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Often potentially harmful chemical compounds are present in groundwater. RIVM presents a number of options for the revision of the groundwater quality assessment framework. Ensuring the quality of groundwater is currently part of the remit of the Dutch Soil Protection Act but will become part of the Environment and Planning Act in the future. The Environmental and Planning Act compiles standing acts for, among other things, construction, the environment, water, spatial planning and nature conservation.
Improvements in the groundwater quality assessment framework involve updating the assessment method to ensure it is in line with the aims and obligations of the European Water Framework Directive. It has also been noted that the lists of substances for standards of adjacent environmental fields, such as for soil and surface water quality assessment, are not consistent and that more synergy is needed in these areas.
It is also recommended to focus more strongly on the assessment of the quality of groundwater in drinking water conservation districts. RIVM proposes to further develop a new model when assessing the chemical quality of groundwater. The GRADE (Groundwater Risk Assessment near Drinking Water Extractions) model, should calculate the risk of contamination when extracting drinking water.