@ARTICLE{Ietswaart_Thomas_Implementation_2006, author={Ietswaart, Thomas}, number={No 10}, pages={39-44}, journal={Journal of Water and Land Development}, howpublished={online}, year={2006}, publisher={Polish Academy of Sciences; Institute of Technology and Life Sciences - National Research Institute}, abstract={The Netherlands has a long tradition in water management, mainly stemming from the geography of the country. The ‘struggle with water’ has been organised from medieval times by the water boards (waterschappen), which are the oldest democratic institutions in the Netherlands. Nowa-days the water boards, 27 in the whole of the Netherlands, are not only responsible for flood protec-tion and regulation of water levels, but for water quality management and waste water treatment as well. In the years in which the WFD implementation has been underway in the Netherlands, several issues have arisen. Cooperation between all levels of government is key. This requires as clear as possible divisions of competences between the various parties involved. It also takes much time, es-pecially in a process in which many matters have to be invented ‘on the fly’, such as criteria for des-ignating water bodies, ecological standards, and the formulation of MEP and GEP.}, type={Article}, title={Implementation of the Water Framework Directive: achievements and lessons learned at the half-way mark}, URL={http://journals.pan.pl/Content/116968/PDF-MASTER/%5B20834535%20-%20Journal%20of%20Water%20and%20Land%20Development%5D%20Implementation%20of%20the%20Water%20Framework%20Directive%20achievements%20and%20lessons%20learned%20at%20the%20half-way%20mark.pdf}, keywords={water management, flood protection, water quality, surface water}, }