presentation unece water conventionsonja

8/8/2019 Presentation UNECE Water ConventionSonja

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UNECE Convention on theProtection and Use of

Transboundary Watercourses andInternational Lakes

A unique framework for improvedmanagement of shared waters

Sonja Koeppel, UNECE



Outline

• Introduction to the UNECE WaterConvention: objectives, provisions

• Some activities of the Convention:assessment, case studies etc.

• EU legislation• Public participation: principles and

mechanisms

• Case study: Dniester river• The Protocol on Water and Health• Payment for ecosystem services



An estimated 140 million people, i.e. one person in seven, do

not have access to safe drinking water and adequatesanitation making them vulnerable to water-related diseases13,500 deaths a year of children under 14 years of age in

UNECE are due to poor water conditions



Transboundary nature of European water

resources

• 150 major transboundary rivers, 25major international lakes and morethan 100 transboundary aquifers

• Many European countries heavilydepend on other countries. Croatiareceives 40 percent of its surface water

resources from upstream countries



This led to the adoption of:

• Convention on the Protection and Use of

Transboundary Watercourses andInternational Lakes (1992)

• Protocol on Water and Health to the

1992 Water Convention (1999)• Protocol on Civil Liability and

Compensation for Damage Caused by

the Transboundary Effects of IndustrialAccidents on Transboundary Waters(2003)



The Water Convention

• Signed on 17 March1992

• Entered into force on 6October 1996

• 35 countries and theEuropean Community

have ratified theConvention



.

• Amended in 2003 to allowaccession by non-ECEcountries



Aims of the Convention

• Protection of transboundary

waters by preventing,controlling and reducingtransboundary impacts

• Ecologically sound and

rational management of transboundary waters

• Reasonable and equitable

use of transboundary waters⇒ Conflict prevention

• Conservation and restorationof ecosystems



Basic provisions to prevent, control and

reduce transboundary impacts

•Licensing and monitoring of waste-water discharges

•Emission limits of hazardous substances based onbest available technologies

•At least biological treatment applied to municipalwater waters

•Best environmental practice for non-point pollutionsources



Basic provisions to prevent, control

and reduce transboundary impacts

• Use of environmental impactassessment

• Promotion of the ecosystem approach

• Development of contingency planning

• Definition of water-quality objectivesand adopt water-quality criteria

• Minimization of the risk of accidentalwater pollution



Provisions relating to RiparianParties

• Parties bordering the same transboundarywaters are obliged to conclude specificbilateral or multilateral agreementsproviding for the establishment of joint

bodies

• Examples: 1994 Danube River ProtectionConvention, the 2000 EU Water FrameworkDirective, Framework Agreement on the SavaRiver Basin.



Institutional arrangements

•Joint bodies (river commissions, . . .,meeting of Plenipotentiaries)

•Tasks of joint bodies: identification of pollution sources,

concerted action plans, monitoring and assessment,

warning and alarm procedures, cooperation with other joint bodies in the same basin, cooperation with coastal

States



What does the Convention do for countries?

• Good w ater governance

•Support to Parties

•Implementation



Good w ater governance

• Legally binding tools

• Policy guidelines(monitoring and

assessment, floodmanagement, publicparticipation,interstate waterdistribution,ecosystem approach,climate changeadaptation, etc.)



Support to Parties

• Workshops,seminars

• Capacity buildingprogramme



Implementation and assessment

• Pilot projects on

transboundary rivers,lakes and groundwaters

• Advisory service(establishment of new

agreements, of jointbodies, safety of dam inCentral Asia, etc)

• Assessment of transboundary waters



140 rivers

30 lakes

70 aquifers

>150 experts

40 countries



Objectives of the assessment• Highlight achievements in IWRM at

transboundary level

• Shed light on effectiveness of measures

• Develop knowledge and understanding forfurther action

• Identify situations of water crisis

• Provide guidance for strategic investments

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



• Water pollution from point sources is of

primary importance in basins in EECCA andSEE

• Pollution from diffuse sources is of highimportance for action in basins in Western and

Central Europe• The effects of climate change became visible

in almost all of the analysed river basins

• Water sharing among countries in the samebasin is often a major water-quantity issue,and continues to cause upstream-downstreamconflicts

Major findings



• Plans for integrated water resourcesmanagement still need to be developedfor almost all basins

• Proper attention should be devoted toland-use planning and the jointmanagement of surface waters and

groundwaters

Major findings



EU legislation: Water Framework

directive

• Adopted in 2000

• Based on integrated water management• Therefore elaboration of river basin management plans

by 2009

– Identification and characterization of river basins by 2004

– Establishment of monitoring network by 2006– 2015 meet environmental objectives

