Brabant does not currently meet the European water targets, and will not be able to do so before the legal deadline of December 22, 2027. In fact, the next deadline, in 2033, is also not feasible. The province cannot specify a date on which the water will meet all standards.
This is evident from an administrative report (BURAP) that will be discussed in the Provincial Council on Friday. “The water quality does not yet meet the legal WFD standards in many locations. It is very likely that Brabant will not meet all targets in 2027,” the province writes. “Environmentally alien substances, especially pesticides and PFAS, are found almost everywhere in groundwater.”
Not a single water body in Brabant is satisfactory
In the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the principle applies that anyone who fails to meet one criterion immediately fails as a whole. No water body in Brabant currently meets all criteria.
The water targets will remain in force even after the 2027 deadline. Governments must then continue working towards a next deadline in 2033. That will not work either, the province says: “It is not possible to meet the standards for all substances by the end of 2033.”
‘It is not possible to give an exact end date’
When this will be the case, the province cannot say when asked: “An exact end date cannot be given for this. The WFD also provides scope for achieving goals at a later date, provided it can be properly substantiated that measures have been taken but need more time to have an effect.”
The Water Framework Directive
In 2000, European countries included agreements on water quality in the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The most important rules:
- No more water may be pumped than is added.
- The water quality must not deteriorate (deterioration ban).
- Existing contamination must be undone.
- Plant and animal life must be restored. A deterioration ban also applies to this.
Countries that do not comply with the WFD risk sky-high fines and penalties from Brussels. In addition, the granting of permits, for example for discharges, may come to a standstill because the water is not allowed to deteriorate further.
The WFD allows measures to only be effective later, provided they are taken before December 2027. Groundwater can take decades to recover; A fish ladder needs time before fish use it.
“Together with the water boards, we are working on the implementation of the KRW impulse Brabant, a package of additional measures to further improve water quality,” the province writes. Yet that is probably not enough: “Despite intensive efforts, the task is greater than the current measures can solve.”
New PFAS standards in 2033
After 2033, the situation threatens to deteriorate further, because new PFAS standards will be added to the WFD. This is expected to push the goals even further out of sight: “Because PFAS are found in many places, the chemical status of the groundwater will most likely be assessed as insufficient.”
The WFD has virtually no exceptions. Demonstrating maximum effort, as the province previously indicated it wanted to do to avoid fines, is not legally sufficient, according to a report by consultancy Arcadis. “This means that if a WFD target is not achieved, it is insufficient to argue that a maximum effort has been made to do everything possible,” Arcadis wrote.
It is only possible to request a postponement again to a limited extent
The Netherlands previously appealed for an exception and was thus granted a postponement until the current deadline of 2027. According to the same Arcadis report, requesting a further postponement is only possible to a limited extent.
The risks extend beyond fines alone: ”In addition to legal consequences, failure to achieve WFD targets can lead to economic damage, ecological damage, health risks and reputational damage. Working on WFD target achievement is also important to ‘keep the province open’.”