Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

Information as a basis for cooperation: the Assessments of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and

Groundwaters in the UNECE Region

Lea KauppiChair of the WG on Monitoring and Assessment of the

Convention

TRANSBOUNDARY WATERCOURSE, EUROPE

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

The Water Convention

• Protection of transboundary waters by preventing, controlling and reducing transboundary impacts

• Promotion of cooperation• Sustainable management• Reasonable and equitable

use conflict prevention • Conservation and restoration

of ecosystems

Value of joint monitoring and shared information

• A common understanding on the state of and pressures on transboundary waters is a prerequisite for developing joint management

• Co-operation on monitoring is politically less ”sensitive” than management planning. Thus it provides a good starting point for further co-operation

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

140 rivers

30 lakes

70 aquifers

>150 experts

40 countries

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

Objectives

• Serve as point of reference for Governments, IGOs, NGOs to improve management and status of waters

• Highlight achievements in IWRM at transboundary level

• Develop knowledge and understanding for further action

• Identify situations of water crisis• Provide guidance for strategic investments

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

• Action to decrease water pollution from point sources (municipal sewage treatment; old industrial installations) is of primary importance in basins in EECCA and SEE

• Pollution from diffuse sources (e.g. agriculture, urban areas) is of high importance for action in basins in Western and Central Europe

Major findings of the first assessment

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

• The effects of climate change became visible in almost all of the analysed river basins

• In transboundary river basins, water sharing among countries in the same basins is often a major water-quantity issue, and continues to cause upstream-downstream conflicts

Major findings of the first assessment

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

• In transboundary aquifers, increasing abstraction for agricultural purposes and drinking water supply is often a major water-quantity issue, and in some cases leads to overuse.

• Eutrophication is the worst phenomenon affecting transboundary lakes. It is increasing constantly except in areas where wastewater treatment has been effectively implemented and where small improvements are visible

Major findings of the first assessment

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

• Plans for integrated water resources management still need to be developed for almost all basins.

• Proper attention should be devoted to land-use planning and the joint management of surface waters and groundwaters

Major findings of the first assessment

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

– Challenge in SEE: major conflict and political change in the last 15 years; aquifers and groundwaters now shared between new countries.

– Various pressures:Agriculture, industry, sewage and waste disposal, mining, solid waste disposal, tourism

– Quantity and quality status good, which may reflect suppression of pressure factors by e.g. the regional political situation

– Clear need for bilateral agreements

Transboundary groundwaters in South-Eastern Europe

.

8

16

9

12

30

29

34

35

38

41

42

67

10

13

32

33

31

26

22

24

27

36

1

5 17

18

20 21 23

3940

43

44

4546

47

37

48

49

51

Alluvial-Sedimentary

Karst

2

28

14

25

43

19

11

15

50

51 transboundary aquifers covered

Alluvial aquifers in the denselypopulated lowlands

Subject to more demands, quantityand quality pressures, agriculture impacts

Karstic aquifers recharge inmountainous areas

Subject to rather few pressuresfrom human activities, but

highly vulnerable

River Oder : evolving impacts of dense population and industrial

history• Dense population and heavy

industry• Agriculture, fishery and

tourism also among the pressure factors

• Concerns: Significant pollution loads released to the Baltic Sea; eutrophication;hygienic problems; polluted sediments (heavy metals, PAH and PCB compounds)

• Structural changes in industry and agriculture, contribute to improving water quality, but on the other hand inccrease pressure

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

Central Asia: shrinking lake Balkhash, fed principally by Ili river

•pressure factors include agriculture (animal farms, irrigated farming – in China some 600 million ha irrigated), mining, industry, and urbanization – resulting in pollution in both China and Kazakhstan•Trends: ever-growing water use, threat of growing pressure on water resources due to increasing economic activities in China – fate may be similar to that of the Aral Sea

Second assessment under preparation

• Geographically specific attention will be paid to the EECCA region

• Strengthening the integrated river basin approach, e.g. the role of wetland protection

–

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

Second assessment under preparation

• Thematically more focus on: – the status of institutional arrangements

of co-operation– Water quantity issues and impacts of

climate change– Groundwaters– Health aspects

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

Second assessment under preparation

• National experts play a crucial role, the secretariat coordinates the work

• Regional workshops are an important part of the preparatory process

• To be published in the next EfE Ministerial Conference in 2011 in Astana

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes