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European catchments and Rivers network system (Ecrins)

Data
Prod-ID: DAT-120-en
Created 13 Jun 2012 Published 13 Jun 2012 Last modified 14 Sep 2022
3 min read
Version 1, Jun. 2012 - Ecrins is acronym for European catchments and Rivers network system. It is a geographical information system of the European hydrographical systems with a full topological information. Ecrins is a composite system made from the CCM developed by the JRC, Corine land Cover, WFD reporting elements, etc.

GIS data

INSPIRE compliant metadata
  • INSPIRE metadata
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Data for download
  • ECRINS data
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Additional information

GIS data documentation
  • EEA Catchments and Rivers Network System ECRINS v1.1
    Download file

Metadata

information.png Reporting obligations (ROD)
  • Not applicable
Relation:
Derived data set:  WISE Water Accounts Spatial Units dataset
information.png Scale of the data set:
1:250000
information.png Rights:
EEA standard re-use policy: unless otherwise indicated, re-use of content on the EEA website for commercial or non-commercial purposes is permitted free of charge, provided that the source is acknowledged (https://www.eea.europa.eu/legal/copyright). Copyright holder: European Environment Agency (EEA).
information.png Disclaimer:
Use limitation: Unless otherwise indicated, re-use of content on the EEA website for commercial or non-commercial purposes is permitted free of charge, provided that the source is acknowledged. The EEA re-use policy follows Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on the re-use of public sector information throughout the European Union and Commission Decision 2006/291/EC, Euratom on the re-use of Commission information. The EEA accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the re-use of content accessible on its website. Any inquiries about re-use of content on the EEA website should be addressed to Ove Caspersen, EEA, Kongens Nytorv 6, DK-1050 Copenhagen K, Tel +45 33 36 71 00, Fax +45 33 36 71 99, e-mail copyrights at eea.europa.eu
information.png Coordinate reference system:
EPSG:3035
information.png Data sources

Statement: Product is based on CCM River and Catchment Database, version 2.1 (vector, lines and points data sets). Coastal definition has been substituted by SeaVox se delineation adjusted to CCM shore line. Lakes polygons are taken from Corine land Cover 2006, XFD Art 13 deliveries and to a lesser extend from CCM water layer. Lakes relevance has been checked against ERM Euroregional maps(layers 2010). River names taken from many sources: ERM, Wikipedia, WFD deliveries and water bodies deliveries, EEA data base on dams, etc. Dams have been taken from several sources: Icold, French ministry of energy, public web sites. Their position has been found by the EEA using a web based tool applied to GoogleEarth, completed by Eionet deliveries. Corrections are proposed by innumerable source, of which EU member states (as provision of the water bodies) and consultants, primarily Pöyry during systematic calculation of discharges at segment level.

information.png Owners:
European Environment Agency (EEA)
information.png Processors:
European Environment Agency (EEA)

Additional information

Ecrins data is organised from a layer of 181,071 “functional elementary catchments (FECs)” which average size is ~62 km2, fully connected with explicit identifier (ID) relationships and upstream area. Catchments are grouped as sub-basins, river basin districts (actual and functional to meet hydrographical continuity).

The catchments are as well organised according to their sea shore of emptying to meet Marine Strategy delineations. Catchments are drained by 1,348,163 river segments, sorted as “main drains” (connecting together the FECs) and secondary drains (internal to a FEC). river segments mimic the natural drainage, however fulfilling the topological constraint of “0,1 or 2 upstreams, single or 0 downstream”. Each segment is populated with distance to the sea, to ease further processing. They are connected to elementary catchments and nodes documented with altitude.

Segments are as well documented with a “dummy river code”, fully populated that earmark each segment with the most distant to the outlet in each drainage basin and, everywhere this has been possible, with a “true river” ID based on river naming.

A layer of lakes and dams has been elaborated. Lakes polygons (70,847) are taken from Corine Land cover , WFD Art. 13 and in some cases, from CCM “water layer”. Lakes inlets and outlets are set with the segment ID and where relevant, the dams making the lake is documented. All lakes which depths and volume was found have been updated.

Version 1.0 here presented still contain some topological errors (e.g. incorrect segment branching), because inaccurate geometry. They are noted and a correction procedure is underway.

