The Swedish River Basin District Authorities
In Sweden, we have relatively good access to clean water. Long glacial periods have left boulder-ridges and sand deltas that function as natural purifiers. We also have a long-running tradition of water conservation. However, Sweden still has environmental problems to solve, and new issues continue to appear: discharge of nutrients that affect the sea water, power plant dams that impair the migration routes of fish in our rivers, acidification, and ground water running dry constitute some of the challenges lying ahead.
One water management system for all of Europe
In 2004, the European Water Framework Directive was incorporated into Swedish legislation. The Water Framework Directive commits all of the EU Member States to cooperate on water issues. The overall aim is to achieve good status in all waters by the year 2015. In Sweden, the introduction of the Water Framework Directive has led to a better overview on water issues, clearer aims for water quality and a more active involvement of all interested parties.
We follow the water’s flow
Water cuts across geographical and organisational boundaries. The river basin management is based on the water’s natural flow. This means that we have divided Sweden into five water districts. One County Administrative Board in each district has been appointed River Basin District Authority.
Senast uppdaterad: 6/25/2009
Sidansvarig: alexander.eriksson@h.lst.se