Cette recherche propose une méthodologie pour prendre en compte les coûts de transaction politiques et pour évaluer comment ils conditionnent la mise en œuvre d’une politique. A partir d’une analyse empirique de la Directive Cadre Eau, ce travail (1) propose une typologie des déterminants des Coûts de Transaction Politiques (CTP) et (2) présente les stratégies des acteurs pour pallier ces CTP (‘arrangements’). Les arrangements correspondent aux stratégies visant à minimiser soit des coûts de recherche et de collecte d’informations, des coûts de négociation, ou des coûts de coordination. Cette recherche témoigne que certains choix de mise en œuvre de politique peuvent s'expliquer par la recherche d'une minimisation des CTP selon des déterminants contextuels. La prise en compte des CTP pour l’analyse des politiques permet d’anticiper (i) les contraintes auxquelles les acteurs peuvent être confrontés lors de la mise en œuvre d’une politique et (ii) comment ils sont enclins à y répondre. / This research proposes a methodology to account for policy transaction costs and to assess how they condition the implementation of policy tasks. In light of an empirical analysis of the European Water Framework Directive implementation in 4 institutional contexts, this work (1) elaborates a typology of Policy Transaction Costs (PTC) determinants and (2) depicts stakeholders’ strategies to cope with PTC (‘arrangements’). We distinguish three main categories of arrangements: strategies to minimize either research and information collection costs, negotiation costs, or coordination costs. This research testifies that certain policy implementation decisions can be explained by the search for PTC minimization according to contextual determinants. Policy analysis shall thus consider PTC linked to policy implementation so as to anticipate (i) the constraints policy actors will face when implementing a given policy and (ii) how these actors are likely to respond to such constraints.

