**Part 4**

**Politics, Regulation and Guidelines** 

176 Current Issues of Water Management

Jager, C. G., Diehl Sebastian, Emans, M. Physical determinants of phytoplankton production,

Helmholtz Association Information Booklet for Constructed Wetlands and aquatic plant

EPA Guiding principles for constructed treatment wetlands, EPA 843 – B-00-003, 2000. Office of wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Washington DC, 4502 F. EPA 843 – F – 01 – 002b, 2001, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of

Rai, V. 2008. Modeling a wetland system: The case of Keoladeo National Park (KNP), India.

Shukla, J. B. Dubey, B. 1996. Effects of changing habitats on species: Application to KNP,

Shukla, V. P., 1998. Modeling the dynamics of wetland macro-phytes, KNP, India. Ecol.

Rosenzweig, M L, MacArthur, R. H. Graphical representation of stability of predator – prey

Davison, L., Headley, T. and Pratt, K. (2005). Aspects of design, structure, performance and

Vymazal, J. 2005. Horizontal Subsurface flow and hybrid constructed wetland systems for

waste water treatment. Ecological Engineering 24, 478 – 490.

operation of reed beds – eight years experience in northeastern New South Wales, Australia. Water Science and Technology: A journal of the International Association

US Environmental Protection Agency Design manual EPA/625/1 – 88/022, 1988.

Algal Stoichiometry and Vertical Nutrient Fluxes. The American Naturalist, vol.

**5. References** 

175 (4), E91 – E104, 2010.

Water and Office of wetlands.

Model. 109: 99 – 112.

Ecological Modeling 210, 247 – 252.

India. Ecological Modeling 86, 91 – 99.

interactions. American Naturalist, 1963.

on Water Pollution Research 51, 129 – 138.

systems for municipal waste water treatment.

**9** 

Antonio A. R. Ioris *University of Aberdeen United Kingdom* 

**Bringing Water Regulation into the 21st** 

**Century: The Implementation of the Water** 

**Framework Directive in the Iberian Peninsula** 

Water is anything, but trivial. That observation is easily demonstrated by the intricate, often contested, nature of water use and conservation in Europe, which normally encapsulates operational challenges, intersector disputes and multi-level political expectations. If the traditional forms of water use were typically based on cooperation and mutual understanding (vis-à-vis subsistence irrigation and community water supply), the recent history of water development is more closely associated with large-scale interventions and growing rates of water demand. Mounting environmental pressures make the reconciliation of antagonistic interests even more difficult, especially in areas with relatively low stocks of water and an inadequate institutional organisation. Throughout the 20th century, both the Keynesian and the post-Keynesian phases of water management have tried to develop rational approaches to restore and maintain the integrity of freshwater systems.1 If the Keynesian period was marked by large infrastructure projects and centralised planning, the post-Keynesian blueprint is now characterised by non-structural and more flexible responses. In that context, a succession of plans and regulatory efforts launched by the European Union in the last two decades have attempted to improve the institutional mechanisms for dealing with old and new water management problems. To a great extent, the end result of that salient water policy has been an 'organised anarchy' characterised by problematic preferences, unclear technology and fluid participation, whilst the overall trend of resource overuse and the uneven sharing of the environmental impacts remained mostly unchanged (Richardson, 1994). That is why the approval of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in 2000 – currently in its first cycle of implementation – has been perceived as a promising opportunity to enhance the regulatory capacity of national governments and public agencies, as well as a central tool in the reform of the collective basis of social learning and bring water management in Europe to the 21st century (see Hedelin & Lindh,

1 The post-Keynesian phase of water management began with the United Nations Mar del Plata conference in 1977 and, not by chance, coincided with the aftermath of the crash of the Bretton Woods monetary order, the oil crisis, and the declining role of the state. The connection between water management reforms and the larger politico-economic reorganisation has had major consequences for

the assessment of problems and formulation of solutions, as discussed below.

**1. Introduction** 

2008). 