• Objective: good water quality status (ecological andchemical) by set date

• Combination of prevention and control

• Requirement for public participation

• Transboundary cooperation



WATER BODIES AND MONITORINGWATER BODIES AND MONITORINGWATER BODIES AND MONITORING

Identification of waterbodies

IdentificationIdentification ofof waterwater

bodiesbodies

Designation of waterbodies

Designation of waterbodies

Characterisation,

Assessment

of actual status,

Preliminary settingof env. objectives

Characterisation,

Assessment

of actual status,

Preliminary settingof env. objectives

Referencesfor ecological status

ReferencesReferences

for ecologicalfor ecological statusstatus

Typology of waterbodies

Typology of waterbodies

Reference areas,indicator parameters

Reference areas,indicator parameters

Data bases and processingDataData bases and processingbases and processing

Info on the actual status ofwater bodies

InfoInfo onon thethe actualactual statusstatus ofof

waterwater bodiesbodies

Info on the human activitiesInfoInfo onon thethe humanhuman activitiesactivities

Collection of

information

CollectionCollection ofof

informationinformation

Survey and firstsurveillance

Survey and firstsurveillance

Investigativemonitoring

Investigativemonitoring

Additional data onhuman activity

Additional data onhuman activity

Source: BALBALÁÁ SH SH ÁÁZY and ZY and Havas Havas - - Szi lagyi Szi lagyi



Principles of Public Participation

in IWRM

• ensure adequate possibility of active

involvement of all the stakeholders andmore wide public groups

• open and transparent process, executedhonestly and impartially

• mechanisms should be adapted for the localcircumstances

• participants should accept a long-term vision

of acceptable state of the considered waterbody,• participation should not lie only in problem

solving, it is required to combine that econo-

mic welfare and protection of theenvironment are compatible with wideracceptable aims of development.



Specifics of Transboundary

IWRM and PublicParticipation

• transboundary territories often have special (more

stringent) water use regime and respective restrictionson freedom of movement• information on the state of waters is often rated as

classified, i.e. access to it is often impeded• decisions on water sector in these territories are often

made reasoning from foreign policy interests of thecountries, but not from requirements of rational naturemanagement or local requirements·

• frontier represents a “delimiter” of both language and

social-cultural and economic nature• different legislation in the neighboring countries,different management systems and public participationsystems, different priorities

• state of bilateral /multilateral relations in the basin,

presence of explicit conflict



Legislation Framework:

European Water FrameworkDirective

• member countries should managetheir basins as a whole

• member countries should promoteactive involvement of allstakeholders in the IWRM

• public participation is defined asdirect participation in decision-

making process

l f bl



Example of public

involvement methods

• Target group surveying/analysis/chart-making

in order to identify major stakeholdingindividuals/organizations• Compilation of stakeholders data base for

network interaction strengthening

• Analysis of their needs and possible forms of involvement/information of one or anothergroup.

• Elaboration of Plan of public involvement indiscussion and fulfillment of water protectionarrangements, improvement of its awareness

• Plan implementation and monitoring of itsefficiency.

GEF Projects, Chu and Talas rivers, LakePeipsi/Chudskoe..



Lessons learned from 15 yearsof Convention’simplementation:

the case of UNECE/ OSCEDniester project



Dniester River

L f d t



Law for good water

governance• Sound legal framework is essential

for stable and reliable cooperation=> existing Dniester agreementprovides good framework fortransboundary flood managementbut not adequate for conservation of

resources and biodiversity and verygeneral in specifying the competencesand mandate of the Plenipotentiaries



Institutional arrangements

• Suitable institutional arrangements at thenational and transboundary levels withstrong enforcement capacity are aprecondition for management of

transboundary watersMain challenges:

• Undefined, shared responsibilities within

national authorities and lack of coordination

• Capacity of staff

E h f i f ti d j i t



Exchange of information and joint

monitoring and assessment• To assess status of water resources

• To prepare proper policy actions, evaluate their

effectiveness

• Need for a common basis for decision-making

Main challenges:

• Inadequate coordination between various monitoring systems ofdifferent agencies

• Inadequacy of the systems

• Ineffective data quality control/assurance

• Inadequate information management and data exchange

I t ti j h ll



Integration: a major challenge

requiring to act in partnership• Need to integrate environmental aspects in sectoral

policies

• Need to create a shared vision and defined goals

• Need for cooperative processes

In the Dniester project:

• Involvement of all competent authorities

• Involvement of major environmental NGOs

• Involvement of Transdniestrean Region• Role of international organizations



The Protocol on Water and Health under the

Convention

• Adopted in 1999 by 36countries

• Entered into force in 2005

• Ratified by 21 countries



.

