Application of WFD water quality indicators on surface waters in Flanders (Belgium)

ABSTRACT The agreement on the Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) in 2000 was the result of a long and intensive debate in the 1990s. Discussions on the assessment of the good ecological status and the presentation of comparable and representative results even continue at present. This recent history is important to understand current initiatives on developing indicators. With the publication of the River Basin Management Plans, the one-out-all-out principle is questioned at EU level, and feeds at the same time the discussion about the use of appropriate indicators. This study tests alternative indicators and applies them to the biological and physio-chemical water quality data in Flanders. With the illustration of the potential use of water quality indicators, the status and trends of surface water quality in Flanders are described.