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Sustainable management of water in agriculture is emerging as a core issue in the context of climate change. The EU agricultural sector is dependent on the availability of the water resources, but it can also significantly affect the ecological, chemical and quantitative status of waterbodies. This evaluation examined the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures and instruments on water quantity and quality. For this purpose, the role played by the overall CAP framework on the performance of farming practices and corresponding pressures on water was considered. The study provides an overview of the implementation choices of Member States and assesses the effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU added value of the CAP vis-à-vis the objective of sustainable management of natural resources and climate actions, in terms of water-related aspects. The analysis covers the period following the implementation of the 2013 CAP reform, from 1 January 2014 onwards. All EU Member States were considered in the evaluation. However, analysis of the CAP implementation and effects has been carried out in-depth for the River Basin Districts selected for the case studies in ten Member States.
