# EU Groundwater Protected Area Linkage Records — EEA WISE (`nexgensignal/eu-groundwater-protected-area-linkage-records`) Actor

Keyless pay-per-record EEA WISE WFD groundwater-to-protected-area links — drinking-water/Natura 2000/nitrate zones, protected-area type, objectives set/met and body status, as filed. Water-body grain, no person data. Gold $0.0335/record.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-groundwater-protected-area-linkage-records.md
- **Developed by:** [NexGen Signal](https://apify.com/nexgensignal) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $33.50 / 1,000 groundwater protected-area records

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## EU Groundwater Protected Area Linkage Records — EEA WISE

**Keyless. Pay per record. Every link between a European groundwater body and the protected areas that depend on it.**

This actor turns the **European Environment Agency (EEA) WISE Water Framework Directive (WFD) database** into clean, per-record data — the association between Europe's groundwater bodies and the PROTECTED AREAS tied to them: drinking-water protection areas, Natura 2000 sites, nitrate vulnerable zones, and other designations. Each run reads the EEA's keyless DiscoData SQL service and delivers one row per groundwater-body-to-protected-area link, structured for environmental and water-management analysis, reusable with acknowledgement of the EEA, with no personal data of any kind.

### What this is, in one paragraph

Under the Water Framework Directive, each groundwater body is assessed and linked to the protected areas that rely on it — most importantly the drinking-water protection areas, but also Natura 2000 conservation sites and nitrate vulnerable zones. This actor reads that association table and delivers one record per link: the country and river basin district, the groundwater body (code, name, and area), the protected-area code and TYPE, whether protected-area objectives were set and met, and the body's quantitative and chemical status labels — all carried as filed. It is the protected-area linkage layer of Europe's groundwater assessment.

### Who buys this and for what job

- **Drinking-water utilities and regulators** mapping which groundwater bodies underpin which drinking-water protection areas.
- **Conservation and Natura 2000 analysts** linking groundwater status to the protected sites that depend on it.
- **Agri-environment and catchment products** tying nitrate vulnerable zones to their groundwater bodies.
- **Data engineers** who want the WISE WFD groundwater protected-area association table as clean rows from a keyless source.

### EEA licence — reuse with acknowledgement

One licence rider travels on every record. EEA data may be **reused, including commercially, provided the source is acknowledged**: "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)." Where third-party content is marked, it keeps its own terms. These are reported associations and status labels as filed — not a compliance verdict.

### Water-body grain — no person data

The unit of every record is a link between a groundwater body and a protected area — a water body and its reported attributes, never a person. WISE WFD reporting is at water-body / river-basin level: there is **no contact, operator, or responsible-person field** in the source table, and none is selected or emitted — the query reads only the water-body identity, the protected-area code and type, the objectives-set/met flags, and the status labels. A person-key guard runs on every record as a backstop. The `file_url`, where present, points to the official EEA/Eionet reporting file (an organisation reporting system), never a person.

### A note on scale, honestly

The source table holds **176,287 rows** as verified by an exact `COUNT(*)` at build time. It carries both the 2016 and 2022 Water Framework Directive reporting cycles (the `reporting_year` field distinguishes them). The planning index for this category was 172,090; the live count above is slightly higher and is the authoritative figure. This is the real, populated table for this category.

### Sample output

![Sample output — EU Groundwater Protected Area Linkage Records — EEA WISE](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/IXCaMKjxSmUTLHhmq/records/eu-groundwater-protected-area-linkage-records.png)