 

Related content

Derived dataset

Interactive charts

Interactive maps produced

GIS Map Application Water exploitation index plus (WEI+) for river basin districts (1990-2015) This interactive map gives a European overview of water stress conditions. The information presented may deviate from that available in the EEA member countries and cooperating countries, particularly for those countries where data availability is insufficient in the WISE SoE - Water quantity database (WISE 3). Data on hydro-climatic variables were aggregated from a daily to a monthly scale. Water abstraction data were taken from WISE 3 (annual resolution at the national scale), although there are large gaps in the time series. Therefore, intensive gap filling was performed on water abstraction data and proxies were used to disaggregate the data from the national to the sub-basin scale. Information on water use was mainly modelled on the UWWTP capacities, the E-PRTR database and the Eurostat Population change dataset (online data code [demo_gind]) among others. See the methodology chapter for further explanation of gap filling, and spatial and temporal disaggregation, and the data uncertainties chapter for current data availability. This interactive map allows users to explore changes over time in water abstraction by source, water use by sector and water stress level at sub-basin or river basin scale. The WEI+ has been estimated as the quarterly average per river basin district for the years 1990-2015, as defined in the European catchments and rivers network system (ECRINS). The ECRINS delineation of river basin districts differs slightly from that defined by Member States under the Water Framework Directive. The Ecrins delineation is used instead of the WFD because it contains geospatial information on Europe’s hydrographical systems with full topological information enabling flow estimation between upstream and downstream basins, as well as integration of economic data collected at NUTS or country level. In addition to using the WISE SoE - Water quantity database, comprehensive manual data collection was performed by accessing all open sources (Eurostat, OECD, FAO), including national statistical offices of the countries. This was done because of the temporal and spatial gaps in the data on water abstraction. Moreover, a large part of the stream flow data from LISFLOOD has also been substantially updated by the Directorate-General Joint Research Centre. Similarly, a comprehensive update with climatic parameters has been performed by the EEA based on the E-OBS dataset. Therefore, the time series of the WEI+ presented in the current version might be slightly different for some basins compared with the previous version.
GIS Map Application
Archived
Water exploitation index plus (WEI+) for river basin districts (2002-2014) This interactive map allows users to explore changes over time in water abstraction by source and water use by sector at sub-basin or river basin scale. The WEI+ has been calculated as the quarterly average per river basin district, for the years 2002-2014, as defined in the European catchments and rivers network system (ECRINS). The ECRINS delineation of river basin districts differs from that defined by Member States under the Water Framework Directive, particularly for transboundary river basin districts.
GIS Map Application
Archived
Water exploitation index for river basin districts This interactive map allows users to explore changes over time in water abstraction by source and water use by sector at sub-basin or river basin scale. The water exploitation index has been calculated as the quarterly average per river basin district, for the years 2002-2012, as defined in the European catchments and rivers network system (ECRINS). The ECRINS delineation of river basin districts differs from that defined by Member States under the Water Framework Directive, particularly for transboundary river basin districts.

