Water accounts: expectations and contribution of the European Environment Agency

1. Water accounts: expectations and contribution of the European Environment Agency UNSD/UNCEEA User-Producer Dialogue Water Accounting – A Tool for Integrated Water Resource Management? (CBS – Voorburg - The Netherlands, 22-24 May 2006) Pr. Jacqueline McGlade Executive Director

2. Water ‘…then once more, and with extreme swiftness, it mounts again and returns by the same descent, thus rising from the inside to the outside, and going round from the lowest to the highest, from whence it rushes down in a natural course. Thus by these two movements combined in a constant circulation, it travels through the veins of the earth.’ Leonardo da Vinci, The Notebooks, 965.

3. The EEA is... • An independent information provider • An analyst and assessor • Building bridges between science and policy • Dependent upon strong networks to carry out its work • ...to support policy processes and inform the public

4. Working together inEurope http://dataservice.eea.eu.int/seis http://dataservice.eea.eu.int/wise

5. Water is • a component - flowing in rivers, mains and bodies… • a system - hydrological • a service - to economic production and ecological and human well being • and a threat to all of these when scarce

6. a metaphor of stability and resiliencefor measuring environmental components, systems, services and threats www.resalliance.org The Raft

7. The Raft -1 • When empty, the raft is stable and capable of delivering a transport service • The raft is resilient and can easily accommodate loads – people or goods – without being under threat.

8. The Raft- 2 • The resilient raft can accommodate some loads, keeping enough stability • But when the load is excessive, the raft is less capable to adapt - it starts sinking

9. The Raft- 3 • When the resilience of the raft is low, the risk of flipping is high, at any time • The unstable raft is threatened not only by an additional significant load but by the position of any new load even when small

10. The Raft- 4 The objectives of the passengers of the raft may be different e.g. • traders who want to carry as many goods as possible (even with risk) • passengers who are concerned with their personal safety (not too much load) Trade offs between social groups will determine the final degree of stability of the system

11. Water accounts and the raft metaphor • various aspects of water systems should be addressed in water accounts • interactions between components of the water system should be traceable - - accounts as one input to integrated modelling • interactions between water and other ecosystems should be reflected • long term/broad scale trends matter as much as local configurations and short term processes • water systems are part of a socio-ecoological system

12. Integration of information on water, biodiversity & human well-being: space & time distributions

13. Ecosystem accounts Services & Natural assets accounts SEEA: Water accounts do cover many aspects, all are important

14. European Water Framework Directive integrates policies in order to: • Prevent deterioration and enhance status of aquatic ecosystems, including groundwater; • Promote sustainable water use; • Reduce pollution; and • Contribute to the mitigation of floods and droughts.

15. The WFD covers in particular • regulatory regimes incl. charging schemes • river basin characterisation • monitoring and classification • river basin management planning

16. The EEA is both user & producer of water accounts • User for integrated assessment: framework for integrating socio-economic variables (supply & use, emissions, costs) • WFD • Biodiversity 2010 (SEBI2010) • Climate Change • Agri-environment • Producer of ecosystem accounts: rivers, lakes, wetlands, coastal sea… • Collector of primary data: EIONET, Environment Agencies, GMES/GEOSS • Institutional partner of Eurostat and JRC

17. Accounts can contribute to key environmental policy questions 1. Cost of environmental protection  the “burden” issue • Cost for public budgets: financing of protection (incl. administration and research) • Cost for companies: effects on economic competitiveness 2. Environmental performance of the economy  the “decoupling” issue • Compliance to national emission standards, respect of international conventions • Distances to targets, economic and technological options • Use of scarce resource • Sustainability of consumption patterns 3. Cost of insufficient environmental protection  the “externalities” issue • Depletion of renewable resources (forest, fisheries, water…) • Degradation of natural assets (forests, fisheries, soil, water, ecosystems…) • Impacts on human health and well being • Costs of remediation (instead of protection…)

18. Accounts can contribute to key environmental policy questions 4. Assessment of policies  the “effectiveness/efficiency” issue • Efficiency/effectiveness of environmental policies and instruments • Efficiency/effectiveness of environmental sector policies (agriculture, transport…) • Environmental impact assessment of social and economic policies • Incorporation of environmental concerns in the multiple levels of public and private decision-making (participation, awareness, corporate accounting) 5. Conservation of comparative advantages  the “natural capital” issue • Reserves (ownership, access, operation) • Economic rents on natural resources (depletion…) • Viability of living/cycling natural capital, continuity of ecosystem services • Adaptability to change (global market, climate change, technology)

19. EEA’s expectations from water accounts • Fair description of water stocks & flows and water ecosystem services (direct and indirect) • Possibility of bridging the physical water accounts to the National Accounts • Possibility of connecting water accounts to land use and ecosystems at the appropriate space & time scales • A gateway to social statistics (consumption behaviour, access to clean water, health, seasonal migrations) expectations to the statistical system

20. EEA’s expectations from the statistical system • Expenditure: • Water protection & resource management • By sectors & by industries • By regions (administrative, river basin districts & functional river basins) • Regular updates, international comparisons • Supply & Use • By sectors & by industries • By regions (administrative, river basin districts & functional river basins) • Regular updates, international comparisons

21. EEA’s contribution to water accounts • Assets accounts and circulating resource: • Sub-systems (rivers, canals, reservoirs & lakes, topsoil reserve, aquifers, snow & ice, sea): delineation, monitoring, sampling, assimilation & modelling of water flows • Mass flows: sediments, N, P (by hydrological units) • Water systems state (health, fragmentation…) and ecosystem services • General quality of rivers and lakes • Biological quality • Fragmentation (dams…) • Particular attention to small rivers • Relation of inland water systems to other ecosystems (wetlands, coastal waters) • Emissions to water, N & P surplus calculation , pesticides • Time and space integration • Variability assessment (meteo, run off, temporarily flooded areas) • GIS data assimilation

22. Water Data Centre at the EEA: a resource for water accounting for Europe in WISE • need for agreed accounting units,compatible with WFD and SEEA, matching basic requirements of integrated spatial assessments of ecosystems and land use (e.g. ‘accounting catchments’, ‘elementary hydrological units’, ‘river reaches’, ‘water bodies’, ‘river basin districts’) • need for appropriate geographical details (in particular for sampling monitoring data and reporting on socio-economic local data) • need for appropriate periodicity (quarterly) for detecting water stress