(2) an
ex-ante
evaluation
of the effectiveness
of NWRM to support the achievement of EUwater policy objectives
8
; (3) an
NWRM Pilot Project
that combined the establishment of aweb-basedNWRM
knowledge base with support for the emergence of an NWRM ‘community of
practice’
9
;(4) thedevelopmentof anEU
NWRMpolicydocument
that advocates
1
DIRECTIVE 2000/60/ECOFTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTANDOFTHECOUNCIL of 23October 2000
establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy.
2
DIRECTIVE 2007/60/ECOFTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTANDOFTHECOUNCIL of 23October 2007
on the assessment andmanagement of flood risks.
3
COMMUNICATION FROMTHECOMMISSIONTOTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,THECOUNCIL,THE
ECONOMICAND SOCIALCOMMITTEEANDTHECOMMITTEEOFTHE REGIONS.Our life insurance, our
natural capital: an EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020.COM(2011) 244 final.
4
COMMUNICATION FROMTHECOMMISSIONTOTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTANDTHECOUNCIL.
Addressing the challenge of water scarcity and droughts in the EuropeanUnion.COM(2007) 414 final
5
COMMUNICATION FROMTHECOMMISSIONTOTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,THECOUNCIL,THE
EUROPEAN ECONOMICAND SOCIALCOMMITTEEANDTHECOMMITTEEOFTHE REGIONS.An EU
Strategy on adaptation to climate change.COM (2013) 216.
6
DIRECTIVE 2008/56/ECOFTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTANDOFTHECOUNCIL of 17 June 2008
establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy
FrameworkDirective).
7
Stella Consulting (2012).Costs, benefits and climate proofing of natural water retentionmeasures (NWRM).
Final report.
8
Joint ResearchCenter. 2012. Evaluation of the effectiveness of NaturalWater RetentionMeasures. Support to
the EU Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’sWaters. JRC Scientific and Policy Reports.
9
