European Unions new water scarcity indicator and its application in Finland ; EU:n uusi vedenniukkuusindikaattori ja sen soveltaminen Suomessa

Water scarcity is defined as human-induced excessive water use in relation to the available water resources. The objective of this thesis was to apply the new EU water scarcity indicator (Water Exploitation Index +, WEI+) in Finland to find out whether there has been water scarcity in Finland during years 2000-2011. The second objective was to examine whether WEI+ indicator is better than the earlier water scarcity indicators. The indicator is a part of the European Commission's new blueprint to safeguard Europe's waters, which was released in November 2012. WEI+ analysis was carried out in Finland annually for 37 water basins, and of these, twelve were also tested on a monthly basis. In addition, a case study was carried out with the indicator for an artificial ground water project in Virttaankangas to assess its impacts on water scarcity. The indicator was also evaluated on six criteria. WEI+ analysis assesses the human-induced stress towards the water basin. The water that returns to the basin after use is reduced from the abstraction of water. The result is then divided by the amount of natural water resources. The resulting percentage value is compared to threshold values that indicate the severity of water scarcity. Abstraction and returned water are not measured accurately in Finland. Therefore, the values are largely based on the literature. The results show that Finland does not have annual water scarcity, but slight seasonal water scarcity occurs during summers in the river Aurajoki, river Uskelajoki, river Sirppujoki and river Paimionjoki. With further studies in mind, it is advisable to make an annual analysis of all the Finnish water basins and in addition the monthly analysis, if the annual analysis is more than one per cent or the total agricultural area of the basin is more than 20%. The artificial ground water project in Virttaankangas is a great project in terms of water scarcity, because it would eliminate the seasonal water scarcity in river Aurajoki and river Paimionjoki. One of the most ...