Daugava/Western Dvina basin: situation and publicengagement in River Basin Management (RBM)

Druskininkai, December 18, 2017

Aija Caune, VAK, Environmental Protection Club of LatviaNatallia Parechyna, Center for Ecological Solution, BelarusElita Kalniņa, VAK, Environmental Protection Club of Latvia

Daugava/Dvina river basin district:• 64 river WBs

• 181 lake WBs

Of them, transboundary:

• 4 river WBs and 3 lake WBs –

with BY (incl. the Daugava river);

• 2 river WBs and 3

lake WBs – with LT;

• 9 river WBs and

2 lake WBs – with RU

The Daugava or Western Dvina

The total length 1,020 km:

325 km in Russia, 338 km in Belarus, 352 km in Latvia.

The Daugava River Basin Area covers 27062 km2 or 42% of the territory of Latvia. About 59% of Latvia's population lives here.

.

The main threats in the Daugava transboundary basin are:

Latvia:

• companies and sewage treatment plants

• agricultural lands, farms

• not connected households to centralized sewerage networks

• contaminated sites and landfills

• crossborder pollution

• various man-made changes inwatercourses, water bodies,which alter their bed and banks,change sediment flows, waterregime, interrupt or impede themigration of fish and otheraquatic organisms

Belarus/Russia:

• Pig-breeding complexes of the Pskov region (1 million)

• New HPPs on the Daugava/Zapadnaya Dvina river in BY have officially started operating in summer 2017(Polock).

• Insufficiently treated waterfrom wastewater treatment plants of cities and villages (only 7% of rural territory hascentral treatment system)

• Livestock complexes of the Vitebsk region (cattle - 565.8, pigs - 436.0 thousand)

State of cooperation during elaboration ofDaugava river management plan 2016-2021

Official level:

• Cooperation with Lithuania – established (3 working groupmeetings with representatives from the competent authoritiesLatvia/ Lithuania took place)

• An agreement was reached at the meeting, which includesinformal cooperation of experts

• In Plan nothing is mentioned on cooperation with Belarus, Russia

• Belarus has billateral agreement with Russia regarding Daugava basin management, but does not have agreement with Latvia(meeting once a year) is an initiative and intention to cooperate onofficial level from Belarus

Informal:

• NGO meetings, scientists meetings, seminars, conferences, exchange of information

• Participation in Daugava River Advisory Board meetings

– formal approach (2 meetings held in 2017)

– exchange of information with the public;

• Participation in Consulting Board of «Daugavas loki» nature park (Nature 2000 site) The aim of the board:

• to include nature park «Daugavas loki» into UNESCO list of culture andnature heritage.

• Currently «Daugavas loki» is included in UNESCO Latvia nomination site«Upper Daugava and its Meanders» list

• Cooperation with local municipalities, scientists from Daugavpils University and Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology

Public participation in Daugava River basin policy

Advisory board for Daugava river basin from 2017

Hot issues and challenges:

• new Cabinet of Ministers regulations «On the registration and management of decentralized sewage systems» which will bein force from January 2018;– Problem: unwillingness to connect household to centralised WWTP;

– Proposal: additional financing for covering connection costs to Centralised Water and sewage systems;

• Biotope mapping in RBMP in new planning period (2019)

• Elaboration of Guidelines for maintaining biodiversity and reducing flood risks (currently under discussion);

Hot issues and challenges:• Cooperation on elaboration of transboundary Daugava river

basin management plan on ministerial level (financing + initiative)

Data exchange with BY: – Monitoring data obtained annually from Belarus – 5 stations on the

Daugava river

– But: Unification of data received is necessary (different methodology isapplied in BY)

Source:"Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre"

Hot issues and challenges:

• Construction of new HPP cascades in Western Dvina (Polock, Vitebsk)

• Contruction of industrial pig farms (1 million units) in Pskov region

International exchange of experience

• Exchange of Latvian experience of River Basin Consulting Boardwork in International Workshop on transboundary river basinmanagement in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea catchmentarea in Minsk, Belarus, January 18, 2017

• Project meeting Public Advisory River Team Daugava, 22 August2017, Mārupe, Latvia

• International Seminar Experience and initiatives to reduceenvironmental impacts and NGO cooperation possibilities onDaugava/Dvina river basin, 22-23 November 2017, Daugavpils,Latvia

Voluntary activitiesActivities «All small rivers flows into bigger rivers»:

• Involvement of local community in local river pollution monitoring process invarious small rivers of Daugava basin

• Involvement of public throughlocal river clean ups,

• Salmonide spawning watching tours

Exchange of Experience with Other InterestingInitiatives in Daugava River Basin

• VillageWaters - Water Emissions and Their Reduction in Village Communities: Coastal Villages in the Baltic Sea Region as Pilot Territories. Project it is planned to develop a tool to help select cost-effective andenvironmentally friendly wastewater treatment technologies that aresuitable for installation in summer houses, coastal villages sites andindividual homes that are not connected to a centralized seweragesystem.

More info: https://www.villagewaters.eu/

Other interesting initiatives in Daugava River Basin

1)Project "Inventory of priority substances in Daugava and Gauja river basin districts« (Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre).

The goal of the project: to ensure the collection of complete anddetailed information on the chemical quality of the environmentfor the inventory of priority and hazardous substances, which,according to the requirements of European Union legislation,should be repeated in 2019.

Other interesting initiatives in Daugava River Basin

2) Project "Determination of Ecological Flow in Latvian-Lithuanian TransboundaryRiver Basins (ECOFLOW) (Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre).

The goal of the project: to evaluate the impact of small Hydro Power Plants activities on river ecosystems in Latvian-Lithuanian cross-border river basins.

3) iWater project «Green area factor»

application in rain water sustainable

management. Solutions:

• rain garden

• rain water harvesting

• permeable paving

• vegetated roof

• bioretention cell

• infiltration structure

• water detention basin

• wet pond

Possible cooperation issues and challenges

• Transboundary Daugava RB management plan – basis forfurther Latvian – Belarussian - Russian cooperation

• Promotion of public monitoring system in cross borderterritories

• Formal arrangement of cooperation at the level of Ministries ofEnvironment should be initiated between Belarus and Latvia

• information exchange at regular basis and regular public/NGOinvolvement;

• Exchange and harmonization of monitoring results intransboundary Daugava/Dvina river basin with neighbouringcountries: BY, LT, RU (on state and possibly public level)

Possible cooperation issues and challenges

• Promotion of cross border experience exchange on differentissues (on migratory species – salmon, etc., floods, melioration,HPP, Industrial animal farms, etc.) related to Daugava basin

• Promotion of environmental friendly melioration guidelinesamong farmers in all cross border countries

• Promotion of organic agriculture practices

• Cross border action program for water bodies in the Daugavabasin, analysis of implementation costs and priorities could beelaborated with involvement of various stakeholders: (NGOs, etc.involvement and local municipalities along the border (in orderto cooperate on local issues)

• AND MANY MORE……..

All rivers flow into the sea!

Thank you for your attention!

aijacaune@gmail.com