Data centre overview

Page Last modified 20 Apr 2016

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The Water Data Centre provides the European entry point for water related data as part of the Water Information System for Europe (WISE). You can browse the catalogue of European datasets, interactive maps and indicators.

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Europe's seas

Data 11 Dec 2018

The present layer compiles the marine regions and subregions listed in Article 4 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), together with other surrounding seas of Europe. The MSFD marine regions and subregions map was developed to support DG Environment and EU Member States in their implementation of the MSFD. It represents the current state of understanding of the marine regions and subregions and is subject to amendment in light of any new information which may be produced.

Rivers - ammonium - trend analysis

Data Visualization 06 Dec 2018

Lakes - total phosphorus - trend analysis

Data Visualization 06 Dec 2018

Marine protected areas in Europe's regional seas

Figure 29 Oct 2018

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are geographically distinct zones for which protection objectives are set. They constitute a globally acknowledged system for safeguarding biodiversity and maintaining marine ecosystem services.

Use of freshwater resources

Indicator Assessment 10 Oct 2018

Despite an estimated decrease of total water abstraction by 19 % since 1990 in Europe, the milestone set in the EU resource efficiency roadmap — i.e. a water abstraction should stay below 20 % of available renewable water resources in Europe — has not been achieved in 36 river basins corresponding to 19 % of Europe’s territory in summer 2015. Around 30 % of the total European population was exposed to water scarcity conditions in summer 2015 compared to 20% in 2014, mainly living in densely populated European cities, agriculture-dominated areas of southern Europe and small Mediterranean islands. From 2000 to 2015, in the EU-28, there was an absolute decoupling of water abstraction (-9 %) and the gross value added generated from all economic sectors (+53 %). A rapid increase (+11%) has been observed in bottled water consumption from 2010, particularly in southern and western Europe.

Water exploitation index plus (WEI+) for river basin districts (1990-2015)

GIS Map Application 10 Oct 2018

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 was aggregated from a daily to a monthly scale. Water abstraction data was 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 WFD because it contains geo-spatial 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 e WISE SoE – Water quantity database, a 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.

WISE WFD reference spatial data sets

Data 02 Oct 2018

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) reference spatial data sets include information about European river basin districts, river basin district sub-units, surface water bodies, groundwater bodies and monitoring sites used in the first and second River Basin Management Plans (RBMP). The data sets are part of the Water Information System for Europe (WISE), and compile information reported by the EU Member States and Norway to the European Commission (EC) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) since 2010.

Examples of food safety advice on fish consumption from EU Member States

Infographic 28 Sep 2018

DEMOCOPHES study - Mercury levels in hair of mothers as a percentage of the Europe-wide average

Infographic 28 Sep 2018

Percentage of number water bodies not in good chemical status with uPBT per river basin district (RBD) in second RBMPs

Figure 15 Aug 2018

Surface water bodies failing to achieve good chemical status, by RBDs with uPBTs.

Distribution of marine litter by material type

Figure 07 Jun 2018

The illustration shows the distribution of marine litter reported by the public and where they were found

Aquaculture production

Indicator Assessment 07 Jun 2018

Marine aquaculture production is increasing in Europe (EEA39) since the early 1990s , mostly due to salmon production in Norway which is the main producer. For the same period of time, inland aquaculture in Europe is stable, and the main producer is Turkey, indicating that much of Europe's aquaculture production takes place outside the EU28 (Figure 3). In 2015, the most cultivated species in Europe (EEA39) was Atlantic salmon, while in the EU28 blue mussels were dominant. Other important species include rainbow trout, European sea bass, gilthead sea bream, oysters and carps, barbels and other cyprinids. The countries that contribute the most to European production (EEA39) are Norway (approximately 46 % of total European production), followed by Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Greece (Figure 6). These seven countries account for 90 % of all aquaculture production in Europe. Norway’s production is nearly all due to the farming of Atlantic salmon. Turkish production consists mainly of trout (inland), sea bream and sea bass (marine).

State of bathing waters

GIS Map Application 23 May 2018

Bathing water monitoring by country. Please note: for the scales 1:5.000.001 and less detailed, data are aggregated by country. In such case, stacked bars show percentage of bathing water quality for coastal and inland waters together. Number of bathing waters within certain category is seen in pop up window which can be turned on with a click on one of the countries. For the scale range 1:5 000.000 to 1:700,001, individual bathing water sites (points) are visible instead of classified stacked charts and are coloured according to the classification of bathing water quality. Symbol size depends on the map scale (in more detailed map scales symbols are bigger). For the scales 1:700,000 and more detailed, symbol of bather in a square appears instead of points. Symbol size depends on the map scale.

Bathing water quality in the European Union in the period 2011-2014

Figure 22 Dec 2015

Bathing water quality in the European Union in the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 bathing seasons.

Europe's seas The present layer compiles the marine regions and subregions listed in Article 4 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), together with other surrounding seas of Europe. The MSFD marine regions and subregions map was developed to support DG Environment and EU Member States in their implementation of the MSFD. It represents the current state of understanding of the marine regions and subregions and is subject to amendment in light of any new information which may be produced.

