LIFE & Water

The EU LIFE Programme

The LIFE Programme is the EUs funding instrument for the environment. Since 1992 it has co-financed innovative pilot
and demonstration projects - with European added value - to improve the implementation and ongoing development of EU
environment policy and legislation.
There have been over 900 LIFE projects - with some 662 million euros allocated - exclusively on water. These projects have
provided integrated approaches that have helped water authorities to adopt good water management solutions aimed at
meeting the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive.
LIFE projects have contributed with new solutions for optimising water use in different sectors; ensuring water quality;
developing cost analysis methodologies and water pricing services; and up-scaling methods of monitoring and planning
water resources. LIFE has also helped link water management to other policy sectors, such as agriculture and energy.
LIFE has helped conserve freshwater habitats and has contributed significantly to the management of river basins and water levels, restoration of floodplains and river ecosystems, habitat connectivity, the involvement of stakeholders and improving public awareness.
LIFE has also supported the fight against climate change, especially regarding water scarcity and issues around natural water hazards.
Two good practice LIFE projects are profiled below, followed by a list of 14 other notable projects. Further details about all the LIFE water
projects can be found in the LIFE project database: ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/.

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Title: WIZ - WaterIZe spatial planning: encompass

future drinkwater management conditions to adapt
to climate change

Title: RESTORE - Rivers: Engaging, Supporting and

Transferring knOwledge for Restoration in Europe

Project number: LIFE09 ENV/IT/000056

Contact: Oberdan CEI

Contact: Environment Agency for England

Antonia Scar

Email: o.cei@ingegnerietoscane.net

Email: antonia.scarr@environment-agency.gov.uk

Website: www.wiz-life.eu/

Website: www.ecrr.org/

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Project number: LIFE09 INF/UK/000032

WIZ

RESTORE

The WIZ project addresses the pressures on drinking water resources in

southern Europe caused by urbanisation and climate change. The project has
developed an approach that permits integrating urban planning and climate
change in the management of water resources at local level. This approach
is made up of two components:

River ecosystems throughout Europe have been affected by engineering projects

for flood protection, navigation, water supply and hydroelectricity. Sustainable
river restoration, which re-establishes ecosystems and their functions, serves
to implement both the Habitats Directive and the Water Framework Directive.

A decision process that integrates a model for predicting the effects of

climate change on the availability of water resources with spatial data
provided by municipalities. This model gives water authorities harmonised
data and a clearer picture of the water demands in an area, thus improving
the validity of investment plans.
Two online platforms:
- WIZ4All: Where citizens can find information about current and future
water availability for specific locations, and also contribute by reporting
the perceived quality of the water in their area, or any malfunctions or
disservices.
- WIZ4Planners: a decision-support service for local authorities and other
stakeholders concerned with territorial and urban planning. It provides
information related to estimates of the needs and availability of clean
water, with comparisons between settlement scenarios and climatic
scenarios, and also gives cost estimates for water supply infrastructure. The open-source code of the WIZ platform engine enables constant
improvements to be made to the system.
The project succeeded in developing a model with high potential replicability that effectively engages all local actors in the management of water
resources.

The RESTORE project addressed a shortcoming in knowledge transfer in

Europe on river restoration activities. The project aimed to develop a knowledge-exchange network linking policy-makers, river basin planners, practitioners and experts.
The projects main outputs were the development of the European river
restoration website (www.restorerivers.eu), which is the main source of information on river restoration in Europe, and the RiverWiki, which contains
information on over 500 river restoration case studies from 31 countries.
These tools provide information and explanations of policy opportunities
and constraints, the effectiveness of different restoration methods, design
issues, and project costs and benefits.
Although several river restoration networks already existed, the project established a wider European forum to support these and emerging networks.
This helped identify the needs of networks and the barriers to effective
operation and cooperation.
A good practice guide Rivers by Design was published for planners, developers and architects, to raise awareness of the potential to include river
restoration in urban regeneration schemes.
The projects outcomes have raised the profile of river restoration work
amongst policy-makers in Europe.

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Environment

Factsheet-LIFE-Water.indd 1

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SELECTIVE LIST PROJECTS ON WATER

Riparia-Ter

WALPHY

Recovery of riparian habitats of the Ter river in Catalonia

Design of a decision tool for hydromorphological restoration of water bodies in Walloon Region

Beneficiary: CONSORCI ALBA-TER, local authority

Beneficiary: Service Public de Wallonie

www.liferipariater.com/

LIFE08 NAT/E/000072

www.walphy.be/

LIFE07 ENV/B/000038

Raised Bogs

WATER CHANGE

Development of good practice in active raised bog habitat restoration in Latvia

Medium and long term water resources modelling as a

tool for planning and global change adaptation. Application to the Llobregat Basin

Beneficiary: University of Latvia

www.purvi.lv/

Beneficiary: CETAQUA, Centro Tecnolgico del Agua

LIFE08 NAT/LV/000449

www.life-waterchange.eu/

LIFE07 ENV/E/000845

LIFE Obere Drau II

A.S.A.P.

Demonstration of successfully meeting water engineering, flood protection and nature conservation objectives

Actions for systemic aquifer protection: implementation

and demonstration of a Protocol to scale down groundwater vulnerability to pollution due to overexploitation

Beneficiary: Bundeswasserbauverwaltung vertreten

durch das Amt der Krnter Landesregierung
www.life-drau.at/

LIFE06 NAT/A/000127

Beneficiary: ACQUE S.p.A.

www.klink.it/gate/asap

LIFE06 ENV/IT/000255

STREAM

PALM

Improvement of the status of urban and rural river

environments and floodplains

Pump And Leakage Management

Beneficiary: English Nature, national authority

LIFE05 NAT/UK/000143

Beneficiary: SGI Studio Galli Ingegneria SpA

www.leakagemanagement.eu/

LIFE09 ENV/IT/000136

Life Grote Nete

AQUAVAL

Restoration of the lowland river system Grote Nete

Sustainable Urban Water Management Plans, promoting SUDS and considering Climate Change, in the Province of Valencia

Beneficiary: Natuurpunt Beheer v.z.w.

Beneficiary: Ayuntamiento de Xtiva

www.life-grotenete.be/

LIFE05 NAT/B/000090

WATER Cyprus

Restoration of the natural river and floodplain dynamics

Beneficiary: Stadt Hamm, Umweltamt

Strengthening the scientific foundation of water quality

programs

www.hamm.de/lifeplusprojekt.html

www.life-water.eu/

LIFE05 NAT/D/000057

Beneficiary: Environment Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
LIFE08 ENV/CY/000460

Kokemenjoki-LIFE

ArtWet

Improved wetland habitat with indirect benefits in reducing flood risks

Mitigation of agricultural nonpoint-source pesticide

pollution and phytoremediation in artificial wetland
ecosystems

www.ymparisto./
kokemaenjokiLIFE

Factsheet-LIFE-Water.indd 2

LIFE08 ENV/E/000099

Lippe-Aue

Beneficiary: Centre of Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for South-western Finland

European Union, 2015

www.aquavalproject.eu

LIFE06 NAT/FIN/000129

Beneficiary: ENGEES (Ecole Nationale de Genie de lEau

et de lEnvironnement de Strasbourg)
LIFE06 ENV/F/000133

Visit the LIFE website:

ec.europa.eu/life

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