Med målet att uppnå vattenkvalité av god status inom hela EU införde Europaparlamentet år 2000 ramdirektivet för vatten (2000/60/EC), även kallat Vattendirektivet. För att uppnå god vattenstatus sätts mål i form av ”miljökvalitetsnormer”(MKN) på vattendrag, sjöar, kustvatten och grundvatten inom varje län och kommun. Dessa ska beaktas vid framtagandet av nya detaljplaner vilket är ett juridiskt gällande dokument där den tillåtna exploateringen av ett område fastställs. I detaljplanen ska planens påverkan på möjligheterna att uppnå MKN för vatten utredas och presenteras. Det saknas dock tydliga riktlinjer för hur denna bedömning ska göras och vilka aspekter som ska ingå i utredningen. I de fall planen medför att målen i form av MKN riskeras att inte uppnås är det länsstyrelsens uppgift att hindra planen från att godkännas. Syftet med studien är att utreda vad som är viktigt i arbetet att ta fram en detaljplan som beaktar MKN för vatten och hur kommuner och länsstyrelser upplever arbetet. Målet är att undersöka det övergripande arbetet och därefter fokusera på den bedömning som görs av vilken påverkan på MKN en plan medför. Detta för att ge en bild av hur arbetet sker i dagsläget och belysa de utmaningar och förbättringsmöjligheter som finns. Studien avgränsas geografisk till länsstyrelserna inom Norra Östersjöns vattendistrikt och kommunerna i Stockholms län. För att undersöka det ovannämnda genomfördes en förstudie bestående av en intervjustudie riktad till konsulter och anställda på kommun och länsstyrelser, och en litteraturstudie. Förstudien ledde fram till formuleringen av frågor i enkätstudien. Enkätstudien bestod av två delar där den första riktade sig till kommuner i Stockholms län och den andra till länsstyrelserna i Norra Östersjöns vattendistrikt. Resultatet från studien bidrog till att identifiera viktiga steg i processen att ta fram en detaljplan som följer satta MKN. Även svårigheter kopplade till de olika processtegen framkom. Uppföljning visade sig vara ett steg som inte genomförs i så stor utsträckning men som troligtvis kan förbättra situationen genom att bidra med data och kvalitetssäkring av metodiken. Bedömningen som görs av hur en plan påverkar möjligheten att uppfylla MKN sammanställdes i några nyckelsteg. De flesta svårigheter som upplevs av de kommunanställda är kopplade till att utföra den här bedömningen. Främst är det osäkerheter i metod och modelleringsverktyg tillsammans med ofullständigt underlagsmaterial som bidrar till svårigheterna. Det preliminära åtgärdsprogram som presenterats våren 2016 av Vattenmyndigheten inför nästa 6-åriga arbetscykel bidrar förhoppningsvis med att vägledningsmaterial och tydligare riktlinjer tas fram. Detta efterfrågades från flera håll i enkätstudien. Förutom det som åtgärdsprogrammet adresserar ses ett behov av mer utbildning och samverkan av och mellan aktörer. Beräkningsmetoder och underlag som används behöver även ses över och det behöver finnas en tydligare samsyn på hur en detaljplansplans påverkan på MKN ska bestämmas. / With the goal of high quality recipients within the European Union the European Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) was initiated in the year of 2000. In order to achieve water of high quality, goals have been established under the definition of Environmental Quality Standards (EQS). These are defined for lakes, rivers and other water bodies within each municipality. The EQS are defined as a level that are to be reached until a defined year. The EQS are to be kept in mind when zoning is carried out within a municipality. Zoning allows for strategic use of land and water within the municipality and is an important part in the work of achieving the EQS. If a zoning plan does not meet the EQS the plan should not be adopted. The county government should audit plans before they are approved to make sure the chance of reaching the EQS are not hindered by the plan. The aim of this study is to investigate which important factors that come into play when a zoning plan is created that will meet the EQS. The aim is also to get an understanding of the work from the municipalities perspective as well as from the viewpoint of the county government. Both the overall perspective and the more detailed field of assessing the impact from a zoning plan is to be analyzed. In the end the goal is to give an overview of how the work is done today, which difficulties that are experienced as well as improvements that could be needed. The study is focused upon the county governments within the North Baltic Sea basin and the municipalities within Stockholm county. Semi-structured interviews and a literature review were conducted followed by a survey study in order to address the research questions. The survey study was directed towards the county governments and municipalities within the geographical study area mentioned above. From the methods described above data was collected which resulted in the identification of important steps in the process of making zoning with consideration of the EQS. Also difficulties connected to each phase were identified. The work of follow-up and monitoring was found only to be carried out to a limited extent but is believed to support several important functions in the work, if improved. The impact assessment of zoning on water quality and EQS was found to be one of the more difficult parts of the work with the WFD. Foremost, this process is connected to many uncertainties in the method of calculation but also due to limited data available in some cases. Information needed is for example the current water quality and the levels of pollution connected to different land uses of the area. More developed guidelines and support from central authorities was requested by several participants of the survey. Hopefully the Water authorities’ planned action program for the next 6-year work cycle, will result in this. However, more investigations and studies are needed in order to improve and minimize uncertainties in the methods used to calculate impact from zoning on water quality. More education and cooperation between municipalities, county governments and agencies with issues connected to implementing the WFD is needed as well. Overall more consensus is needed in how the work can be carried out while meeting both environmental and societal goals.

