B E L A R U S U K R A I N E

Upper Dnieper River Basin

This project is implemented by a consortiumled by Hulla & Co. Human Dynamics KG

The project is funded by the European Union

E P I R BEnvironmental Protection of International River Basins

DRAFT RIVER MANAGEMENT PLAN

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The Environmental Protectionof International River Basins(EPIRB) project aims toimprove the quality of water intransboundary river basins inthe wider Black Sea region,including Belarus and Ukraine.One of the objectives of theEPIRB project is to improvetechnical capacities bydeveloping river basinmanagement plans (RBMPs)that conform to the EU WaterFramework Directive (WFD) forselected river basins.

The Upper Dnieper River Basinis one of five pilot basinschosen for the project.

Lithuania

BelarusRussian

Federation

Ukraine

Moldova

Romania

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ABOUT THE UPPER DNIEPER RIVER BASIN

Population: 9.1 million,with approximately 4.1 million in Belarus and 5 million in Ukraine. The largest settlements are Kyiv (2.9 million) and Minsk (2 million).

Total area: 77,336 km2

Irrigation

(2013)

(2013)

W

Industry

Location: 67,295 km2 of thebasin are in eastern Belarus,bordered by the RussianFederation to the east; 10,040 km2 are in northernUkraine, extending south tothe Kaniv Hydropower Plant.

(2013)

W

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Total water use: 561 million m3 (2012). The pilot area receives 137 million m3 of water from another river basin, mainly to supply Minsk.

38% 33% 29%

(2013)

WATER USE: Belarus

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

WATER USE: Ukraine

59% 25% 11% 5%

0

Total water use: 1,015 million m3 (2013)

Upper Dnieper Pilot Basin - Belarus

Dnieper River Basin

Upper Dnieper Pilot Basin - Ukraine

(2013)

Agriculture Fisheries

(2013)

W

Drinking water

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The EU WaterFramework Directiveis a comprehensive and

ambitious body of EU

environmental legislation that

aims to protect and restore the

quality of waters across Europe.

It organises water management

efforts based on natural

geographical formations, such

as river basins.

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What is a river basin management plan?River basin management plans (RBMPs) are integrated planningdocuments that describe the characteristics and challenges of a riverbasin. Their purpose is to outline a comprehensive set of measures inorder to find solutions to complex problems that threaten the aquaticenvironment. River basin management is a continuous process ofplanning and delivery, and it is recommended that plans be updatedevery six years.

The Draft Management Plans for the Upper Dnieper River Basin weredeveloped according to the approaches and methodologies of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the national waterlegislation of Ukraine and Belarus.

The draft plans describe the river basin and investigate the pressuresthat pose a threat to the water environment. They show the impact ofthese pressures on the state of the waters, identify what types ofimprovements are possible, and recommend specific actions thatcan be taken in order to ensure that the combined efforts achieve theimprovements needed in the Upper Dnieper Basin.

Cooperation between stakeholders was of vital importance in draftingthe plan and will also be necessary when carrying out actions to ensuresuitable conditions for both the human population and the naturalenvironment. Government bodies, local communities, NGOs andenterprises now have an opportunity to benefit the entire region byworking together to achieve the sustainability of the water environment.

A river basin is an area

of land with the characteristic

that all of its surface runoff is

conveyed to the same outlet,

such as a river, lake or sea.

Surface runoff is thewater from precipitation or

other sources that flows over

the land surface.

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The role of the Water Framework DirectiveThe availability of safe, high-quality water is essential to society.People need water for drinking, farming, and producing electricity and manufactured goods.

Modern society also imposes many pressures on water — frompollution to overuse. And because water is constantly flowing fromone place to another, threats to water quality in one river may harman entire river system.

The aim of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is to establish anintegrated approach for protecting the quality and availability offreshwater resources. It is implemented through river basinmanagement planning, and requires that other environmental priorities,economic considerations and social issues are taken into account.

The WFD stresses the importance of frequently studying plant andanimal species that are directly dependent on surface waters.Ecological aspects are a top priority in river basin management andshould therefore be monitored extensively. Living organisms are goodindicators of the health of rivers and lakes because they react quicklyto changes in their environmental conditions.

According to WFD requirements, “good” status must be achieved in eachwater body in a river basin. This means meeting targets for minimisingboth the level of pollutants and damage to natural ecosystems insurface waters. Groundwater must also meet targets for minimumpollutant levels, and aquifers must not be depleted by overuse.

Good ecologicalstatus is defined as a slight

variation from undisturbed

natural conditions. As artificial

and heavily modified waters are

not able to achieve this status,

the target for these waters is

good ecological potential.

A water body is an area ofsurface water or a supply of

groundwater with characteristics

that distinguish it from other

waters around it. A water body

may be a lake, a reservoir, a

whole or part of a river, a stream,

a canal, transitional water,

a stretch of coastal water, or a

groundwater aquifer.