Status of ratification

Signatories

Parties



Objective of the Protocol

Protect human healthand well being by betterwater management

⇒ Sustainable developmentand MDGs

⇒ Poverty reduction

⇒ Policies integration

⇒ Cooperation between

sectors and countries



Core provisions

• Prevention,control andreduction of

water-relateddiseases

• Outbreak

detection,contingencyplanning and

response

• Effectiveprotection of water resources

• Provision of adequate suppliesof safe drinking

water andadequatesanitation



Pillars of the Protocol’s implementation

Targets and

target dates

Programme of

measures

Assessment of

progress –

review of

compliance

Support to

implementation

Public

information

ComplianceCommittee

International

support: AHPFM

Surveillance andresponse



Targets and target dates

Within 2 years, each Party shall set targets on:

• Water supply and sanitation• Water management

• Health protection

=> tailored to country needs and capacity

=> intersectoral cooperation, national dialogue,

=> guidelines by 2009 by the Task Force onIndicators and Reporting



Examples of indicators and targets

• For water quality: Percentage of

samples that fail to meet the standardfor E. coli and Enterococci and that failto meet the standard for chemical

water quality• Percentage of untreated wastewater• Percentage of sludge disposed of in an

acceptable way• Percentage of bathing waters undercontrol monitoring



More information

including guidelines, publications andinformation on activities under the Conventioncan be found at

http://unece.org/env/[email protected]

Be realistic!

http://unece.org/env/water

http://unece.org/env/water



Good transboundary water

management does not comeovernight

• Step-by step approach

• Assessment of the effectivenessof implemented programmes

E h i



Ecosystem approach in water

management

• Progressive shift of focus: from aquatic toterrestrial ecosystems

• Ecosystem services for water management

– flood prevention, control and mitigation – regulating runoff and water supply

– improving water quality

– withholding sediments and reducing erosion, – supporting water storage in the soil; and facilitatinggroundwater recharge

– cultural services



Payment for ecosystem servicesPES have the potential to be an environ-mentally effective, economically efficient and

socially equitable tool for IWRM

• Internalize environmental costs or benefits into

production and/or consumption decisions• Improve the quality and facilitate integration of relevant policies at all levels

• Generate/broaden source of finance

• Create incentives for investments andenvironmental friendly behaviour

• Create watershed solidarity

Water management issues and



gecosystem servicesAre there any significant water management problems in the

river basin?

Can ecosystem services help to at least partly address these

water management problems? Can these problems be solved

or mitigated by means of a project such as a change in land

use or management practice?

Do the costs and benefits of the PES scheme compare

favourably with those of feasible alternative projects (e.g. an

infrastructure solution)?

Identify problems and risks (e.g. by using

diagnostic analysis of environmental

problems, including analysis of rights

and responsibilities of stakeholder

groups).

- Analyse past experiences and the

effectiveness of measures (e.g. policy

measures, laws/regulations,

economic/financial instruments) and

infrastructure solutions.

- Check available information, including

results of scientific research.- Make use of local knowledge and

habits.

- Quantify ecosystem services (based on

biophysical analysis; hydrological

models, etc.).

- Carry out a valuation of ecosystem

services (based on cost-benefit analysis,

multi-criteria analysis, cost-

effectiveness analysis, cost-utility

analysis).

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

W t t i d



Water management issues and

ecosystem servicesIs a PES scheme politically acceptable, or can political

support be mobilized?

Are there any potential buyers and sellers of ecosystem

services?

Proceed with the establishment of PES

Can negotiations between potential buyers and sellers be

successfully concluded?

PES schemes are not an

option, at least for the

time being.

Organize dialogue about the

main features of the PES

mechanism and related

opportunities and risks.

Conduct stakeholder analysis to

identify the main beneficiaries

and service providers.

Consider an awareness-raising

campaign (e.g. to change willingnessto pay and/or willingness to accept).

- Create an effective and efficient

legal and organizational framework

for the operation of the PES scheme.

- Ensure effective monitoring of

contract compliance and flexible

adaptation of the PES scheme to

changing economic and

environmental conditions.

No

Yes



Core principles for PES

• Adaptive learning process

• Environmental effectiveness, economicefficiency and social equity

• Transparency to support negotiation,trust and compliance

• Conditionality of payment

• Need for monitoring of the service andrevisions of scheme

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