Groundwater Protection in Selected Countries
1. Background information
| 1.1 | Basic facts |
| 1.2 | Structure of environmental authorities |
| 1.3 | Statutory and advisory information |
Denmark has a population of 5,251,000 (1996) and an area of 43,100 km2. This gives a population density of 122 persons pr. km2.
GDP
The gross domestic product (GDP) in Denmark is 1,013,640 million crowns (quarterly rate for 1995: OECD, 1998). The current exchange rate is approximately 7.4 Danish crowns (DKK) pr. ECU. The annual gross domestic product pr. person is therefore approximately 104,000 ECU.
Precipitation
Precipitation is measured at 400 stations throughout the country and varies from approximately 500 mm/year in northwest Zealand to 900 mm/year in southern Jutland (annual average for the period 1961-1990). The amount of evaporation depends on soil, plant cover and weather conditions. The net precipitation (defined as precipitation minus evaporation) varies regionally even more than precipitation alone, namely from approximately 150 mm/year to 400 mm/year. The total net precipitation in Denmark is approximately 12 billion m3 (Miljøstyrelsen, 1992).
1.2 Structure of environmental authoritiesThe Danish Parliament is composed of only one chamber. The most important instrument of the Parliament is the passing of legislation.
Ministry
The Ministry of Pollution Control was introduced in 1971. Since 1994, the relevant ministry is named the Ministry of Environment and Energy. The Minister has the political responsibility for all matters within his field of responsibility. He also has the full power of instruction in relation to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Danish EPA). These acts delegate certain tasks to the Environment Ministry of Environment and Energy
Agency
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1972. The principal tasks of the Agency include serving the Minister (preparing draft regulations, parliamentary replies, etc.), negotiations with EU, and advising local authorities)
The environmental administration in Denmark is decentralised into 14 counties. These counties have the responsibility for the majority of implementation tasks regarding groundwater. These tasks include listing, investigating and remediating contaminated sites, monitoring groundwater quality, providing water abstraction permits, protecting groundwater resources, etc.
Figure 1.1 shows the relationship between these authorities.
Figure 1.1.
Relationship between the various environmental authorities.
With regard to groundwater protection and contaminated sites, there are 3 major laws:
- The Waste Deposit Act,1996
- Environmental Protection Act, 1996
- Water Supply Act
The Waste Deposit Act defines orphaned contaminated sites and provides for the listing, investigation and remediation of these sites.
The focus of the Environmental Protection Act is the prevention of contamination and requires certain industries to obtain a permit for operation. In this permit, specific requirements for protecting the groundwater can be made.
Main goals of the Water Supply Act are to ensure the planned use of groundwater resources and that the nation’s water supply is adequate with respect to quality and quantity. A regulation under this law describes actual drinking water quality criteria.
In December 1994, the Ministry prepared a "10-point plan for the protection of groundwater and drinking water". Point 5 of this plan requires the Ministry to identify groundwater resources that are of particular interest for water supply. Point 6 states that remediation of contaminated sites must be intensified. The need for a comprehensive Contaminated Soil Act was also stated.
A draft of the new Contaminated Soil Act has now been prepared (Miljø- og Energiministeriet, 1999). This Act includes all aspects of contaminated soil including protection of groundwater resources, prevention of health risk through land use of contaminated areas, transport of contaminated soil, as well as remediation of sites.