ABSTRACT
December 22, 2000, will remain a milestone in the history of water policies in Europe: on that date, the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities and thereby entered into force. The WFD establishes a framework for the protection of all waters including rivers and lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwater with the overall objective of achieving at least good status for all waters by 2015.
In Ireland, the main vehicle for delivering the objectives of the WFD is through the establishment of major River Basin District Projects, funded by the Irish National Development Plan, and outsourced to experienced Consultants. This paper outlines Ireland's approach to the implementation of the WFD at River Basin District level through the Shannon River Basin District Project. The Shannon is Ireland's largest river basin and is a nominated pilot River Basin District in which the EU Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) is being tested.
The WFD requires the preparation of an Article 5 Characterisation Report for every EU River Basin District (RBD) by December 2004. This paper focuses on the key issues encountered during the development of the Shannon RBD Characterisation Report, focusing on Ireland's approach to the delineation of water bodies and undertaking risk assessments.
