Dutch drinking water companies seek special WFD status

With an ‘Improved Implementation of the Water Framework Directive Act’, the Dutch government aims to ensure better compliance with European rules on the protection of surface water and groundwater. Until mid-July, stakeholders were able to submit formal responses to the proposed legislative amendments. Drinking water companies are calling the prioritisation of the public drinking water supply.

The WFD amendments aim to regulate the mandatory periodic review of permits for water abstraction and/or discharges. The proposed changes follow an infringement procedure initiated by the European Commission, which concluded that parts of Dutch legislation do not fully comply with the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The most significant amendments require permits for water abstraction to be reviewed on a regular basis and amended where necessary. In addition, the rules governing decentralised permits will change, allowing them to be amended at national level rather than through separate provincial and local regulations.

Periodic review of discharge permits

A total of nine formal responses were submitted during the consultation. Vewin, the association representing the Dutch drinking water companies, agrees that legislative changes are necessary. The organisation also supports the periodic review of discharge permits and efforts to improve oversight of all water abstraction activities, including smaller-scale abstractions. However, the drinking water companies argue that the further development of the legislation should place greater emphasis on ‘the sustainable safeguarding of the public drinking water supply as an overriding reason of major public interest’.

Prioritise public drinking water supply

Specifically, Vewin proposes two amendments. First, during the periodic reassessment of water abstraction permits, the public drinking water supply should be explicitly recognised as an overriding reason of major public interest. Second, because the European Commission requires maximum validity periods for abstraction permits, Vewin argues that permits for the public drinking water supply should be exempt from such time limits.

Farmers are opposing the WFD amendments

The consultation responses also show strong opposition from the Dutch farmers’ organisation LTO Nederland. According to LTO, the proposed legislation would undermine ‘existing, carefully balanced and well-established agreements’ between provincial authorities and the agricultural sector. The organisation further argues that the amendments will lead to ‘an unnecessary and disproportionate increase in regulatory burdens and new obligations for farmers and horticultural producers’. LTO also warns that what appears to be a technical legislative amendment could have much broader consequences: ‘Under the guise of a narrow technical legal correction, new realities are being created with far-reaching implications: a much stronger grip by the national government on water management in the regions’.

Next steps

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management will now assess and process the consultation responses. It has not yet announced when the draft legislation will be submitted to the Council of State for its advisory opinion, a mandatory step before the House of Representatives can debate the proposal. Under the EU requirements, the legislative amendments must be implemented no later than 21 December 2027.

This article was published first by the Dutch platform for water professionals H2O Magazine