Technical report on groundwater associated aquatic ecosystems : No 9: Technical report

This report aims to further knowledge on what GWAAE are, how they are aligned to WFD processes, and support Member States to properly include the needs of these ecosystems in river basin management planning. The report clarifies the categories of GWAAE and their relative dependence on groundwater and collates current available knowledge and experience via a number of examples and case studies. Terminology and status assessment procedures are explained and pragmatic approaches are proposed which leave some flexibility for MS to adapt to their own specific needs. This technical report, which is not a "guidance document", makes use of and complements existing CIS documents, including existing technical reports on groundwater dependent terrestrial ecosystems (GWDTEs) and Guidance Document 18 (Guidance on Groundwater Status and Trend Assessment). A number of recommendations for technical users of the report are highlighted in boxes in each Chapter. The common themes from these recommendations are collated in Chapter 8, as issues and questions to WGGW and MS in general. The key message from this is the need for closer interaction between scientific disciplines, practitioners and Working Groups in developing conceptual understanding for GWAAEs and implementation of WFD requirements, including identification of GWAAEs, their characterisation and monitoring, and adopting appropriate status assessment methodologies.