Water management: NGOs present indicators for overhaul

European environmental NGOs urged member states to reconsider how water is legally allocated and priced in manufacturing, energy production, agriculture, domestic supply and tourism.

As member states prepare to unveil their draft national plans for the protection of rivers, environmental NGOs, EEB and WWF announced a set of headline indicators against which they plan to measure the EU 27’s performance on the issue.

The priorities identified for the upcoming national plans include the following:

• Transparent and publicly owned water management comprising both public and business involvement and empoPreview this Postwerement and clear information on who pays for which water use.
• Reducing waste and better use of water through the adoption of a new approach to water management, through integrating consideration of the way in which water is legally allocated, financially valued, distributed and used into policies on manufacturing, energy production, agriculture, domestic supply and tourism.
• More space for living rivers, which are under pressure from human use. This should be done by creating of buffer zones in which human activities are restricted or banned.
• Healthy, safe water for people and nature through reduced pollution, substitution of hazardous chemicals and making the polluter pay for the costs of cleaning up.

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Source: EurActiv