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Public participation

Achievement of objectives /

Updating of RBMP

PoM implementation

Water body identification and classification / Baseline analysis

Timetable and work plan

Monitoring programme

Significant water issues

Environmental objectives

Programme of Measures (PoM)

Final RBMP

3

1

7Draft RBMP

5

4

68

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WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE PLANNING SEQUENCE

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Water monitoringencompasses the collection of

data using consistent methods

in order to evaluate the status

of the water environment.

Field-based inspection,

automated monitoring stations

and laboratory measurements

conducted on samples are

used to observe water status.

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MONITORINGIn order to ensure good water quality, water bodies must be frequentlymonitored. The monitoring programme for river basin management isbased on a wider range of assessments than those carried out in thepast. As such, in the Programme of Measures (PoM), a new monitoringsystem is proposed for the Upper Dnieper River Basin in both Belarusand Ukraine that will meet the requirements of the WFD. The systemwill monitor flow rates, ecological status and chemical status insurface waters, and chemical and quantitative status in groundwater.

Monitoring is essential for effective river basin management. The useof monitoring data helps to classify water bodies, assess humanthreats and natural changes, and determine the effectiveness ofmeasures for improvement. Comprehensive water quality monitoringprovides not only the means to monitor progress in improving waterquality, but also the ability to quickly identify and resolve new threats.

SURFACE WATER Monitoring locations Belarus: 88

Ukraine: 24

GROUNDWATER Monitoring locations Belarus: 21

Ukraine: 8

KEY STATISTICS CURRENT MONITORING SYSTEM IN THE UPPER DNIEPER RIVER BASIN

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STATUS CATEGORIES UNDER THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVEA water body’s status indicates the degree of deviation from itsnatural condition. The further a water body deviates from its naturalcondition, the worse its status.

Ecological status may be affected by modifications to the physicalshape of a surface water body (its hydromorphology). Modifying awater body’s hydromorphology may damage its natural ecosystems.

For surface waters, “good” status consists of an ecological and achemical component, and the poorest individual element result isused to set the overall classification. For groundwater, quantitativeand chemical components are assessed separately but are thencombined to provide a single, overall classification.

AIMING FOR IMPROVEMENTWhile the goal of the WFD is to achieve “good” status in all waterbodies, this is not always immediately possible. In some waterbodies, environmental objectives may have to be lower, if reaching“good” status is unfeasible or prohibitively expensive.

Heavily modified and artificial water bodies must have as manycharacteristics of “good” status as possible, given the physicalchanges that have been made. Artificial and heavily modified waterbodies are measured against “ecological potential” rather than status.

Environmental objectives will only be finalised when a WFD-compliant status assessment system is established for all waterbodies in both Belarus and Ukraine, and the target dates for eachwater body will be set accordingly.

Heavily modified andartificial water bodiesare bodies that have been

altered for human use —

irrigation or power generation,

for example.

THE COMPONENTS OF OVERALL STATUS FOR SURFACE WATER BODIES

STATUS OF WATER BODIES IN 2015

22

58 51

46

Chemical status

Priority substancesthat present a

significant risk to thewater environment

Physico-chemical elements —

e.g. nutrients, pH, dissolved oxygen,

ammonia

Hydromorphology —e.g. depth, width, flow, structure

Overall status

Ecological status

Biological elements —e.g. phytoplankton,macroalgae, fish, invertebrates

Specific pollutants —e.g. metals and their compounds, organic

compounds

With respect to water bodies where there are sufficient data, Belarus has identified 6 and Ukraine has identified 12 that will be unableto achieve “good” status by 2021.

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Belarus Ukraine

SURFACEWATERS

GROUNDWATER

6 groundwaterbodies have

been identified

WATER BODY STATUS ASSESSMENT

Good

Moderate

Data notavailable

The chart indicates both the number andpercentage share of waterbodies for each statuscategory.

140 surface waterbodies, of which 40are heavily modified

or artificial

4 groundwaterbodies have

been identified.

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117 surface waterbodies, of which 69are heavily modified

or artificial

37

11

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PROGRAMME OF MEASURES The Programme of Measures (PoM) is the core of the RBMP for theUpper Dnieper River Basin, as it describes how the environmentalobjectives can be met. Different water bodies need differentapproaches to achieve “good” water status, and addressing them isonly possible through collaboration.

The PoM examines the actions needed to properly deal with waterissues. Tackling pollution, for example, often requires new legislationor better law enforcement to be in place. The proposed measuresoperate at a variety of different geographical scales: some of themapply across the countries, while others are more localised.

Various economic aspects of the proposals were explored in order to strike a good balance between financial costs and theprioritisation of measures. A cost-effectiveness analysis wasconducted in order to estimate budget costs and assess theusefulness of prospective actions.

The table on the next page showcases important identified waterissues and provides a short description of the proposed measures.

