Better decisions for drinking water protection

In the project Better decisions under uncertainty – a policy lab for municipal management of emissions in water protection areas, IVL is working together with municipalities and water utilities to develop decision support for managing emissions in water protection areas. The aim is to strengthen the protection of drinking water sources through more informed and predictable decision-making.

Lake Mälaren is one of Sweden’s most important sources of drinking water, supplying large parts of the Stockholm region. At the same time, its catchment area is affected by discharges from stormwater, dewatering water and other sources of pollution. Municipalities and water utilities therefore regularly need to determine what requirements should be applied to protect raw water resources.

Many decisions in water protection areas are currently made at the intersection of multiple regulations, environmental objectives and knowledge sources. At the same time, there is often a lack of shared guidance on how different interests and uncertainties should be balanced. This can result in varying assessments between municipalities and limited predictability for both authorities and operators.

The project is carried out as a co-creative policy lab, where IVL, Huddinge Municipality, Stockholm Water and Waste and Norrvatten jointly develop and test decision-support tools for supervisory and permitting processes in water protection areas. Several other municipalities and water utility organisations within the Eastern Mälaren Water Council contribute with experiences, needs assessments and perspectives through participation in joint workshops. The work builds on existing practices and experiences from municipalities and water utilities, with the ambition of creating a more consistent and transparent decision-making process.

Through practice-based case studies of real regulatory and permitting cases in the Eastern Mälaren Water Protection Area, different approaches, guideline values and guidance materials are tested and evaluated. The lessons learned are used to develop decision-support tools that can be applied locally and provide input for continued policy development at the national level.

IVL is responsible for project management, methodology development and analytical support. The goal is to develop practical decision-support tools that strengthen the protection of drinking water resources, reduce variations in regulatory assessments and can be applied by municipalities beyond the Mälaren region.