CNR-IRSA activities related to INHABIT

TOWARDS EUROPEAN INTER-CALIBRATION FOR THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE: PROCEDURES AND EXAMPLES FOR DIFFERENT RIVER TYPES FROM THE E.C. PROJECT STAR

Matrix of possible class boundaries of grades of ‘Ecological Status’ associated with different methods and stressors.

CONTRACT No: EVK1-CT 2001-00089.

Buffagni A., Erba S., Birk S., Cazzola M., Feld C., Ofenböck T., Murray-Bligh J., Furse M. T., Clarke R., Hering D., Soszka H. & W. van de Bund

Rome, March 2005

The implementation of the Water Framework Directive will be a long and crucial step towards achieving a common environmental quality in European water bodies. In 2004-2004, along with the development and testing of new methods and systems for the fulfillment of the WFD requirements, the Intercalibration process represented one of the focal points for discussion, as it will have a notable effect on how our natural resources are managed. In fact, a European agreement on the boundaries to be set between the Ecological Status classes will represent a major issue of the Intercalibration process, still going on today with its second phase. The practical implications of the consistent setting of boundaries for assessment systems will it is hoped result in a desired and equally supported effort on the part of all European Member States to protect and restore our water bodies.
This paper presents the notable experience carried out within the EU co-funded STAR Project on Intercalibration, achieved with the close collaboration of European Commission delegates and activities. The main results of the STAR Project on this important issue have been published concurrently, in order to render the huge amount of data generated on rivers
available as a useful guide for everyone involved in future and present stages of the European Intercalibration process.

Quaderno IRSA 123 on the WFD Intercalibration Process (2005) - TOWARDS EUROPEAN INTER-CALIBRATION FOR THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE: PROCEDURES AND EXAMPLES FOR DIFFERENT RIVER TYPES FROM THE E.C. PROJECT STAR - Verso l'intercalibrazione europea nell'ambito della Direttiva Quadro sulle acque: procedure ed esempi per vari tipi fluviali dal progetto E.C. STAR (in English)