Water for life – LIFE for water
A Conference of the LIFE Programme
B.2 Eutrophication – how can diffuse sources of nutrients and remaining point sources be tackled effectively?
Algal blooms, “red tides”, “green tides”, fish kills, inedible shellfish, loss of biodiversity and public health threats. What is the common link? The answer is: eutrophication, a complex process which occurs both in fresh and marine waters, where excessive development of certain types of algae disturbs the aquatic ecosystems and becomes a threat to animal and human health. The primary cause of eutrophication is an excessive concentration of plant nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) originating from agriculture or sewage treatment.
The European Community has been taking measures to limit further eutrophication of the environment for over twenty years, with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and the Nitrates Directive. In 2000, the EC adopted the Water Framework Directive, which also aims to enhance the protection and improvement of the aquatic environment, through specific measures for the progressive reduction of discharges from point sources, but also emissions and losses from diffuse sources. A key element of this Directive is the river basin management approach. The past decade has seen significant progress in the treatment of sewage and industrial waste which is being emitted into Europe's rivers, resulting in lower loads of organic waste and nutrients, and a measurable improvement in water quality. Yet, regions with lower population density are still looking for cost-efficient and appropriate treatments to meet the relevant quality objectives. In addition, the agricultural sector has not made as much progress and diffuse pollution from fertilizer and livestock effluent has a substantial impact.
Eutrophication causes a loss of biodiversity in many water systems. Attempts to reverse the process are usually difficult and expensive. Thus, eutrophication is still one of the major environmental problems across Europe.
This session will address techniques, methods and approaches to tackling eutrophication and establishing “good ecological status” in different water systems (rivers, lakes, coastal and marine waters). The session will attempt to:
The aim of this session is to highlight LIFE projects’ innovative approaches in helping to reduce the remaining nutrient sources and contribute to the reduction of eutrophication in European waters, thereby helping to achieve the main aim of the Water Framework Directive – to restore all European water bodies to good ecological status as a rule by the year 2015.
