Panel 1
Filippo Bianchi, Luigi Di Micco, Saverio Venturelli
The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) provides for the review and updating of river basin management plans (PdG) within 15 years of the entry into force of the directive itself and, subsequently, every six years (art. 13). Therefore, in implementation of this indication, in order to develop the planning cycle relating to the period 2015-2021, the review and update of the first Plans adopted in 2010 was started in 2012. The process concluded with the approval of the plans between March and June 2016. Subsequently, the preparation of the second update of the Plans began, as required by the art. 117 paragraph 2bis of Legislative Decree 152/2006. The update concluded in December 2021 with the adoption of the PdG (for all the river basin districts) by the Permanent Institutional Conference. The Water Protection Plans (PTA) are the plans through which the regions, on the basis of the objectives set at the hydrographic district scale by the Master Plans, define the interventions aimed at guaranteeing the achievement or maintenance of the quality objectives of the water bodies and the measures necessary for their qualitative and quantitative protection at a regional level. As of October 2025, six regions and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano have an updated PTA based on the 2021 PdGs. Another six regions have a PTA adopted or approved after the publication of the 2015 PdGs. The remaining regions (seven) have a PTA dating back to a period prior to the publication of the 2015 PdGs.
Between 2024 and 2025, three regions updated the PTA to align it with the latest management cycle of the 2021 PdG (Lazio, Valle d'Aosta and Basilicata).
The indicator provides information on the progress of the district Management Plans (PdG) and the regional Water Protection Plans (PTA). The evolution of planning - programming inherent to the qualitative-quantitative protection of water resources derives from a process of adaptation of national legislation to community regulatory provisions and, in particular, to the Water Framework Directive (WFD), implemented in Italy by Legislative Decree 152/2006, Part III. And subsequent amendments. Ii, which modified and integrated the previous regulatory framework. The main concept of the WFD is the integrated management of water at the hydrographic district scale, overcoming the logic of administrative boundaries, implemented through a new governance tool to be subjected to periodic verification and updating: the Water Management Plan (PdG). The PdG therefore represents the operational tool through which measures for the protection, rehabilitation and improvement of surface and underground water bodies are planned, implemented and monitored and the sustainable use of water resources is facilitated. The basis for the drafting of the first PdGs (those approved in 2010) were the regional Water Protection Plans, whose role, in the new regulatory framework, has been progressively redefined, from a superordinate plan to an implementation plan for district planning. The art. 13 paragraph 7 of the DQA provides that the first PdG must be reviewed and updated within fifteen years of the entry into force of the DQA itself and, subsequently, every 6 years. Therefore, the national Basin Authorities, now abolished by the Decree of the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea n. 294 of 25/10/2016, which came into force on 17/2/2017 relating to the "district" reform, completed the first review and update process in 2016, considering: 1) the contents of those adopted in 2010, to implement the obligations established by community and national regulations on water; 2) the results of the analyzes conducted by the European Commission on the 2010 PdGs; 3) the review with any updates (carried out by 2013) relating to the analyzes of the characteristics of the district, water use and the impacts of human activities on the state of the waters (art. 5 of the WFD). At the end of 2018, the District Authorities began the process relating to the third planning cycle 2021 - 2027 with the official start of the update of the 2015 - 2021 Plans. This process, which began with the publication of the "Calendar and work program" drawn up by the District Authorities, ended in December 2021, with the adoption of the 2021 - 2027 Plans. Even in this update phase, as in the previous one and in the initial phase of formation of the Plans, public participation and consultation were of fundamental importance throughout the decision-making process. The 2021 PdGs constitute the most updated picture on the state of surface and groundwater in the river basin districts. They report a characterization of the river basins, in which the pressures and impacts on the water bodies present there are identified. The environmental objectives for water bodies are also reported within the PdG, as well as their management measures and monitoring programmes. As regards the PTAs, since the latter are implementation tools of the district PdGs at a regional scale, to date, most of the autonomous regions/provinces have started the review of those adopted and/or approved before PdG 2015 or approved partial updates. Some autonomous regions/provinces have already updated their PTAs to the contents of the 2021 PdGs.
