Socio-Economic Scenarios Analysis for the Po Catchment: Toward a Sustainable Development

Water policy in the European Union includes the implementation of the EU-Water Framework Directive (WFD) 60/2000 that defines a set of Water Quality Objectives (WQO) for all water-bodies. River basin management is a target of the WFD and includes the evaluation of different management strategies in order to reach the WQO. The achievement of this objectives is related to the capability to make coherent prevision about future fluxes of contaminants discharged into the catchment and the response of the coastal zone. Therefore the analysis of different socio-economic scenarios (story-line) developed in the DPSIR framework allows to identify optimal strategies for achieving the WQOs. This paper presents the preliminary results obtained for the Po Catchment-Coastal Zone continuum in the framework of the EUROCAT project. Evaluation of socio-economic activities carried out in the Po Basin during the last 20 years and the assessment of Drivers and Pressure factors that have determined the deterioration of the State in terms of water quality (surface and groundwater) is a critical step in the application of the DPSIR concept to a complex environmental system like the Po Catchment-Adriatic Sea CZ continuum. Different scenarios (story lines) have been analysed as part of the Business As Usual (BAU) and Policy Target (POT) scenarios. The Business As Usual is the baseline scenario, it included the EU pre-WFD legislation implemented in Italy to control and reduce the eutrophication level. The Policy Target scenarios is regarded as the best possible combination between the Italian policy framework, European legislation and the Regional Environmental Protection programmes implemented by the Bo River Basin Authority in cooperation with Regional Environmental Protection Agencies.