Revision as of 14:48, 31 January 2013

European methods for WFD

Type

Hydromorphological assessment methods

Summary

In this section we overview the assessment methods which are commonly used and/or have been formally approved for the implementation of the WFD in each EU country. We reviewed 21 methods in total (Figure 1).

Given that parts of these methods are only published in the national language, this review is mainly limited to those methods for which some information in English was available (papers, English summaries, etc.).

Figure 1. Sum of analyzed methods (i.e. implemented by EU coutries for the WFD) for each of the 5 categories of assessment methods. (*) The hydrological regime alteration assessment is provided only by the IARI (Italy), which deeply differs from others categories of assessment methods.

The main gap in methods implemented by EU countries for the WFD is the lack of consideration of physical processes (i.e. cause-effect of alterations), when physical habitat assessment is used alone. The 5 identified categories of methods need to be considered as part of an overall hydromorphological assessment.

Application to WFD

Table 1 shows the methods adopted in each European country for the implementation of the WFD, and indicated their status of application. Tables also shows, when available, supplementary information concerning the hydromorphological assessment for those countries that do not employ a specific method (e.g. BiotopeMap in Sweden), or because the adopted method refers to some particular objective related to hydromorphology (e.g. the criteria applied in Romania for HMWBs).

Table 1. Census of hydromorphological methods and/or assessment criteria applied in each European country for the implementation of the WFD (NA = information not available).

Useful references

Other relevant information