Actions for Waters - from Source to Sea

ongoing

ACWA LIFE - Actions for Waters - from Source to Sea engages a comprehensive group of main stakeholders in a strong partnership to jointly work together to achieve the aim of the project: the full implementaion of River Basin Management Plans to maintain and reach good status of Finnish streams, lakes, coastal waters as well as ground waters. The project´s activity is based on the implementation of the seven River Basin District Management Plans on the main land pursuant to the Water Framework Directive as strategic documents and the Program of Measures pursuant to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, as a supporting strategy. The plans form a state-of-the-art backbone to reach the objectives and are prepared in a broad cooperation with central stakeholders. The objective is to decrease the effects of anthropogenic pressures with a source-to-sea approach, mainly reducing eutrophication and physical alterations and other hydro morphological changes as target. The objectives will be reached by 1) a fundamental approach to target and evaluate best available measures, including economic valuation, 2) implement evaluated measures broadly on demo catchments for load mitigation and habitat restoration and upscale measures nationally using complementary funding and activities, 3) integrate measures targeted to coastal waters and sea to a catchment based approach to create a synergy effect, 4) develop cooperation, competence, communication and general awareness to a joint achievement of the objectives and 5) develop relevant policy instruments, identify and boost new complementary funding for the full implementation of the strategies. Furthermore, the results will be replicated and transferred to after LIFE by a sustainable exploitation of project results.