*Real rows from a live run of this actor (first 5 rows, selected columns).*

One full record from the same run, exactly as delivered:

```json
{
  "record_id": "ATGK100001:None:2016",
  "reporting_year": 2016,
  "country_code": "AT",
  "country_name": "Austria",
  "eu_rbd_code": "AT1000",
  "rbd_name": "DANUBE",
  "eu_groundwater_body_code": "ATGK100001",
  "groundwater_body_name": "NO INTERNATIONAL NAME",
  "area_km2": 31.121,
  "eu_protected_area_code": "None",
  "protected_area_type": "Inapplicable",
  "protected_area_objectives_set": "Inapplicable",
  "protected_area_objectives_met": "Inapplicable",
  "gw_quantitative_status_value": "2",
  "gw_chemical_status_value": "2",
  "groundwater_body_transboundary": "No",
  "has_descriptive_data": 1,
  "file_url": "http://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/at/eu/wfd2016/districts/at1000/envwvttw/GWB_AT_20170405.xml",
  "source": "EEA WISE Water Framework Directive (WFD) — groundwater body to protected-area linkage",
  "source_url": "https://discodata.eea.europa.eu/",
  "licence": "European Environment Agency (EEA) WISE database under EU environmental reporting. Reuse is permitted, including for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged: 'Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)'. Third-party content, where marked, keeps its own terms.",
  "attribution": "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), WISE Water Framework Directive (WFD) database (discodata.eea.europa.eu).",
  "disclaimer": "The link between each European groundwater body and the PROTECTED AREAS associated with it (drinking-water protection areas, Natura 2000 sites, nitrate vulnerable zones and other designations), at groundwater-body / protected-area grain from the EEA WISE WFD database. Each record carries the country and river basin district, the groundwater body (code, name, area), the protected-area code and TYPE, whether protected-area objectives were set and met, and the body's quantitative and chemical status labels VERBATIM. Water-body grain — there is no contact, operator, or responsible-person field in the source, none is selected or emitted, and a person-key guard runs on every record.",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-25T17:20:44Z"
}
```

### Pricing

| Event | Free plan | Bronze | Silver | Gold / Platinum / Diamond |
|-------|-----------|--------|--------|---------------------------|
| `groundwater_protected_area_record` | $0.05 | $0.045 | $0.04 | $0.0335 |

Delivered before charged. Blocked runs and empty results cost nothing.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| `countryCode` | string | — | Optional 2-letter country code (e.g. DE, FR). |
| `year` | integer | — | Optional WFD reporting cycle year to filter (e.g. 2016, 2022). |
| `maxRecords` | integer | 500 | Ceiling on records delivered and billed. |

### Output

One JSON object per protected-area link. Representative example (values as reported):

```json
{
  "record_id": "DEGW001:DEPA0001:2022",
  "reporting_year": 2022,
  "country_code": "DE",
  "country_name": "Germany",
  "eu_rbd_code": "DE1000",
  "rbd_name": "RHINE",
  "eu_groundwater_body_code": "DEGW001",
  "groundwater_body_name": "Example GW Body",
  "area_km2": 128.4,
  "eu_protected_area_code": "DEPA0001",
  "protected_area_type": "Drinking water protection area",
  "protected_area_objectives_set": "Yes",
  "protected_area_objectives_met": "Yes",
  "gw_quantitative_status_value": "2",
  "gw_chemical_status_value": "2",
  "source": "EEA WISE Water Framework Directive (WFD) — groundwater body to protected-area linkage",
  "observed_at": "2026-08-27T00:00:00Z"
}
```

An unbilled `RUN_RECEIPT` records the robots check, the filters, rows seen and delivered, and whether charged equals delivered.

### Field reference

Each record is one groundwater-body-to-protected-area link. Identity: `record_id`, `country_code`, `country_name`, `eu_rbd_code`, `rbd_name`, `eu_groundwater_body_code`, `groundwater_body_name`, `area_km2`, and `reporting_year`. Protected area: `eu_protected_area_code`, `protected_area_type`, `protected_area_objectives_set`, and `protected_area_objectives_met`. Body status context: `gw_quantitative_status_value`, `gw_chemical_status_value`, and `groundwater_body_transboundary`. Plus `has_descriptive_data` and `file_url`. Provenance travels on every record: `source`, `source_url`, `licence`, `attribution`, `disclaimer`, and `observed_at`.

