Iceland’s Water Management Act establishes the legal framework for protecting and managing surface water, groundwater, transitional waters and coastal waters. Its objectives are to prevent further deterioration of water quality, improve the condition of aquatic ecosystems, ensure comprehensive protection of water resources, and promote sustainable water use and long-term protection. To achieve these goals, the Act requires the preparation of a river basin management plan, programme of measures and monitoring programme, with Iceland treated as a single river basin district. The Environment and Energy Agency coordinates preparation and implementation of these plans, while the Water Council, municipalities, regional water committees, advisory bodies and scientific institutions participate in planning, monitoring and consultation. The Act establishes environmental objectives for water bodies based on their ecological, chemical and quantitative status. Surface and groundwater bodies must be protected against deterioration and improved or restored so that, at minimum, good chemical status is achieved, while groundwater use must remain sustainable by maintaining a balance between abstraction and recharge. Special rules apply to artificial or heavily modified water bodies, and pollution from hazardous and persistent priority substances must progressively be reduced with the aim of ultimately stopping their discharge. The Act permits extensions of deadlines, less stringent environmental objectives and certain modifications to water bodies only under specified conditions, such as technical impossibility, disproportionate cost or overriding public interest, and generally requires measures to minimise environmental harm. The central planning instrument is the water management plan, which identifies and classifies water bodies, assesses pressures from human activities, sets environmental objectives, records protected and drinking-water areas, summarises monitoring results and incorporates the programme of measures. It must be reviewed every six years, as must the programme of measures and monitoring programme. The public must be given access to relevant information and opportunities to comment during preparation of the plan, and other public plans concerning areas such as spatial planning, nature conservation, energy development and transport must conform to its water-protection policy. Licensing authorities must likewise ensure that permits for water use and development are consistent with the plan; where environmental objectives are not being achieved, existing permits may need to be reviewed and corrective measures taken.
Iceland · 2011-04-15