European Union Water Initiative Plus for Eastern Partnership Countries (EUWI+)

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DEVELOPMENT OF DRAFT RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ALAZANI-IORI RIVER BASIN

CONSULTATION ON MAIN ISSUES

REPORT

LOCAL DIALOGUES – MAY 2019

May 2019

Beneficiaries Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of (MEPA)

EUWI+ country representative in Georgia Zurab Jincharadze

Responsible international thematic lead expert Yunona Videnina, Office International de l’Eau (FR) Yannick Pochon; Office International de l’Eau (FR)

Responsible Georgian thematic lead expert Mariam Makarova, MEPA

Disclaimer:

The EU-funded programme European Union Water Initiative Plus for Eastern Partnership Countries (EUWI+) is implemented by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), both responsible for the implementation of Result 1, and an EU member state consortium comprising the Environment Agency Austria (UBA,Austria), the lead coordinator, and the International Office for Water (IOW, France), both responsible for the implementation of Results 2 and 3. The programme is co-funded by Austria and France through the Austrian Development Agency and the French Artois-Picardie Water Agency. This document was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union or the Governments of the Eastern Partnership Countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of, or sovereignty over, any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries, and to the name of any territory, city or area.

Imprint Owner and Editor: EU Member State Consortium Office International de’l Eau (IOW) 21/23 rue de Madrid 75008 Paris, FRANCE Responsible IOW Communication officer: Yunona Videnina [email protected] May 2019

Contents

INTRODUCTION ...... 4 1. ABOUT THE ACTION ...... 4 2. RESULTS OF DISCUSSIONS ...... 5 2.1 MUNICIPALITY OF TIANETI, MTSKETA-MTIANETI, 13 MAY 2019 ...... 6 2.2 MUNICIPALITY OF TELAVI, , 14 MAY 2019 ...... 7 2.3 MUNICIPALITY OF KVARELI, 14 MAY 2019 ...... 9 2.4 MUNICIPALITY OF SIGHNAGHI, 15 MAY 2019 ...... 11 2.5 MUNICIPALITY OF , KAKHETI , 15 MAY 2019 ...... 12

INTRODUCTION: PUBLIC DIALOGUE ON THE DRAFT WATER LAW OF GEORGIA AND THE DRAFT ALAZANI - IORI RBMP A separate report “Consultation meeting with stakeholders” from 29 January 2019 is available on the EUWI+ website.

The EUWI+ project is working with Georgia’s Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture for development of the Alaziani-Iori and Khrami-Debeda River Basin Management Plans. The plans describe the environmental objectives for the river basins and the measures to achieve them. This first consultation forums gathered together more than 50 local stakeholders in each basin, including government authorities, basin organisations, residential and business water users, the scientific community, NGOs, journalists and experts - seeking their views on the main challenges to guarantee water quality, share water resources, secure drinking water, reduce pollution and ensure people’s health.

Even though currently there is no approved RBMP in the country, by signing Association Agreement with EU Georgia has committed obligations to develop RBMPs for all basin districts by 2026.

The draft Law of Georgia on “Water Resources Management”, which has been recently developed and is under approval, stipulates that “Each river basin management plan, prior to submitting to the Government of Georgia for approval, shall be discussed by the consultancy-coordination Council that is created on the basis of the territorial principle”. The draft law puts a lot of responsibilities on local authorities in implementation of the RBMPs, therefore it was decided by the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture to held with the EUWI+ support consultation meetings at the municipal level for the local authorities and stakeholders, in order to discuss the new draft law and the developed chapters of the respective RBMP (Alazani-Iori or Khrami-Debeda, depending on which basin the municipality belongs to).

In order to help local municipalities and stakeholders to better analyze the importance of RBMPs and also their role in development, approval and implementation of the plans, the local public dialogues were organized with representatives of the municipalities within the Khrami-Debeda River Basin.

1. ABOUT THE ACTION

Five local public dialogues were organized with representatives of all the municipalities within the Alasani – Iori River Basin. The meetings were held in Tianeti on May 13, in Telavi and Kvareli (covering as well) on May 14, in Sighnaghi and Sagarejo (covering Dedoplistskaro and Gurjaani municipalities as well) on May 15.

