The surface water monitoring network shall be established in accordance with the requirements of Article 8. The monitoring network shall be designed so as to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of ecological and chemical status within each river basin and shall permit classification of water bodies into five classes consistent with the normative definitions in section 1.2. Member States shall provide a map or maps showing the surface water monitoring network in the river basin management plan.
On the basis of the characterisation and impact assessment carried out in accordance with Article 5 and Annex II, Member States shall for each period to which a river basin management plan applies, establish a surveillance monitoring programme and an operational monitoring programme. Member States may also need in some cases to establish programmes of investigative monitoring.
Member States shall monitor parameters which are indicative of the status of each relevant quality element. In selecting parameters for biological quality elements Member States shall identify the appropriate taxonomic level required to achieve adequate confidence and precision in the classification of the quality elements. Estimates of the level of confidence and precision of the results provided by the monitoring programmes shall be given in the plan.
Member States shall establish surveillance monitoring programmes to provide information for:
supplementing and validating the impact assessment procedure detailed in Annex II,
the efficient and effective design of future monitoring programmes,
the assessment of long-term changes in natural conditions, and
the assessment of long-term changes resulting from widespread anthropogenic activity.
The results of such monitoring shall be reviewed and used, in combination with the impact assessment procedure described in Annex II, to determine requirements for monitoring programmes in the current and subsequent river basin management plans.
Surveillance monitoring shall be carried out of sufficient surface water bodies to provide an assessment of the overall surface water status within each catchment or subcatchments within the river basin district. In selecting these bodies Member States shall ensure that, where appropriate, monitoring is carried out at points where:
the rate of water flow is significant within the river basin district as a whole; including points on large rivers where the catchment area is greater than 2 500 km2,
the volume of water present is significant within the river basin district, including large lakes and reservoirs,
significant bodies of water cross a Member State boundary,
sites are identified under the Information Exchange Decision 77/795/EEC, and
at such other sites as are required to estimate the pollutant load which is transferred across Member State boundaries, and which is transferred into the marine environment.
Surveillance monitoring shall be carried out for each monitoring site for a period of one year during the period covered by a river basin management plan for:
parameters indicative of all biological quality elements,
parameters indicative of all hydromorphological quality elements,
parameters indicative of all general physico-chemical quality elements,
priority list pollutants which are discharged into the river basin or sub-basin, and
other pollutants discharged in significant quantities in the river basin or sub-basin,
unless the previous surveillance monitoring exercise showed that the body concerned reached good status and there is no evidence from the review of impact of human activity in Annex II that the impacts on the body have changed. In these cases, surveillance monitoring shall be carried out once every three river basin management plans.
Operational monitoring shall be undertaken in order to:
establish the status of those bodies identified as being at risk of failing to meet their environmental objectives, and
assess any changes in the status of such bodies resulting from the programmes of measures.
The programme may be amended during the period of the river basin management plan in the light of information obtained as part of the requirements of Annex II or as part of this Annex, in particular to allow a reduction in frequency where an impact is found not to be significant or the relevant pressure is removed.
Operational monitoring shall be carried out for all those bodies of water which on the basis of either the impact assessment carried out in accordance with Annex II or surveillance monitoring are identified as being at risk of failing to meet their environmental objectives under Article 4 and for those bodies of water into which priority list substances are discharged. Monitoring points shall be selected for priority list substances as specified in the legislation laying down the relevant environmental quality standard. In all other cases, including for priority list substances where no specific guidance is given in such legislation, monitoring points shall be selected as follows:
for bodies at risk from significant point source pressures, sufficient monitoring points within each body in order to assess the magnitude and impact of the point source. Where a body is subject to a number of point source pressures monitoring points may be selected to assess the magnitude and impact of these pressures as a whole,
for bodies at risk from significant diffuse source pressures, sufficient monitoring points within a selection of the bodies in order to assess the magnitude and impact of the diffuse source pressures. The selection of bodies shall be made such that they are representative of the relative risks of the occurrence of the diffuse source pressures, and of the relative risks of the failure to achieve good surface water status,
for bodies at risk from significant hydromorphological pressure, sufficient monitoring points within a selection of the bodies in order to assess the magnitude and impact of the hydromorphological pressures. The selection of bodies shall be indicative of the overall impact of the hydromorphological pressure to which all the bodies are subject.
In order to assess the magnitude of the pressure to which bodies of surface water are subject Member States shall monitor for those quality elements which are indicative of the pressures to which the body or bodies are subject. In order to assess the impact of these pressures, Member States shall monitor as relevant:
parameters indicative of the biological quality element, or elements, most sensitive to the pressures to which the water bodies are subject,
all priority substances discharged, and other pollutants discharged in significant quantities,
parameters indicative of the hydromorphological quality element most sensitive to the pressure identified.
Investigative monitoring shall be carried out:
where the reason for any exceedances is unknown,
where surveillance monitoring indicates that the objectives set out in Article 4 for a body of water are not likely to be achieved and operational monitoring has not already been established, in order to ascertain the causes of a water body or water bodies failing to achieve the environmental objectives, or
to ascertain the magnitude and impacts of accidental pollution,
and shall inform the establishment of a programme of measures for the achievement of the environmental objectives and specific measures necessary to remedy the effects of accidental pollution.
For the surveillance monitoring period, the frequencies for monitoring parameters indicative of physico-chemical quality elements given below should be applied unless greater intervals would be justified on the basis of technical knowledge and expert judgement. For biological or hydromorphological quality elements monitoring shall be carried out at least once during the surveillance monitoring period.
