The VMM coordinates the integrated water policy. It monitors the condition of water systems, manages first category unnavigable watercourses and groundwater, plans and supervises treatment infrastructure and develops policy instruments to achieve desired environmental objectives for water.
The European Water Framework Directive, transposed in the Flemish Decree on Integrated Water Policy, sets a good ecological status as a goal for surface water bodies, among other things. The biological quality elements phytoplankton, macrophytes, phytobenthos, macro-invertebraten and fish, and a number of hydromorphological and physico-chemical parameters determine the ecological status.
The target is almost nowhere achieved. Quite a few water bodies do already score well for one or more biological quality elements.
The condition is slowly improving.
