Rijkswaterstaat Environment

Water

This part of the website offers information about regulations for water quality and emissions to water in Europe and the Netherlands. The following European directives are important:

The EU Water Framework Directive

On 23 October 2000, the 'Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the Community action in the field of water policy' or, in short, the EU Water Framework Directive (or even shorter the WFD) was finally adopted.

The EU Urban Wastewater Directive

The Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment was adopted on 21 May 1991. Its objective is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of urban wastewater discharges and discharges from certain industrial sectors (see Annex III of the Directive) and concerns the collection, treatment and discharge of domestic wastewater, mixture of wastewater and wastewater from certain industrial sectors (see Annex III of the Directive).

For more information about Dutch water management, see the website of Helpdesk Water.

Surface water

The Water Framework Directive stipulates that River Basin Management Plans be prepared for each river basin in Europe. The preparation of the River Basin Management Plan requires a prolonged period of collection, interpretation, planning and stakeholder involvement.

Implementation EC Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive

The Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment was adopted on 21 May 1991. Its objective is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of discharges and discharges from certain industrial sectors (see Annex III of the Directive) and concerns the collection, treatment and discharge of domestic wastewater, mixture of wastewater and wastewater from certain industrial sectors (see Annex III of the Directive).

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