For operational monitoring, the frequency of monitoring required for any parameter shall be determined by Member States so as to provide sufficient data for a reliable assessment of the status of the relevant quality element. As a guideline, monitoring should take place at intervals not exceeding those shown in the table below unless greater intervals would be justified on the basis of technical knowledge and expert judgement.
Frequencies shall be chosen so as to achieve an acceptable level of confidence and precision. Estimates of the confidence and precision attained by the monitoring system used shall be stated in the river basin management plan.
Monitoring frequencies shall be selected which take account of the variability in parameters resulting from both natural and anthropogenic conditions. The times at which monitoring is undertaken shall be selected so as to minimise the impact of seasonal variation on the results, and thus ensure that the results reflect changesin the water body as a result of changes due to anthropogenic pressure. Additional monitoring during different seasons of the same year shall be carried out, where necessary, to achieve this objective.
| Quality element | Rivers | Lakes | Transitional | Coastal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biological | ||||
| Phytoplankton | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months |
| Other aquatic flora | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| Macro invertebrates | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| Fish | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years | |
| Hydromorphological | ||||
| Continuity | 6 years | |||
| Hydrology | continuous | 1 month | ||
| Morphology | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years |
| Physico-chemical | ||||
| Thermal conditions | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months |
| Oxygenation | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months |
| Salinity | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months | |
| Nutrient status | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months |
| Acidification status | 3 months | 3 months | ||
| Other pollutants | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months |
| Priority substances | 1 month | 1 month | 1 month | 1 month |
The monitoring programmes required above shall be supplemented in order to fulfil the following requirements:
Bodies of surface water designated in Article 7 which provide more than 100 m3 a day as an average shall be designated as monitoring sites and shall be subject to such additional monitoring as may be necessary to meet the requirements of that Article. Such bodies shall be monitored for all priority substances discharged and all other substances discharged in significant quantities which could affect the status of the body of water and which are controlled under the provisions of the Drinking Water Directive. Monitoring shall be carried out in accordance with the frequencies set out below:
| Community served | Frequency |
|---|---|
| < 10 000 | 4 per year |
| 10 000 to 30 000 | 8 per year |
| > 30 000 | 12 per year. |
Bodies of water forming these areas shall be included within the operational monitoring programme referred to above where, on the basis of the impact assessment and the surveillance monitoring, they are identified as being at risk of failing to meet their environmental objectives under Article 4. Monitoring shall be carried out to assess the magnitude and impact of all relevant significant pressures on these bodies and, where necessary, to assess changes in the status of such bodies resulting from the programmes of measures. Monitoring shall continue until the areas satisfy the water-related requirements of the legislation under which they are designated and meet their objectives under Article 4.
Methods used for the monitoring of type parameters shall conform to the international standards listed below in so far as they cover monitoring, or to such other national or international standards which will ensure the provision of data of an equivalent scientific quality and comparability.
Generic methods for use with the specific methods given in the standards relating to the following biological quality elements:
| EN ISO 5667-3:2012 | Water quality — Sampling — Part 3: Preservation and handling of samples |
| EN 15204:2006 | Water quality — Guidance standard on the enumeration of phytoplankton using inverted microscopy (Utermöhl technique) |
| EN 15972:2011 | Water quality — Guidance on quantitative and qualitative investigations of marine phytoplankton |
| ISO 10260:1992 | Water quality — Measurement of biochemical parameters —Spectrometric determination of the chlorophyll-a concentration |
| EN 15460:2007 | Water quality — Guidance standard for the surveying of macrophytes in lakes |
| EN 14184:2014 | Water quality — Guidance for the surveying of aquatic macrophytes in running waters |
| EN 15708:2009 | Water quality — Guidance standard for the surveying, sampling and laboratory analysis of phytobenthos in shallow running water |
| EN 13946:2014 | Water quality — Guidance for the routine sampling and preparation of benthic diatoms from rivers and lakes |
| EN 14407:2014 | Water quality — Guidance for the identification and enumeration of benthic diatom samples from rivers and lakes |
| EN ISO 10870:2012 | Water quality — Guidelines for the selection of sampling methods and devices for benthic macroinvertebrates in fresh waters |
| EN 15196:2006 | Water quality — Guidance on sampling and processing of the pupal exuviae of Chironomidae (order Diptera) for ecological assessment |
| EN 16150:2012 | Water quality — Guidance on pro rata multi-habitat sampling of benthic macro-invertebrates from wadeable rivers |
| EN ISO 19493:2007 | Water quality — Guidance on marine biological surveys of hard-substrate communities |
| EN ISO 16665:2013 | Water quality — Guidelines for quantitative sampling and sample processing of marine soft-bottom macro-fauna |
| EN 14962:2006 | Water quality — Guidance on the scope and selection of fish sampling methods |
| EN 14011:2003 | Water quality — Sampling of fish with electricity |
| EN 15910:2014 | Water quality — Guidance on the estimation of fish abundance with mobile hydroacoustic methods |
| EN 14757:2005 | Water quality — Sampling of fish with multi-mesh gillnets |
| EN 14614:2004 | Water quality — Guidance standard for assessing the hydromorphological features of rivers |
| EN 16039:2011 | Water quality — Guidance standard on assessing the hydromorphological features of lakes |
Any relevant CEN/ISO standards]