The Netherlands based Central Dredging Association''s (CEDA) Environmental Steering Committee has expressed concern that all who may be affected should be aware of and participate in framing the EC''s Water Framework Directive (WFD), which came into force in December 2000 and will be incorporated into national legislation in the Member States by the end of 2003.
The Directive's aim is to bring about coordinated management of water systems, extending beyond national and state boundaries. It is expected that the Directive will stimulate an all-embracing approach to water protection with a stronger ecological focus and that, in addition, economic considerations will increase in importance.
Effects on the handling of dredged sediments must also be expected as a result of the new conditions. Intensive involvement in the ongoing discussion is essential to ensure that sufficient attention is given to the issues of the improvement and upkeep of ports and waterways, especially with regard to dredging and the handling of dredged materials.
Few port and harbour managers who are responsible for dredging and dredged materials are aware that their operations could be affected by the WFD over the next few years. Learning from history, not enough experts from the dredging community were involved in formulating the EC Landfill Directive, which has subsequently been used to regulate dredged materials.
Many affected by the Habitats Directive recognised its implications too late to exert an influence on its content.
Suspended solids and sediments, an essential, integral and dynamic part of river systems, are named in Appendix VIII of the WFD on the "Indicative List of Main Pollutants". Clearly, input from dredging professionals is in order now as in future, bodies of water are to be managed according to standardised principles and objectives from tributaries through to coastal waters, with administrative and state boundaries no longer relevant. Chemical and physical parameters will no longer be the crucial criterion for the assessment of water status; water ecology, especially aquatic flora and fauna, will be paramount.
Much information must be provided over the coming months and years to those who are formulating the precise structure and dictates of the WFD.
In order to prevent the emergence of one-sided regulations which could hinder the handling of dredged sediments in future, it is essential that CEDA, its constituents, and all other interested parties now take part in the ongoing discussions.
For further information, contact CEDA. Tel: +31 (0)15 278 3145, Fax: +31 (0)15 278 7104, Email: ceda@dredging.org Web: www.dredging.org