News and articles

Produced Indicators

Produced figures

Figure Seasonal water scarcity conditions across Europe, measured by the water exploitation index plus (WEI+) for sub river basins, 2019 Water exploitation index plus (WEI+) illustrates the percentage of water use versus water available in the respective subbasin.
Figure Area affected during at least for one quarter of the year by water scarcity conditions in the EU, measured by the water exploitation index plus The graph presents trend with the area of the European Union affected by water scarcity conditions between 2000-2019. Water scarcity conditions is adopted, i.e. when WEI+ values are above 20% for at least a quarter of the year in a given river sub basin; annual quarters are: Q1 (January-March), Q2 (April-June), Q3 (July-September), Q4 (October-December). No sufficient data available from Italy, hence Italian river basins have not been included in the analysis.
Figure Percentage of reported monitoring sites with pesticides exceeding thresholds in surface waters, different sized rivers, lakes and groundwater in European countries in time period 2013-2020 The figure shows the percentage of monitoring sites with threshold exceedances of pesticides in surface waters, different sized rivers, lakes and groundwater in European countries. This was used to examine threshold exceedances according to Surface Waters; Rivers, small; Rivers, medium; Rivers, large; Lakes, and Groundwater.
Figure
Archived
Seasonal water scarcity conditions across Europe, measured using the water exploitation index plus (WEI+) for sub river basins, 2015 This map illustrates water stress conditions across Europe, where water use is displayed as a percentage of total water available.
Figure Water exploitation index plus (WEI+) in European river sub-basins, summer 2015 WEI+ illustrates the percentage of water use versus water available in the respective subbasin
Figure
Archived
Seasonal water scarcity conditions across Europe, measured using the water exploitation index plus (WEI+) for river basin districts, 2015 This map illustrates water stress conditions across Europe, where water use is displayed as a percentage of total water available.
Figure
Archived
Percentage of reported monitoring sites with pesticides exceeding thresholds in surface waters, different sized rivers, lakes and groundwater in European countries, 2013 – 2019 The figure shows the percentage of monitoring sites with threshold exceedances of pesticides in surface waters, different sized rivers, lakes and groundwater in European countries. This was used to examine threshold exceedances according to Surface Waters; Rivers, small; Rivers, medium; Rivers, large; Lakes, and Groundwater
Figure
Draft
Fraction of aquatic species potentially affected by pesticides The map shows the multi-substance potentially affected fraction (msPAF) of aquatic species, which is used as a modelled proxy for pesticide pressure intensity. The msPAF relates to the peak pesticide concentrations in the water, reached 1% of the time within a year.
Figure
Draft
Geographical distribution of the share of agricultural land in floodplain areas, calculated by functional elementary catchments (FEC) Area of agricultural land located in the potentially flood-prone areas was calculated as an average of the years 2011 to 2013.
Figure
Draft
Nitrogen surplus in Europe in 2012 The map shows amount of nutrients that end up in streams. Nitrogen surplus on agricultural areas’ is a proxy for nutrient pollution pressure, aggregated at ECRINS FEC-level for the year 2012.
Figure
Draft
Average river nitrate and phosphate concentration for 2015-2017 by river basin The maps shows the country boundaries and river basins
Figure
Draft
Average river ammonium concentration and BOD for 2015-2017 by river basin The maps shows the country boundaries and river basins
Figure River basins in the Eastern partnership countries Country boundaries and transboundary river basins
Figure
Draft
Terrain and major rivers in Eastern Partnership countries Country boundaries and large rivers presented togetger with altitude zones
Figure Water Exploitation Index+ 2015 and water consumption per capita (m3/year) The water exploitation index plus (WEI+) aims to illustrate pressure on renewable water resources of a defined territory (river basin, sub-basin etc.) in a given period (e.g. seasonal, annual) as a consequence of water use for human activities. Values above 20 % indicate that water resources are under stress, and above 40 % indicate severe stress and a clearly unsustainable use of freshwater resources (Raskin et al., 1997). see https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/use-of-freshwater-resources-2/assessment-3
Figure Restoration activities on the Danube River: the need for international planning This map shows the Danube river basin and river networks.
Figure Water exploitation index and trend The maps shows the annual total water abstraction as a percentage of available long-term freshwater resources 2002–2012 (left) and average trend 2007–2012 compared to 2002–2006 (right)
Figure Potential for additional floodplains on the Rhône This map depicts the Rhone river basin land cover within France. This map was created in order to have a higher spatial resolution of this specific area.
Figure Potential for additional floodplains on the Elbe This map depicts the Elbe river basin land cover within Germany. This map was created in order to have a higher spatial resolution of this specific area.
Figure Potential for additional floodplains on the Vistula This map depicts the Vistula river basin land cover within Poland. This map was created in order to have a higher spatial resolution of this specific area.
Figure Water Exploitation Index plus (WEI+) for summer and Urban Morphological Zones (UMZ) The water exploitation index plus (WEI+) compares water use against renewable water resources. The map illustrates the relation between Urban Morphological Zone and the WEI+ at the sub-basin scale for summer months (July, August and September) defined in calendar year.
Figure Water exploitation index plus for river basin districts The water exploitation index plus has been calculated as a multi-annual average per river basin district, for the years 2002-2012, as defined in ECRINS. The ECRINS delineation of river basin districts differs from those defined by Member States under the Water Framework Directive, particularly for transboundary river basin districts. Click on the "downloads and more info" button below to see the dynamic map with time slider, which provides information on water abstraction by source and water use by sector at sub-basin or river basin scale.
Figure Dams with reservoirs on rivers in Europe Dams on larger rivers in Europe. Dams dataset compiles dams included in ECRINS spatial database complemanted by dams located in Western Balkans region.
Figure Loss of accessibility for migratory fish due to dams in major European river basins Orange: river basins with large dams (at least 10 m high) not allowing normal fish passage.
Figure
Draft
Annual physical water asset accounts of Europe (2015) Note: positive values represent input while negative values for outputs Deficit between net precipitation and outflow to the sea is adopted as baseflow (water exchange between groundwater and surface water)

See also

Used in indicators

Indicator Specification Use of freshwater resources in Europe The WEI+ provides a measure of total water use as a percentage of the renewable freshwater resources for a given territory and time scale. The WEI+ is an advanced geo-referenced implementation of the WEI. It quantifies how much water is  abstracted monthly or seasonally and how much water is returned after use to the environment via basins. The difference between water abstraction and return is regarded as water use. 
Indicator Specification
Archived
Use of freshwater resources The WEI+ provides a measure of the total water use as a percentage of the renewable freshwater resources for a given territory and time scale. The WEI+ is an advanced and geo-referenced implementation of the WEI. It quantifies how much water is monthly or seasonally abstracted and how much water is returned after use to the environment via basins. The difference between water abstraction and return is regarded as water use.

Permalinks

Geographic coverage

Temporal coverage

For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/european-catchments-and-rivers-network or scan the QR code.

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