The European Water Framework Directive 2000 established a new emphasis for the management of freshwaters by setting ecologically-based water quality targets that are to be achieved through holistic, catchment-scale, ecosystem management. However, significant knowledge gaps exist in the understanding of the cumulative effectiveness of multiple mitigation measures on a number of pollutants at a catchment scale. This research contributes to improved understanding of the effectiveness of an ecosystem management approach to deliver catchment-scale water quality improvements on the National Trust Holnicote Estate on Exmoor, UK. This research is part of a larger multi-objective project funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), to demonstrate the benefits of land use interventions for the management of flood risk. This thesis evaluates the effects of upland ditch blocking on physico-chemical and biological parameters of water quality in an upland Horner Water catchment one year after habitat restoration, and establishes a solid baseline for the monitoring of the effects of current and future land management changes in a lowland, intensively managed, agricultural Aller catchment. The spatial variability of soil physical and chemical properties (bulk density, total carbon (TN), nitrogen (TN), C:N ratio, δ15N, total phosphorus (TP), inorganic phosphorus (IP), organic phosphorus (OP)) and water quality determinands (suspended sediment (SS), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total particulate carbon (TPC), total oxidised nitrogen (TON) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP)) in the two study catchments with contrasting land use has been characterised and linked to the prevailing land use. Agricultural land use resulted in extensive homogenisation of soil properties. The spatial dependence of all soil properties, except for bulk density and δ15N, was stronger in the agricultural than the semi-natural catchment (nugget:sill ratio 0.10-0.42 in the Aller and 0.15-0.94 in Horner Water), while bulk density, TP, inorganic phosphorus (IP), organic phosphorus (OP), C:N ratio, δ15N and carbon storage showed a longer range of spatial auto-correlation in the agricultural catchment (2,807-3,191 m in the Aller and 545-2,599 m Horner Water). The central tendency (mean, median) of all soil properties, except for IP and δ15N, also differed significantly between the two catchments (P < 0.01). The observed extensive alteration of soil physical and chemical properties in the agricultural catchment is likely to have long-term implications for the restoration of ecosystem functioning and water quality management. The intensive land use seems to have resulted in an altered ‘catchment metabolism’, manifested in a proportionally greater total fluvial carbon (dissolved and particulate) export from the agricultural than the semi-natural catchment. The agricultural catchment supported significantly higher DOC concentrations (P < 0.05) and the quality of DOC differed markedly between the two study catchments. The prevalence of more humic, higher molecular weight compounds in the agricultural catchment and simpler, lower molecular weight compounds in the semi-natural catchment, indicated enhanced microbial turnover of fluvial DOC in the agricultural catchment as well as additional allochtonous terrestrial sources. During an eight month period for which a comparable continuous turbidity record was available, the estimated SS yields from the agricultural catchment (25.5-116.2 t km2) were higher than from the semi-natural catchment (21.7-57.8 t km2). Further, the agricultural catchment exported proportionally more TPC (0.51-2.59 kg mm-1) than the semi-natural catchment (0.36-0.97 kg mm-1) and a similar amount of DOC (0.26-0.52 kg mm-1 in the Aller and 0.24-0.32 kg mm-1 in Horner Water), when normalised by catchment area and total discharge, despite the lower total soil carbon pool, thus indicating an enhanced fluvial loss of sediment and carbon from the intensively managed catchment. Whilst detection of catchment-scale effects of mitigation measures typically requires high resolution, resource-intensive, long term data sets, this research has found that simple approaches can be effective in bridging the gap between fine scale ecosystem functioning and catchment-scale processes. Here, the new macro-invertebrate index PSI (Proportion of Sediment-sensitive Invertebrates) has been shown to be more closely related to a physical measure of sedimentation (% fine bed sediment cover) (P = 0.002) than existing non-pressure specific macro-invertebrate metrics such as the Lotic Index for Flow Evaluation (LIFE) and % Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera & Trichoptera abundance (% EPT) (P = 0.014). Further testing of PSI along a pronounced environmental gradient is recommended as PSI and % fine bed sediment cover have the potential to become a sensitive tool for the setting and monitoring of twin sedimentation targets. Upland ditch management has not had any discernible effect on water quality in the semi-natural upland catchment one year after restoration, which may be due to the short-term post-restoration monitoring period but may also reflect benign effects of large-scale earth moving works on this high quality environment. The conceptual understanding of catchment processes developed in this thesis suggests that cumulatively, the recently completed mitigation works in the lowland agricultural catchment will likely result in reduced sediment and nutrient input into the aquatic environment. However, further research is needed to build on this detailed baseline characterisation and inform the understanding of the effectiveness of combined mitigation measures to reduce the flux of multiple contaminants at the catchment scale.

