Client: Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment – Environment Department
The aim of the project was the establishment of an inventory of emissions, discharges and losses for all priority substances (PS) and pollutants in Cyprus River Basin District according to the Article 5 of Directive 2008/105/EC on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy (Directive EQS) and the relevant national legislation.
The inventory included all the information regarding the relevance of priority substances within the River Basin District, the spatial distribution and the load discharged into the aquatic environment, in order to support the preparation of the new Management Plans under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC and the adoption of appropriate measures on reducing emissions, discharges and losses of priority.
The inventory included:
- Information gathered pursuant to Articles 5 and 8 of Directive 2000/60/EC, Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 and other available data
- Review of the current state of all priority substances and pollutants, according to all available information
- Register of point and diffuse sources (industrial installation, farms, waste water treatment plants, agriculture, etc.) that are related to emissions, discharges and losses of priority substances and pollutants
- Classification of pressures (very Important, important, less important) according to the Water Framework Directive
- Presentation of all the above in suitable maps
Based on the above analyses, recommendations were made on the major potential sources of priority substances for each river watershed and on the adjustment needs of the national water monitoring programme so that to include water bodies that are expected to have priority substances.
The results of this project contribute to the following:
- Support the adoption and implementation of targeted measures to reduce emissions, discharges and losses of priority substances and to lead to the gradual elimination of emissions.
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Programme of Measures of the River Basin Management Plan
- Assessment of whether and to what extent the monitored concentrations of PS are derived from natural sources or processes or distance-transport processes of pollutants
- Support to the Commission in monitoring compliance with environmental goals set by the WFD
- Gap identification in local knowledge and indication of the need for new strategies and policies
- Support to the implementation of the Water and Marine Strategy Frameworks.
