ms. birgit vogel iewp @ technical exchange on river basin management planing, 13-14 february 2017
TRANSCRIPT
Technical Exchange on River Basin Management Planning
13-14 February 2017, Hyderabad
Future infrastructure development, their cumulative contribution in river basins and
management in the EU
IEWP Technical ExchangeDevelopment of IWRM Plans in India13 – 14 February 2017, Hyderabad (India)
Birgit Vogel – IEWP TA Team (Vienna, Austria)
Future Infrastructure Projects(FIPs)
Future Infrastructure Projects are important
for socio-economic development (national; State; river basin level), and
take an important role in IWRM
Challenge:
FIPs can impact on water environment and in some cases on livelihoods
Enable socio-economic development and implementation of future infrastructure projects
in a sustainable, balanced way –
also ensuring the achievement of environmental objectives
Types of Future Infrastructure Projects
Various types of FIPs caused by various water uses Consider the ones that can impact on water quantity and/or status
Directly Indirectly
Planned development an related pressures/impacts, e.g. Hydropower; navigation; flood protection measures
Pressures: hydromorphological alterations Agricultural irrigation
Pressures: hydrological alterations; diffuse pollution Industry and urban:
Pressures: pollution; hydromorphological alteration
Understand new pressure/impacts and link these to existing ones
Future Infrastructure Projects and IWRM
IWRM and IWRMPs need to address future infrastructure projects
However, role is often underestimated and/or FIPs are not addressed
Regarding what aspects ?
Integrated planning of future development in the basin-wide context to manage/limit impacts; conflicts of interest between water uses;
Linkage of planned projects to existing projects and their impacts
Consideration of cumulative impacts
(i) of and between future infrastructure projects per se
(ii) between FIPs and existing projects/impacts
Planning and management of future projects is a challenge – worldwide !
How to address and manage Future Infrastructure Projects? Future Infrastructure Projects are addressed through EIAs Usually assessment on a case-by-case basis
Basin-wide context and accumulation of impacts from various projects often not considered as well as
the transboundary impact dimension
Address future development in the overall context of river basins and not as individual cases.
Consider existing AND planned projects together
Example from the EU
(i) Hydropower Development
(ii) Reflection in Danube River Basin Management Plan
(iii) Lower Mekong River Basin
Legal Framework
Various legal frameworks that are relevant for FIPs – e.g hydropower
EIA and SEA Directives Overall planning of FIP and impact assessment
EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) Sets environmental objectives; FIPs have to be part of RBMPs Foresees exemptions to achieve objectives also regarding FIPs
EU Directive on Renewable Energy Sources (RESe)
20% share of renewable energy in place by 2020What are the interrelations?
What are conflicting requirements?
How to achieve a balance and solutions ?
Risks of impacts on water status due to
hydropower pressures
Other pressures can add up the
impacts as cumulative effects
EU WFD
Yes
Permit/License
No
No Permit/Lice
nse
More investigations
RESe Implementation
Hydropower programme or
project
Exemption WFD Article 4 incl. FIPsEffective Mitigation Measures OR
Not At Risk At Risk
Possibly At Risk
Ecological status
Significant (cumulative)
impacts
EU Environmental Impact Assessment
Example: Danube River Basin
Example Danube RBM Plan
Basin wide overview is aimed for - for rivers with catchment areas > 4.000 km2
Danube RBM Plan addresses existing pressures and impacts (SWMIs) Planned projects/FIPs are also addressed
Contracting partied report FIPs to the ICPDR and in more detail to EC Only 40 FIPs have been reported by countries in 2015
32 of these are located in the Danube River 20 relate to navigation 15 relate to flood protection measures 4 relate to hydropower generation
How are FIPs responded to on the basin-wide scale?Implement inter-sectoral cooperation activities for common understanding Joint Statement on Navigation Guiding Principles of Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Danube RB
ISH01Lower Mekong River BasinPressure/Impact Assessment – existing and planned hydropower
Lower Mekong River BasinPressure/Impact Assessment:Existing and planned hydropower
76% of the total investigated river length was classified as “at risk”24% as “possibly at risk” and 0% as “not at risk” regarding possible impacts from hydropower.
Questions to be asked….
What development strategies are in place and what is planned ?
What projects are existing ?
How will the existing and planned projects interact ?
Will there be additional pressures impacts on environment/livelihoods? Are objectives at risk to be failed ?
To prevent/limit conflicting interests among sectors: Implement a stakeholder process Implement further investigations
Follow stepwise approaches that can also be implemented to a certain extent in case of data gaps
Thank you for your attention !
Contacts:Professor Vinod Tare: [email protected]
Birgit Vogel: [email protected]
What can we tackle today?
What FIPs are planned in the three river basins?
What existing and future pressures might cause significant impacts in the river basin?
Where are potential hot spots?
Do you think that mitigation measures could be effectively applied for FIPs?
What policy tools are in place ?
What are the key challenges?