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Reasonsforselectingand implementingNWRM
Youwill have yourown reasons for choosing,designingand implementingNWRM,
depending on your role and responsibilities and on the characteristics of your
surrounding environment. Still, these are five reasons that are central to the
selectionand implementationofNWRM foraddressingadiversityofmanagement
and policy challenges.
Givingmore space tonature
Restoringorestablishingnatural functions,processesandecosystemsmaybe
your
primary guidingprinciple
for policy development and implementation.
This principle is the essential element definingNWRM,which are features
that rely on nature to act in the long term and to enhance the resilience of
our landscape.By allowing nature toperform its task,NWRM can alsohave
a competitive advantage in the long run over grey infrastructure, which
require a continuous flow of inputs over time to support their function.
Better integration of measures in the landscape can also lead to better
acceptance of measures by the local population
Deliveringmultiplebenefits
NWRM canmake different people and sectors better off at the same time,
and thus lead to
shared benefits, improve people’s welfare and their living
environment, and open opportunities in different areas of the economy
.
For example,NWRM can: reduce flood riskswhile improvingwater quality;
sequester carbonwhileenhancingbiodiversity; regulatewater storagewhile
improving water delivery; reduce the need for expensive infrastructure to
manage rainwater while improving the landscape; andmake cities greener
while delivering amenities to its inhabitants.
Contributing to the simultaneous achievement of different policy
objectives
As theydeliver
multiplebenefits
,NWRM can contribute to the achievement
of
different EU policy objectives
.They can: enhance the status of aquatic
ecosystems in line with the objectives and requirements of the EUWater
Framework Directive; reduce flood risk of vulnerable territories and
populations incoherencewith theobjectivesof theFloodsDirective;enhance
biodiversity and contribute to the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy;
enhance the adaptive capacity of systems and contribute to climate change
adaptation; address water scarcity and drought; contribute to sustainable
urbanplanning;and improve thequalityof theenvironment inwhichwe live
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.
Under some conditions, the simultaneous contributions made by NWRM
to different policy objectives can steer policy coordination, synergies and
coherence. Several EU policies already make explicit references toNWRM
(seeTable 1) as ameans of achieving their individual objectives.
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Other policies that can benefit from the implentation include: theUrbanWasteWaterTreatment Directive; the
BathingWater Directive; theGroundwater Directive; sustainable forest management; land use as a resource.
