Regional Legislative Decree No. 1-A/2017/A approving the Management Plan for the Azores Hydrographic Region (PGRH-Açores 2016-2021).

This Legislative Decree approves the Management Plan for the Azores Hydrographic Region (PGRH-Açores 2016-2021). The objectives of the Plan are: Characterization of the geophysical and socioeconomic framework of the Azores Hydrographic Region; Delimitation and characterization of surface water bodies; groundwater bodies; protected zones; Inventory of a set of information on the hydrographic characterization of the Azorean Hydrographic Region, namely the survey of water sources, the various uses of water, the identification and evaluation of the impact caused by the pressure of point and diffuse origin; Definition of monitoring programmes and methods for classifying the chemical and ecological status of surface water bodies (or ecological potential in the case of artificial or heavily modified bodies of water), chemical and status of groundwater; Definition of the cause-effect relationship of the impact of pressure on the state of the water bodies; Analysis of the water market, in particular through the assessment of the supply and demand trends; Analysis of the economic-financial regime associated with the provision of water services, by quantifying their costs and revenues and estimating environmental and scarcity costs (cost-effectiveness analysis tools); Creation of territorial, socio-economic and environmental scenarios, with influence on the uses of water; Assessment and monitoring of the state of the water resources of the Azores Hydrographic Region, namely through the application and specification of the system of indicators developed in the Regional Water Plan (PRA), approved by Regional Legislative Decree No. 19/2003/A of 23 April; Establishment of environmental and strategic objectives adapted to Azores, using the application of water protection objectives expressed in Water Law, etc.