« Previous | Contents |
Listen
ANNEX IV IDENTIFICATION AND REVERSAL OF SIGNIFICANT AND SUSTAINED UPWARD TRENDS
Part A: Identification of significant and sustained upward trends
Member States will identify significant and sustained upward trends in all bodies or groups of bodies of groundwater that are characterised as being at risk in accordance with Annex II to Directive 2000/60/EC, taking into account the following requirements:
1. in accordance with Section 2.4 of Annex V to Directive 2000/60/EC, the monitoring programme will be so designed as to detect significant and sustained upward trends in concentrations of the pollutants identified pursuant to Article 3 of this Directive;
2. the procedure for the identification of significant and sustained upward trends will be based on the following elements:
(a) monitoring frequencies and monitoring locations will be selected such as are sufficient to:
(i) provide the information necessary to ensure that such upward trends can be distinguished from natural variation with an adequate level of confidence and precision;
(ii) enable such upward trends to be identified in sufficient time to allow measures to be implemented in order to prevent, or at least mitigate as far as practicable, environmentally significant detrimental changes in groundwater quality. This identification will be carried out for the first time by 2009, if possible, and will take into account existing data, in the context of the report on trend identification within the first river basin management plan referred to in Article 13 of Directive 2000/60/EC, and at least every six years thereafter;
(iii) take into account the physical and chemical temporal characteristics of the body of groundwater, including groundwater flow conditions and recharge rates and percolation time through soil or subsoil.
(b) the methods of monitoring and analysis used will conform to international quality control principles, including, if relevant, CEN or national standardised methods, to ensure equivalent scientific quality and comparability of the data provided;
(c) the assessment will be based on a statistical method, such as regression analysis, for trend analysis in time series of individual monitoring points;
(d) in order to avoid bias in trend identification, all measurements below the quantification limit will be set to half of the value of the highest quantification limit occurring in time series, except for total pesticides;
3. the identification of significant and sustained upward trends in the concentrations of substances which occur both naturally and as a result of human activities will consider the data collected before the start of the monitoring programme in order to report on trend identification within the first river basin management plan referred to in Article 13 of Directive 2000/60/EC, where such data is available.
Part B: Starting points for trend reversals
According to Article 5, Member States will reverse identified significant and sustained upward trends where these trends present a risk of harm to associated aquatic ecosystems, to directly dependent terrestrial ecosystems, to human health or to actual or potential legitimate uses of the water environment, taking into account the following requirements:
1. the starting point for implementing measures to reverse significant and sustained upward trends will be when the concentration of the pollutant reaches 75% of the parametric values of the groundwater quality standards set out in Annex I and of the threshold values established pursuant to Article 3, unless:
(a) an earlier starting point is required to enable trend reversal measures to prevent most cost-effectively, or at least mitigate as far as possible, any environmentally significant detrimental changes in groundwater quality;
(b) a different starting point is justified where the detection limit does not allow for establishing the presence of a trend at 75% of the parametric values; or
(c) the rate of increase and the reversibility of the trend are such that a later starting point for trend reversal measures would still enable such measures to prevent most cost-effectively, or at least mitigate as far as possible, any environmentally significant detrimental changes in groundwater quality.
For activities falling within the scope of Directive 91/676/EEC, the starting point for implementing measures to reverse significant and sustained upward trends will be established in accordance with that Directive and with Directive 2000/60/EC;
2. once a starting point has been established for a body of groundwater characterised as being at risk in accordance with Section 2.4.4 of Annex V to Directive 2000/60/EC and pursuant to Part B, paragraph 1 of this Annex, it will not be changed during the six-year cycle of the river basin management plan required in accordance with Article 13 of Directive 2000/60/EC;
3. trend reversals will be demonstrated, taking into account relevant monitoring provisions contained in Part A, paragraph 2.
« Previous | Contents |