The RiverLife project and implementation of the Water Framework Directive Satu Maaria Karjalainen * , Kaisa Heikkinen North Ostrobothnia Regional Environment Centre, P.O. Box 124, FIN-90101 Oulu, Finland Abstract In Finland, 61% of classified river kilometres were below good water quality in 1994–1997. Diffuse loading originating from land use in river basins has the most important role in the deterioration of water quality. Therefore, practical tools for planning sustainable land use in river basins are important. In the RiverLife project (1998–2001) a decision support system, RiverLifeDSS, was developed to be used through the Internet (http://www.environment.fi/riverlife). The system contains information packages, tools and methods for planning water pollution control and management of river basins. The use of RiverLifeDSS was demonstrated during the project in three Finnish target river basins for which also management plans were drawn. The RiverLifeDSS is useful in the implementation of the WFD in river basins as it gives information on river environment, ecology and biology and the factors affecting them, and on methods in river water pollution control. The system helps to make integrated river basin management plans, in which the whole river basins are taken into account. # 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: River basin; Land use; Water pollution control; Management 1. Introduction In Finland, 14% of total river length (25,000 km) has been classified in 1994–1997 according to suitability for drinking water supply, fishing and recreational activities (Finnish Environment Institute, 2004a). Of these rivers 39% showed good or excellent water quality, whereas 30% were classified as satisfactory and as much as 31% poor or passable (Finnish Environment Institute, 2004b). Diffuse source loading originating from land use in river basins has the most important role in the river water quality deterioration (Heinimaa et al., 1998). Different land use forms (e.g. forestry, agriculture and peat production) affect the river ecosystems through the loading of suspended solids, nutrients, metals and locally also through the loading of acidifying substances. Silting and eutrophication are the main processes deteriorating the river channels in Finland. The environmental impacts of diffuse source loading can, however, be diminished by effective use of water pollution control methods, e.g. sedimentation basins, buffer zones and wetlands. They can be decreased also by integrated land use planning. To realise the aims of maintaining and improving the aquatic environments in the European Community accord- ing to the Water Policy Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union, knowledge on river ecology and water pollution control methods is needed. In addition, practical tools are needed for the cost-effective integrated manage- ment and monitoring of river basins. In the RiverLife project (1998–2001) a practical system for sustainable river basin management, RiverLifeDSS, was developed to be used through the Internet. It is an interactive computer-based decision support system which helps local and regional authorities, private companies and consultants to integrate environmental considerations into land use planning and management practices in river basins. The RiverLifeDSS was created in the RiverLife project by a consortium of researchers and professionals from the Finnish environmental administration, universities, research institutes and private companies. www.elsevier.com/locate/envsci Environmental Science & Policy 8 (2005) 263–265 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +358 8 3158 373. E-mail addresses: satu.m.karjalainen@ymparisto.fi, mariaa.karjalainen@ymparisto.fi (S.M. Karjalainen). 1462-9011/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2005.03.006