As the UK energy sector moves to a greater contribution from low-carbon and renewable sources it faces significant challenges in delivering affordability, security of supply and sustainability. Although hydropower in Scotland emerged on a large scale in the mid-20th century against an influential, changing wider context of energy policy, environmental regulation and debate, it is now subject to an evolving renewables agenda. This further shapes the national and scheme level characteristics of hydropower and in turn outcomes for the water environment. Contingent upon these considerations, hydropower regulation must now deliver on EU obligations to protect and improve the ecological status of water bodies, whilst also supporting domestic efforts to meet high profile binding renewable energy targets. Yet, despite an acknowledged potential for energy policy to constrain the delivery of water policy objectives, there is little policy harmonisation between disciplines. As Scotland orientates itself as a leader in Europe on climate change, transitioning to increasing amounts of renewable generation across a handful of technologies, there is a gap in knowledge about how specific renewable policies and trends can influence hydropower sustainability outcomes and regulatory challenges. This thesis therefore contributes an innovative and timely critical examination of the effect a changing wider renewable energy and policy context has on hydropower sustainability in Scotland, at a scheme and national level. This research uses an interdisciplinary, temporal analysis to identify linkages and create dialogue between disciplines and scales, informing the pursuit of sustainable renewable energy through policy and regulation in a changing world. It finds firstly, that the changing national generation mix towards an increased contribution from renewable sources, including potentially intermittent technologies such as wind power, has contributed to an alteration in the operational characteristics and reservoir variability profile of Cruachan pumped-storage scheme, presenting positive outcomes for reservoir littoral habitats. Secondly, it finds that whilst not operating in isolation, renewable energy incentive policies, through their eligibility criteria, financial reward frameworks and timing, influence hydropower characteristics and sustainability challenges, providing trade-offs but also synergies for hydropower regulation. Finally, it finds that there is a degree of divergence in hydropower outcomes and challenges in Scotland and Norway, due to the characteristics and especially interaction of wider contextual elements such as topography, profile of precipitation input, national energy needs and the role of regional and municipal government. By highlighting these linkages, this thesis is of value to energy policy and environmental regulation in Scotland and across the EU, and is seen as a first step in addressing these uncertainties and supporting a more integrated and sustainable hydropower and renewables governance framework.

Die Handlungsanleitung ist bei der Planung von Maßnahmen zur gemeinsamen Umsetzung von WRRL, FFH-RL und dem Biotopverbund nutzbar. Sie baut auf verfügbaren Datengrundlagen auf und ist somit allgemein anwendbar. Mit Hilfe des Handlungsleitfadens können Synergieeffekte bestehender Planungen genutzt, Zielkonflikte identifiziert und Lösungsvorschläge aufgezeigt werden. Die Anwendung am konkreten Beispielgebiet »Lossa und Nebengewässer« (siehe Teil 1 – Maßnahmenplanung; Heft 10/2014 der Schriftenreihe) weist die Übertragbarkeit der Methode auf unterschiedliche Gebiete nach.

Die Broschüre zeigt die Umsetzung der Wasserrahmenrichtlinie im Bereich der Landwirtschaft in Sachsen. Beispielhaft erläutert werden Problemstellungen und die Lösungsansätze im kooperativen Ansatz zwischen der öffentlichen Verwaltung und den Landwirtschaftsbetrieben. Hierdurch sollen Landwirte ermutigt werden, sich an den Projekten zur koorerativen Umsetzung zu beteiligen. Für die Umwelt und für den eigenen Betrieb können somit Verbesserungen erzielt werden.

The Water Framework Directive requires reduced environmental impacts from human activities and for the assessment of the non-market benefits of pollution remediation schemes. This policy shift has exacerbated the research problems surrounding the physical, social and economic consequences of the relationship between land use and water quality. This research seeks to quantify the major socio-economic and environmental benefits for people which may arise as riverine pollution is reduced. To achieve these aims this research integrates primary data analyses combining choice experiment techniques with geographical information system based analyses of secondary data concerning the spatial distributions of riverine pollution. Current knowledge on the microbial quality of river water, measured by faecal indicator organism (FIO) concentrations and assessed at catchment scale, is inadequate. This research develops generic regression models to predict base- and high-flow faecal coliform (FC) and enterococci (EN) concentrations, using land cover and population (human and livestock) variables. The resulting models are then used both to predict FIO concentrations in unmonitored watercourses and to evaluate the likely impacts of different land use scenarios, enabling insights into the optimal locations and cost-effective mix of implementation strategies. Valuation experiments frequently conflate respondents’ preferences for different aspects of water quality. This analysis uses stated preference techniques to disaggregate the values of recreation and ecological attributes of water quality, thereby allowing decision makers to better understand the consequences of adopting alternative investment strategies which favour either ecological, recreational or a mix of benefits. The results reveal heterogeneous preferences across society; specifically, latent class analysis identifies three distinct groups, holding significantly different preferences for water quality. From a methodological perspective this research greatly enhances the ongoing synthesis of geographic and economic social sciences and addresses important policy questions which are of interest to a variety of stakeholders, including government departments and the water industry.

