Read the full report in Swedish
Summary
All water bodies in the Himleån catchment area are currently natural waters. The water authorities must assess whether a surface water body should be declared as heavily modified water body (HMWB) based on whether it has changed its physical character in a significant way as a result of human activity. In the Himleån catchment area, the majority of water bodies in agricultural land have changed their physical character as a result of land drainage.
The environmental quality standards adopted in Himleån currently lack environmental and social considerations and information on what measures are required to achieve the environmental quality standards. However, the considerations must be made in order to be able to explain the HMWB and the ecological potential (EP)
In the autumn of 2022, the Himleån water council submitted questions to the Swedish Marine and Water Management Agency regarding the landowners’ needs for land drainage in relation to the Water Framework Directive. The directive states that collaboration, through active participation from all interested parties, should be encouraged in connection with the review and updating of management plans. Since environmental and social considerations need to be included in the standard setting for activities to be carried out, the Swedish Marine and Water Management Agency saw an opportunity for a project. The project could provide national learning on how Sweden can achieve more legally secure environmental quality standards and more effective implementation of measures through active participation.
The project in Himleån has been divided into three areas, environmental quality standards in collaboration, support in the work of declaring heavily modified water bodies and support for implementation of measures. The project and has been carried out in collaboration with the County Administrative Board of Halland County and Himleån Water Board as well as the water authorities of the Nordic Baltic region. The project was completed in 2024.
During the Himleå project, we have mainly identified five areas that are important for effective water management and where there is a need for further work.
- Collaboration, national, regional and local
- River basin planning that includes environmental and social considerations.
- Increased understanding of the purpose of the directive
- Explanation of KMV based on local knowledge
- Stronger cooperation between authorities