CURRENT WATER PRESSURES AND PROPOSED MEASURES

PRESSURE Untreated wastewater from urban areas and industrial sitesis leading to organic and chemical pollution. In Belarus, theMinsk Wastewater Treatment Plant is responsible for about40 percent of sewage discharge in the river downstreamfrom the capital. Ukrainian wastewater plants are outdatedand not equipped to reduce organic pollution.

PROPOSEDMEASURES

Belaruswill reconstruct local wastewater treatment plants,implement organic pollutant treatment technologies andprovide wastewater treatment to communities of over 50,000residents. Ukraine will harmonise its legislation with the EUUrban Wastewater Directive and make technical investmentsto bring wastewater systems into compliance. Both countrieswill progressively introduce mechanisms to encourage thewider use of best available technologies in industry.

PRESSURE Mineral fertilisers from farming and manure runoff fromlivestock rearing are leading to nutrient pollution.

PROPOSEDMEASURES

Belarus will implement codes of good agriculturalpractices, review the location of agricultural facilities, anddevelop wastewater regulations for private farms. Ukrainewill harmonise its legislation with the EU Nitrates Directive,adopt good agricultural practices, and develop action plansfor vulnerable zones.

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CURRENT WATER PRESSURES AND PROPOSED MEASURES (CONTINUED)

PRESSURE In both Ukraine and Belarus, engineering projects thatphysically change the structure of rivers in the DnieperBasin have disrupted natural flow rates and ecosystems.

PROPOSEDMEASURES

Belarus will develop and implement a monitoringprogramme for hydrology and hydromorphology andidentify areas prone to flooding. Ukraine will create aninventory of all existing artificial changes to water bodiesand optimise the number of reservoirs, the water balance inthe rivers and the number of gates regulating water levels.

PRESSURE Runoff containing dangerous industrial substances andagricultural pesticides is contaminating surface waters.

PROPOSEDMEASURES

New technologies will be introduced to ensure theenvironmentally safe storage of hazardous pollutants,including banned and obsolete pesticides, and a new watermonitoring system will be designed in order to help identifyand eliminate polluting sites in both Ukraine and Belarus.

PRESSURE Improperly sealed cesspools and septic tanks are widelyused in areas where municipal sanitation services arelacking, and leakage from them is contaminating surfacewaters and groundwater.

PROPOSEDMEASURES

Developing community and individual sanitation systems,installing watertight storage tanks and setting upprotection zones around drinking water sources will reducethe related health hazards in the region.14

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PUBLIC PARTICIPATIONThe involvement of stakeholders that are fully informed is essential fordeveloping a well-founded RBMP. Public consultations on the draftingof the RBMPs were held in Minsk, Belarus, in 2015; and in Kyiv, Ukraine.

In addition, an opportunity to provide written feedback and commentswas given to the general public in both countries. The contributingparties thus played an active role in shaping the documents, and mostof their comments were incorporated into the final versions of the draft plans.

IMPLEMENTING THE RBMPThe national authorities responsible for the management of the Upper Dnieper Basin in Ukraine are the Ministry of Ecology andNatural Resources, the State Agency for Water Resources (with itsregional subsidiaries the Dnieper and Desna Basin Administrations for Water Resources), and the State Service for Geology and MineralResources. The government authority responsible for implementingthe RBMP in Belarus is the Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironmental Protection, with the participation of other state bodies.

Stakeholders in a river

basin include government

authorities, basin

organisations, NGOs,

residential and business water

users, the scientific

community, journalists,

downstream states and the

general public.

The European Union is made up of 28 member states who have decided to gradually link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, during a periodof enlargement of 50 years, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individualfreedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders.

Legal notice: This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility ofthe Human Dynamics Consortium implementing the project and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.© 2016 – Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe

www.blacksea-riverbasins.net

This publication presents at a glance theDraft River Basin Management Plans ofBelarus and Ukraine in the Upper DnieperRiver Basin, prepared in the framework ofthe EPIRB project. The full Draft River BasinManagement Plans are available athttp://www.blacksea-riverbasins.net/en/pilot-basins/upper-dnieper-river-basin

EPIRB Project Regional Office in KyivKyiv 01030, UkraineVolodymyrska Street 48a, office 23Tel: +380 44 360 8775

EPIRB Project Regional Office in TbilisiTbilisi 0102, Georgia5 Marjanishvili Street, office 402Tel.: +995 32 236 8877

Editors: Imola Koszta ● Jovanka IgnjatovicEli Keene ● Laszlo GalContributors: Aliaksandr Stankevich ●

Nataliia Zakorchevna Design and layout: Tricia BarnaCopyediting and proofreading: Rachel Hideg ●Nathan JohnsonPhotographs: EPIRB Partners ● iStock ●Aliaksandr Stankevich ● Romina AlvarezTroncoso ● Nataliia Zakorchevna Publisher: The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe