- 4.5 consultation on 'significant water management issues'

4.5.1 What tasks need to be done?

In the second consultation step, a preliminary overview of the important water management issues for the relevant river basin district and for its river basin(s) (the Directives use of these terms in Article 14 is not standardised) is to be published by the end of 2007 at the latest. The important issues for the river basin district can be derived from:

• The analysis of the water-quality inventory that is to be completed by the end of 2004;
• The subsequent discussion regarding definition of objectives (taking into account the exceptions provided by the Directive);
• The necessary measures;
• The perceptions, knowledge and experience of the relevant stakeholders.

By the end of 2007, a relatively homogeneous assessment of the key requirements for action should be available throughout the entire river basin district. By this point, assessments should no longer differ, since otherwise any co-ordinated approach would be endangered.


4.5.2 How to organise the consultation?

The examples in the boxes hereafter show different forms of consultation at different geographic scales:

• (Inter)national and district level
  The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is the co-ordinating body for international aspects of the Directives implementation. ICPDR is promoting public participation in the planning process, through financial support to the ICPDR Information System, including the Danube Watch, as well as operating networks such as the Danube Environmental Forum (DEF), MLIM and AEWS. NGO observers attend the ICPDR meetings, and provide significant input to the work of the Commission (for example in the establishment of an Ecological Expert Group). Stakeholders are observers to the Commission, which implies full participation, no voting rights.
  
• River Basin level
  
  Water management Plan of the municipality of Örebro, Sweden (see Annex II)
  
  The objective of the consultation is to fulfil the demands about public participation of the Swedish planning and building act concerning consultation in the development of comprehensive plans. A working group and a steering group consisting of a civil servants implement the work. A total of about 70 different authorities and organisations upstream the catchment areas and within the boarders of the municipality have been consulted on a draft plan during a seminar and information meetings. The working and steering group acknowledged their opinions and comments. The adjusted document was sent for a new round of consultations. Farmer- and water protection associations and the university were also involved.