A conceptual framework for identifying the need and role of models in the implementation of the water framework directive

Abstract The new European Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims at improving water quality using an integrated approach to implement necessary societal and technical measures. Successful implementation of the WFD requires appropriate mathematical models and other tools to manage different phases of the planning procedure and to support decision making in various steps of the implementation process. Design, development, testing and use of these tools call for the development of a conceptual framework, which provides a basis to assure that proper tools will be available and selected for defined purposes. We developed the well‐known DPSIR framework to fit better to the WFD implementation process, and to this framework we identified which types of models are needed in different consecutive steps of the process. The framework, which we call the DPCER framework and which links to different model types, (i) is dynamic, (ii) indicates cause‐consequence relationships, (iii) integrates human and natural science, and (iv) is policy relevant. Its purpose is to bring the potential model applications into a wider perspective and lay a foundations for the selection of models and other tools within the identified three different phases of WFD implementation.