### How a run works

A run first re-reads the source host's robots posture from your runtime — the EEA DiscoData host — and stops at the door if that ever changes. It pages the WISE WFD groundwater protected-area association table (filtered to your optional `countryCode` and `year`), ordered by the high-cardinality groundwater-body code, and flattens each row to one record — carrying every status label and value **verbatim**, never anything person-shaped — delivered **before** it is charged, so a blocked or empty run costs you nothing. The actor stops at your `maxRecords` ceiling and records `charge_equals_delivered` in the receipt.

### Coverage and scope

The table holds on the order of **176,287 rows** across reporting countries, river basin districts, protected-area types, and the 2016 and 2022 WFD reporting cycles. Because each record carries the `country_code`, the water-body identity, the `protected_area_type`, and the `reporting_year`, segmenting by country, basin, protected-area type, or cycle is straightforward. Pull one country, one protected-area type, or the whole table to seed a water-status warehouse.

### Working with the data

The linkage is a dependency map, and the fields make it actionable. Because every record pairs a groundwater body with a `protected_area_type` and the body's quantitative and chemical status, an analyst can find, in one group-by, which drinking-water protection areas sit over groundwater bodies that are not in good status — the exact intersection that matters for source-water protection — and can track whether protected-area objectives were set and met between the 2016 and 2022 cycles.

### Cost guidance

One `groundwater_protected_area_record` per delivered row: cost = rows delivered × your plan's per-record price. Scope with `countryCode` and `year` to keep runs bounded. 1,000 rows is **$50** (Free) / **$33.50** (Gold).

### Honest limitations

- **As reported.** Status labels, objectives flags, and associations are as filed by member states for the WFD reporting cycle; this actor reformats, it does not audit or recompute.
- **A linkage, not a verdict.** These are reported associations and status labels, not an independent compliance assessment.
- **Two cycles merged.** The table carries both the 2016 and 2022 reporting cycles; the `reporting_year` field distinguishes them — filter on it if you want a single cycle.
- **Placeholder codes kept verbatim.** Where a member state filed a placeholder such as `None` for a protected-area code, it is carried through as reported.
- **Acknowledge the EEA**, and note there is **no person data** of any kind.

### Differentiation

This is a **net-new** category for the NexGenData fleet. It is distinct from the groundwater chemical- and quantitative-exemption cells (which record EXEMPTIONS from good status) and from the groundwater threshold-value cell (the numeric thresholds): this cell records the PROTECTED-AREA associations of each groundwater body. Its specific job is the **WFD groundwater-body to protected-area linkage**.

### The NexGen Signal family

Part of the NexGen Signal family of pay-per-record data products:

- [EU Groundwater Chemical Exemption Records — EEA](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-groundwater-chemical-exemption-records)
- [EU Groundwater Threshold Value Records — EEA](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-groundwater-threshold-value-records)
- [EU Waterbody Quality Records — EEA](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-waterbody-quality-records)
- [EU Nitrate Monitoring Records — EEA](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-nitrate-monitoring-records)
- [EU Bathing Water Quality Records — EEA](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-bathing-water-quality-records)

*Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), WISE Water Framework Directive (WFD) database (discodata.eea.europa.eu). EEA data may be reused, including commercially, provided the source is acknowledged: "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)"; marked third-party content keeps its own terms. Water-body grain; no contact, operator, or responsible-person field is selected or emitted, no natural-person data of any kind. Status labels and associations as filed for the WFD reporting cycle, not a compliance verdict.*

# Actor input Schema

## `countryCode` (type: `string`):

Optional 2-letter country code (e.g. DE, FR).

## `year` (type: `integer`):

Optional WFD reporting cycle year to filter (e.g. 2016, 2022).

## `maxRecords` (type: `integer`):

Maximum records delivered and billed.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxRecords": 500
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Delivered records.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxRecords": 500
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("nexgensignal/eu-groundwater-protected-area-linkage-records").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxRecords": 500 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("nexgensignal/eu-groundwater-protected-area-linkage-records").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxRecords": 500
}' |
apify call nexgensignal/eu-groundwater-protected-area-linkage-records --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,nexgensignal/eu-groundwater-protected-area-linkage-records"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/lbEJex044NjAbC6wc/builds/pAyZYB0bCvMD0QEAh/openapi.json