Provide information on the progress of the PdGs and PTAs to monitor the implementation of the planning tools relating to the correct qualitative and quantitative management and protection of water resources at different spatial scales.
Water Directive 2000/60/EC, Legislative Decree 152/06 and subsequent amendments and its implementing decrees.
The objectives of the PdG/PTA are to "identify and plan" the measures aimed at protecting, improving and restoring the state of all water bodies, or to implement all the measures necessary to achieve "good state" at a district/regional/provincial scale. “Good status”, according to the definition given by current legislation, is the condition in which the values of the quality elements, associated with a certain “type” of water body, present levels that are comparable to those generally associated with the specific type of water body in unaltered conditions. Therefore, the general objective that must be present in the PdG and, therefore, in the PTA, is to maintain or bring the water body back to a qualitative state that differs "slightly" from the conditions without anthropic impact, through the implementation of a program of measures, which must be explained in such a way as to integrate all the aspects inherent to the protection and management of "water resources", such as the characteristics of the reference territory, the analysis of the pressures and the related impacts on the state of surface and underground waters, the economic analysis of water use.
Panel 2
None
None
Data quality assessment
Regions, District Basin Authorities, Regional and Provincial Agencies for the protection of the Environment.
The institutional sites of the Regions, the District Basin Authorities and the Regional and Provincial Agencies for the protection of the Environment were used, where both the plan documentation and the updates that follow one another over time are reported, as well as information on the start of the plan update processes.
The sites used are for public consultation.
National, Regional
October 2025
Indicator assessment
The indicator is constructed and updated starting from the information found from the institutional sites of the District and Regional Basin Authorities and the ARPA/APPA, reporting in particular the number of plans adopted and/or approved and those being reviewed/updated.
In October 2025, it appears that approximately one third of the regions/autonomous provinces (8) have a PTA drawn up or updated following the drafting of the 2021 PdG. Another third (6) has a PTA approved or adopted before the 2021 PdG but after the 2015 PdG, while the other third (7) has a PTA approved or adopted before the 2015 PdG. Between 2024 and 2025, three regions have updated the PTA to align it with the last management cycle of the 2021 PdG (Lazio, Valle d'Aosta and Basilicata). In addition, it is noted that the PTAs of 13 out of 20 regions are not yet updated to the latest PdG; of these 7 regions have a PTA updated more than 10 years ago (Figure 1).
Over the years there has been a progressive increase in PTAs which are updated to the latest management cycle of the PdG. In particular, between 2024 and 2025, three regions updated the PTA to align it with the last management cycle of the 2021 PdG (Lazio, Valle d'Aosta and Basilicata). However, there remain some regions that have not updated their PTA in either of the last two management cycles of the PdG. The stability of the trend is a symptom of a certain static nature in the actions that should be undertaken by the various regions in order to identify measures that lead to the protection of both qualitative and quantitative water resources.
Data
Table 1: State of progress of the district management plans
Websites of the district basin authorities
Table 2: State of progress of the Water Protection Plans
Websites of the regions/autonomous provinces and regional/provincial agencies for environmental protection
Figure 1: Overview of the update of the regional water protection plans
Websites of the regions/autonomous provinces and regional/provincial agencies for environmental protection
The Plans of all the districts are updated as required by the legislation in force (Table 1). The update framework of the regional/provincial PTAs is more heterogeneous, as can be seen in Table 2. Some autonomous regions/provinces have updated the PTAs following the publication of the 2021 PdGs; in addition to Piedmont, the provinces of Bolzano and Trento, Abruzzo and Puglia, between 2024-2025, Lazio, Valle d'Aosta and Basilicata have also updated the PTAs to the 2021 PdG.
Among the regions with pre-PdG 2015 PTAs, four of these (Veneto, Marche, Tuscany, Sicily) out of seven have PTA updating processes underway or have carried out updates in recent years (Table 2).