The wet runway dilemma..
There seems to be a difference in the definition of a wet runway between ATC and Jaa ops.
The JAA defines a runway as wet when it has a "reflective surface" and as such this is the definition used when calculating aircraft takeoff and landing performance. The tricky situation arises when the tower calls the runway 'wet', when it appears 'damp', although by jaa ops definition it can still be concidered dry as far as aircraft performance is concerned, especially on a grooved runway. I agree this is erring on the safe side but, it is also important to get the job done where it is safe to do so. This situation can put the pilot in the difficult position of having to asses the runway state when ATC calls the runway wet, to try and determine whether or not it is wet under the JAA definition or not. On a short runway this is can be critical. On the basis that the aircraft may well be IMC until quite close to the runway the pilot is probably not in the best position to make that call!
I have tried doing a search on this subject and did not come up with much. Appologies if this has been previosly covered.