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YOURNWRMGLOSSARY
Youwill findbelow thedefinitionsof key termsused in theguide. If youare looking
for additional definitions related to NWRM or similar measures, you might find
them in the glossary of theNWRM knowledge base at
Term
Definition
Avoided costs
(or costs avoided)
Equivalent to an indirect benefit: financial outlays, negative impacts or
welfare losses on anyonewhich are avoided by choosing one specific
course of action among different alternatives.
Some natural water retentionmeasures (NWRM) may protect rivers and
freshwater sources thus reducing other protection costs, increasing rivers’
natural assimilation capacity andmaking other qualitymeasures redundant.
For example,mulching and other NRWMmay reduce erosion and extend
the lifespan of reservoirs while reducing their maintenance costs etc.These
benefits are context-based (and potentially site-specific) and therefore
often difficult to identify and quantify.Valuation alternatives range from the
estimation of production losses to the cost of defensive and replacement
measures (i.e. averting behaviour).
CommonAgriculture
Policy (CAP)
TheCommonAgriculture Policy is the set of legislation and practices
adopted by the EuropeanUnion to provide a common, unified policy on
agriculture.
Common
Implementation
Strategy (CIS)
TheCommon Implementation Strategy (CIS) is the strategy developed
by the EuropeanCommission and EUMember States (MS) to support
the implementation of the EUWFD. It builds on thework of different
expert working groups under the steering of theWater Directors of EU
MS.Today, it also addresses wider EUwater policy challenges, including the
implementation of the Floods Directive;
(see
.
(water) catchment
Awater catchment (sometimes referred to as awatershed or drainage
basin) is an area of landwhere surfacewater from rain,melting snow, or ice
converges to a single point at a lower elevation, usually the exit of the basin,
where thewaters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir,
estuary,wetland, sea, or ocean.
)
Cost-benefitAnalysis
(CBA)
A framework of analysis based on economic rationality (within a number
of constraints onewill always try tomake the decision that increases one’s
individual welfare) and founded onwelfare economics.CBA compares
costs and benefits of different alternatives and provides rational criteria
for decision-making.CBA is a critical input for some decisions but does
not replace decisions themselves (i.e. its result is not a binding one).
CBA quantifies inmonetary terms and compares the pros and cons of
any initiative, including items for which themarket does not provide a
satisfactorymeasure of economic value.CBA yields profitability indicators
(financial, economic or social) on the basis of information throughout the
lifespan of the project. It is to be usedwhen the objectives of different
NWRM or Programmes of Measures are not the same, that is to say,when
what is at stake is not just a set of alternativemeasures themselves but also
different collective aims.