En la presente tesis doctoral se desarrollan una serie de procedimientos para evaluar el estado de los diversos componentes bióticos (fitoplancton, macroalgas, invertebrados bentónicos) y abióticos (calidad fisicoquímica de las aguas) del medio marino en relación a la incidencia humana sobre el mismo. El objetivo de dichos procedimientos es dar respuesta a las exigencias establecidas en la Directiva Marco del Agua (Directiva 2000/60/CE) en lo que respecta a la evaluación del estado ecológico de las masas de agua costeras. En este sentido, además de ampliar el conocimiento existente sobre las características fisicoquímicas y biológicas de las masas de agua costeras de Cantabria, constituye una importante aportación tanto desde el punto de vista científico como desde el punto de vista de la gestión. Entre las contribuciones más destacadas de esta tesis cabría mencionar el desarrollo del Índice de Calidad de Fondos Rocosos (CFR) para la valoración de las comunidades de macroalgas costeras. / In this PhD. Thesis, several procedures are developed to assess human influence on the status of the marine environment biotic (phytoplankton, macroalgae, benthic invertebrates) and abiotic (physicochemical quality of water) components. The purpose of these approaches is to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) regarding the ecological status assessment of coastal water bodies.In this sense, besides increasing the existing knowledge on the physicochemical and biological characteristics of the Cantabrian coastal water bodies, it provides an important contribution both from a scientific and a management point of view. One of the most outstanding contributions of this thesis is the development of the Quality of Rocky Bottoms Index (CFR) for the assessment of coastal macroalgae communities.

El objetivo de la Tesis es obtener una visión de la situación actual de la laguna costera del Mar Menor en relación con la contaminación por metales pesados procedentes de actividades mineras mediante el empleo de herramientas ecotoxicológicas. Comienza con el estudio de la entrada de residuos mineros en el ecosistema, su distribución en las aguas de la laguna así como los efectos tóxicos asociados. Continua valorando la biodisponibilidad de los metales contenidos en los sedimentos lagunares mediante pruebas de toxicidad y de bioacumulación; sus efectos en praderas de fanerógamas y comunidades de invertebrados asociados, para continuar determinando la potencial transferencia trófica de metales en las redes alimenticias lagunares y su posible biomagnificación. Finalmente, la Tesis concluye determinando la utilidad de indicadores propuestos para su aplicación en la Directiva Europea Marco del Agua cuando son aplicados a dos ecosistemas acuáticos contaminados por contaminación tóxica (metales pesados). / The objective of the Thesis is to determine the present situation of the Mar Menor coastal lagoon in relation with the contamination caused by heavy metals coming from old mining activities through the use of ecotoxicological tools. It begins with the study of the entrance of mining wastes in the lagoon ecosystem, its distribution in the lagoon waters as well as their toxic effects. It continues assessing the bioavailability of metals contained in sediments of the lagoon by means of bioaccumulation studies and toxicity tests; their possible deleterious effects on marine phanerogams and associated invertebrate communities. It also determines the potential trophic transfer of metals in trophic webs of the lagoon studying the possible biomagnification of metals. Finally, the Thesis concludes determining the utility of some indicators proposed for their application in the European Water Framework Directive when they are applied to aquatic ecosystems impacted by toxic contamination (heavy metals).

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