Rivers - ammonium - trend analysis

Lakes - total phosphorus - trend analysis

Marine protected areas in Europe's regional seas Marine protected areas (MPAs) are geographically distinct zones for which protection objectives are set. They constitute a globally acknowledged system for safeguarding biodiversity and maintaining marine ecosystem services.

Use of freshwater resources Despite an estimated decrease of total water abstraction by 19 % since 1990 in Europe, the milestone set in the EU resource efficiency roadmap — i.e. a water abstraction should stay below 20 % of available renewable water resources in Europe — has not been achieved in 36 river basins corresponding to 19 % of Europe’s territory in summer 2015. Around 30 % of the total European population was exposed to water scarcity conditions in summer 2015 compared to 20% in 2014, mainly living in densely populated European cities, agriculture-dominated areas of southern Europe and small Mediterranean islands. From 2000 to 2015, in the EU-28, there was an absolute decoupling of water abstraction (-9 %) and the gross value added generated from all economic sectors (+53 %). A rapid increase (+11%) has been observed in bottled water consumption from 2010, particularly in southern and western Europe.

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 was aggregated from a daily to a monthly scale. Water abstraction data was 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 WFD because it contains geo-spatial 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 e WISE SoE – Water quantity database, a 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.

WISE WFD reference spatial data sets The Water Framework Directive (WFD) reference spatial data sets include information about European river basin districts, river basin district sub-units, surface water bodies, groundwater bodies and monitoring sites used in the first and second River Basin Management Plans (RBMP). The data sets are part of the Water Information System for Europe (WISE), and compile information reported by the EU Member States and Norway to the European Commission (EC) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) since 2010.

Examples of food safety advice on fish consumption from EU Member States

DEMOCOPHES study - Mercury levels in hair of mothers as a percentage of the Europe-wide average

Percentage of number water bodies not in good chemical status with uPBT per river basin district (RBD) in second RBMPs Surface water bodies failing to achieve good chemical status, by RBDs with uPBTs.

Distribution of marine litter by material type The illustration shows the distribution of marine litter reported by the public and where they were found

Aquaculture production Marine aquaculture production is increasing in Europe (EEA39) since the early 1990s , mostly due to salmon production in Norway which is the main producer. For the same period of time, inland aquaculture in Europe is stable, and the main producer is Turkey, indicating that much of Europe's aquaculture production takes place outside the EU28 (Figure 3). In 2015, the most cultivated species in Europe (EEA39) was Atlantic salmon, while in the EU28 blue mussels were dominant. Other important species include rainbow trout, European sea bass, gilthead sea bream, oysters and carps, barbels and other cyprinids. The countries that contribute the most to European production (EEA39) are Norway (approximately 46 % of total European production), followed by Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Greece (Figure 6). These seven countries account for 90 % of all aquaculture production in Europe. Norway’s production is nearly all due to the farming of Atlantic salmon. Turkish production consists mainly of trout (inland), sea bream and sea bass (marine).

State of bathing waters Bathing water monitoring by country. Please note: for the scales 1:5.000.001 and less detailed, data are aggregated by country. In such case, stacked bars show percentage of bathing water quality for coastal and inland waters together. Number of bathing waters within certain category is seen in pop up window which can be turned on with a click on one of the countries. For the scale range 1:5 000.000 to 1:700,001, individual bathing water sites (points) are visible instead of classified stacked charts and are coloured according to the classification of bathing water quality. Symbol size depends on the map scale (in more detailed map scales symbols are bigger). For the scales 1:700,000 and more detailed, symbol of bather in a square appears instead of points. Symbol size depends on the map scale.

Bathing water quality in the European Union in the period 2011-2014 Bathing water quality in the European Union in the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 bathing seasons.

All Items

Filtered by

Europe's seas

Data 11 Dec 2018

WISE WFD reference spatial data sets

Data 02 Oct 2018

WISE EIONET spatial data sets

Data 27 Sep 2018

The European environment information and observation network (Eionet) spatial data sets include information about European river basin districts, river basin district sub-units, surface water bodies, groundwater bodies and monitoring sites. The data sets are part of the Water Information System for Europe (WISE), and compile information reported by the 39 EEA Member and cooperating countries to the European Environment Agency (EEA) since 2001. For the EEA Member countries and cooperating countries not reporting under WFD, the EIONET spatial data sets are the most up-to-date information available in WISE. The coverage is complete for Switzerland, and partial for the remaining countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo). For the 28 European Union Member States and Norway, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) reference spatial data sets are the most complete and up-to-date information available in WISE (only the EIONET monitoring sites and EIONET water bodies that could not be mapped to WFD spatial objects are included in the EIONET spatial data set).

Waterbase - Water Quality

Data 26 Sep 2018

Waterbase is the generic name given to the EEA's databases on the status and quality of Europe's rivers, lakes, groundwater bodies and transitional, coastal and marine waters, on the quantity of Europe's water resources, and on the emissions to surface waters from point and diffuse sources of pollution.