Assessment of groundwater status in accordance with the Water Framework Directive

Dit rapport bevat een erratum d.d. 9 januari 2008 op de laatste paginaDe Europese Kaderrichtlijn Water (KRW) moet ervoor zorgen dat de kwaliteit van het oppervlakte- en grondwater in Europa in 2015 op orde komt. Het grondwater moet daarbij niet alleen aan zijn eigen doelstellingen voldoen, voldoende water van goede kwaliteit, maar ook aan de doelstellingen van de ecosystemen die door kwellend grondwater worden beinvloed. Het grondwater mag geen negatieve invloed hebben op de bijbehorende oppervlaktewateren en grondwaterafhankelijke terrestrische ecosystemen. In dit rapport wordt een beoordelingsmethode voorgesteld om vast te stellen wanneer de toestand van het grondwater niet voldoet aan de doelstellingen van de bijbehorende aquatische en terrestrische ecosystemen. Deze beoordeling gaat enerzijds uit van de doelstellingen voor de bijbehorende oppervlaktewateren en de grondwaterafhankelijke terrestrische ecosystemen en anderzijds van de beschikbare meetgegevens over de toestand van het oppervlaktewater, het terrestrisch systeem en het grondwater. Waarschijnlijk zal de grondwatertoestand door verdroging en de uitspoeling van bijvoorbeeld nutrienten, bestrijdingsmiddelen en zware metalen in een aantal gebieden niet voldoen aan de doelstellingen voor het oppervlaktewater en de terrestrische ecosystemen. Het al in gang gezette mestbeleid, verdrogingbeleid en de KRW zelf zullen een deel van de problemen oplossen. Daarnaast geeft het rapport voor een groot aantal landschaptypen met een grote natuurbehoudswaarde een overzicht van de ecohydrologische relaties en potentiele bedreigingen door aantasting van het grondwaterlichaam.The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires that all inland and coastal waters must reach a good chemical and ecological status by 2015. According to Annex V of the WFD, groundwater should not only meet its own environmental objectives, ensuring "sufficient water of good quality", but also the objectives for the ecosystems affected by groundwater seepage. Groundwater may not have a negative influence on associated surface waters and groundwater-dependent terrestrial ecosystems. This report presents an assessment system to determine when the status of the groundwater fails to meet the WFD objectives for the surface waters and terrestrial ecosystems which are directly associated with the groundwater body. In the assessment, the monitoring data available on the status of the groundwater and the associated surface water and terrestrial ecosystems are compared to the objectives which have been achieved for these systems. The environmental objectives for surface water and terrestrial ecosystems in a number of regions will most likely not be met due to groundwater drawdown and the drainage of, for example, nutrients, pesticides and heavy metals. Current polices on manure and fertilizer application, water drawdown and sanitation, including those of WFD, will improve the present groundwater situation. This report also presents an overview of the eco-hydrological relations of a large number of ecologically valuable Dutch landscapes as well as the potential threats to these landscapes when the groundwater system is adversely affected. This information is essential for the management of nature reserves in the Netherlands.VROM-DG

Changes in landscape and vegetation of coastal dunes in northwest Europe: a review

In coastal dunes, landscape changes are a rule, rather than an exception. This paper gives an overview of changes in landscape and vegetation with a focus on the past century. The history of dunes is characterised by phases of sand drift, alternated with geomorphological stability. The historical development of dune woodland during these stable phases has been documented for sites all over Europe. Vegetation reconstructions of historical open dune habitats however is very difficult due to limited preservation of fossil remains. People have drastically altered coastal dune landscapes through centuries of exploitation and more recently development of the coast. Historical land use has generally pushed vegetation back into a semi-natural state. During roughly the past century a tendency of increasing fixation and succession is observed on coastal dunes throughout northwest Europe. Six causes of change are discussed. 1) Changes in land use, mainly abandonment of agricultural practices, have led to the development of late successional stages such as scrub and woodland. 2) Crashing rabbit populations due to myxomatosis in the 1950s caused vigorous grass growth and probably stimulated scrub development. 3) A general tendency of landscape fixation is observed due to both natural and anthropogenic factors. 4) Eutrophication, mainly due to atmospheric nitrogen deposition is clearly linked to grass encroachment on acidic but also on some calcareous dunes. 5) The impact of climate change on vegetation is still unclear but probably lengthening of growing season and maybe enhanced CO2 concentrations have led to an acceleration of succession. 6) A general anthropogenisation of the landscape occurs with rapid spread of non-native species as an important consequence. The reconstruction of a natural reference landscape is considered largely unattainable because of irreversible changes and the long tradition of human impact, in many cases since the development of the dunes. Two contradictory elements need reconciliation. First, the general acceleration of succession and scrub and woodland development in particular is partly caused by a decreased anthropogenic interference in the landscape and deserves more appreciation. Second, most biodiversity values are largely linked to open, early succession dune habitats and are threatened by the same tendency. Apart from internal nature management, in which grazing plays an important part, re-mobilisation of stable, senescent dunes is an important challenge for dune management