Selecting cost effective abatement measures to achieve good water status with the environmental cost

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Selecting cost effective abatement measures to
achieve good water status with the environmental
costing modelS. Broekx 1, E. Meynaerts 1, P.
Vercaemst 1, S. Ochelen 2, K. Van Hoof 31
Flemish Institute for Technological Research
(VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium, tel
32 14 33 59 59, steven.broekx_at_vito.be2 Flemish
Environment Administration (LNE), Koning Albert
II laan 20 bus 8, B-1000 Brussel, Belgium, tel
32 2 553 81 44, sara.ochelen_at_lin.vlaanderen.be3
Flemish Environment Agency (VMM), A. Van de
Maelestraat 96, B-9320 Erembodegem, Belgium, tel
32 53 72 66 93, k.vanhoof_at_vmm.be
1 INTRODUCTION
In Flanders, the Environmental Costing Model
(Milieukostenmodel or MKM in Dutch) provides
useful economic insights to assist policy-makers
in designing a cost-effective programme of
measures to achieve a good water state as
stipulated in the European Water Framework
Directive. The BAT-Centre of the Flemish
Institute for Technological Research (VITO)
started in June 2001, under the authority of
AMINAL, with the development of the Environmental
Costing Model. The Flemish Government aspires
with this project the development of a tool to
(i) determine the costs of environmental policy
and (ii) contribute to a more efficient
environmental policy by indicating how
environmental targets can be realised at the
lowest possible cost. Initially, the model is
developed for the most important industrial air
pollution sources in Flanders. By analogy with
atmospheric pollution, the BAT-Centre started
with a test case for pollution of surface water
which focuses on the pollutants P, N, COD, the
Nete basin and multiple emission sources
(industry, households, agriculture).
2 ROLE OF COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS WITHIN THE
WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE The European Water
Framework Directive (WFD) requires member states
to implement the necessary measures to ensure a
good ecological and chemical status of surface
and groundwater by 2015. To achieve this, member
states must carry out a number of steps. A cost
effectiveness analysis (CEA) has to be applied to
determine the combination of measures to be
applied in the programme of measures. Calculating
the cost and the effectiveness of measures is
also essential to assess whether or not costs can
be considered disproportionate and to justify
potential derogations.
3 METHODOLOGY By means of linear programming the
MKM determines the least cost combination of
abatement measures to satisfy multi-pollutant
reduction targets. Reduction targets are
determined by comparing VLAREM II standards with
actual measurements in the reference period and
this for each water body. Targets are compared
with different possibilities to achieve them.
Results are least cost combinations, but can also
be a ranking in cost-effectiveness of measures
which can be useful for priority setting.
SourceWATECO Guidance Document No. 1
4 CASE STUDY NETE BASIN The Nete is a tributary
of the Scheldt river. The basin is part of the
Flanders Region in Belgium. It has a surface of
1.673 km² and a total length of watercourses of
2.224 km. Approximately 600.000 inhabitants live
in the basin and 4.121 companies are situated
inside the region. Targets in the case study are
set for each VHA-zone (Flemish hydrographic
zones). This subdivision is applied as the
subdivision in water bodies was not known at the
beginning of this study and data on emissions are
available on this level. As the division into
water bodies is less detailed than VHA-zones,
this is not an issue for further development.
5 FIRST RESULTS First results show that
approximately 60 million or 100 per
inhabitant per year is needed annually to achieve
the standards in the Nete basin and this for the
pollutants COD, Ntot and Ptot. The majority of
these annual costs result from the connection of
households to collective waste water treatment
plants and setting nitrate targets for
agriculture more stringent. Extension of the
model with the remaining basins in Flanders is
foreseen in 2007 and the first half of 2008.
Improvement of the methodology is focused on
improving data on households and agriculture and
establishing a link between the MKM and the water
quality model PEGASE, which is used by the
Flemish Environment Agency for the Scheldt basin.
VHA - zones