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Abstract: Physical hydronomics (PH) is the specific application of thermodynamics that physically characterizes the governance of water bodies, i.e., the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for European Union citizens. In this paper, calculation procedures for the exergy analysis of river basins are developed within the WFD guidelines and a case study is developed. Therefore, it serves as an example for the feasible application of PH in the environmental cost assessment of water bodies, accordingly to the principle of recovery of the costs related to water services in accordance with the polluter pays principle, one of the milestones of the WFD. The Foix River watershed, a small river located at the Inland Basins of Catalonia (IBC), has been analyzed. Main results, difficulties, and constraints encountered are shown in the paper. Following WFD''s quantity and quality objectives previously defined, water costs are calculated and the equivalence between the exergy loss due to water users and the exergy variation along the river are also analyzed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The water cycle is governed by the thermodynamic laws. Therefore Thermodynamics and more specifically Exergoecology, that is the application of the exergy analysis in the evaluation of natural fluxes and resources on Earth, could help to build a solid cost structure based strictly on Physics and far away from price policies or subjectivities. Any type of degradation of water bodies along their rivers, lakes, etc., could then be quantified. Moreover, the physical information of the resource can be unified into universal units (energy units), and the monetary conversion of exergy costs is automatic through conventional energy prices. This paper presents a new discipline named “Physical Hydronomics”, as a guide to assess environmental costs included in the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]