Mr. Zurab Jincharadze, EUWI+ East Project Representative in Georgia, opened the meetings and welcomed the participants. Mr. Jincharadze presented the project targets and goals. The main aim of the project as he mentioned is to support the reform on water policy and water resources management. According to Mr. Jincharadze, the project will have impact on completing river basin management plans and on solving transboundary river issues.

Ms. Eliso Barnovi, REC Caucasus expert, discussed results of the project. She talked about the importance of local stakeholder engagement in the river basin management plan development process and also briefly covered surface water monitoring issues.

Ms. Mariam Makarova, representative of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia discussed new draft law of Georgia on “Water Resources Management”. As she mentioned, existing law on water was adopted in 1997. As the approaches have been changed

over these years, the law should be adopted accordingly. Moreover, Georgia has obligation of elaboration of new legislation on water under Association Agreement between Georgia and European Union. Ms. Makarova mentioned that the EU Water Framework Directive is the main guideline for Georgia for reforming the water management system. As Ms. Makarova noted, the draft law will have several subordinate laws where technical details and principals will be defined. Execution of the law is planned by 2024. Ms. Makarova also talked about integrated management and explained its main principles. She particularly stressed out the importance of role and importance of municipalities’ involvement in the process of development and implementation of the RBMPs.

Ms. Maka Zumbulidze, REC Caucasus expert gave a presentation on the draft Alazani-Iori RBMP. Ms. Zumbulidze started her presentation with discussing the current situation in Alazani-Iori river basin, carried on with presenting the structure of RBMP. She presented characterization of Alazani-Iori river basin, impact of human activities, identified pollution level and briefly talked about program of measures.

Each meeting was accompanied by discussions. Participants expressed their views on the main identified water issues of the basin and filled out questionnaires.

2. RESULTS OF DISCUSSIONS

Local stakeholders have highlighted the importance to introduce the river basin management with main focus on balanced water use planning, optimized water supply, sanitation and irrigation facilities, improved flood risk reduction and early warning system. The quality of drinking water and overall water supply system for local population remains one of the main and urgent issues to be considered for focusing during the drafting of the program of measures.

Local municipalities have the expectation to be well positioned in the council of Alazani-Iori River Basin and play important role in all decisions related to the water resources management within the river basin. As a first step in this direction participants expressed high interest to closely collaborate with the project and participate in draft of the program of measure based on local needs and bottlenecks.

2.1 MUNICIPALITY OF TIANETI, MTSKETA-MTIANETI, 13 MAY 2019

Number of attendees: 21

On May 13, 2019 in was held public dialogue on the draft water law of Georgia and the draft Alazani-Iori RBMP. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Tianeti Municipality, local representatives of LLC “United Water Supply Company of Georgia”, , JSC “Energo-pro Georgia” and Ltd “Georgian Amelioration” and also representatives of EUWI+ and REC Caucasus. Local stakeholders, the representatives of the Environment Protection and Agriculture and EUWI+ project discussed several issues, such as:

 Licenses and permits – there are technical regulations which do not include obligation of protection of rights, these regulations only have provisions about registration and is not legally binding for rule-breakers. Representative of the Ministry explained, that new law will include provisions on protection of consumers’ rights.

 Coordination between government and local population – proper distribution of responsibilities and competences is very important. Elaboration of river basin management plans is very important for governmental bodies for decentralization, cooperation with local authorities and creation of flexible mechanism.

 Identification of the most important concerns – priorities will be defined in the new law, they will be identified according to their importance. Following directions will be prioritized: irrigation, development of tourism, industry etc. They will be listed in RBMP. Engagement of local population in the elaboration of mentioned documents is very important.

 Fees – while defining fees for water use, social aspects should be taken into consideration. That’s why the year of execution of the new law is not until 2024, proper assessment of all the aspects should be conducted.

 Issue of water quality – representatives of the municipality claimed, that drinkable water has very bad quality in Tianeti. This opinion was opposed by the representatives of the EUWI+ and the MEPA. Assessment of water quality showed, that water quality is good and that is not a problematic issue.

 Sustainable water use – it was mentioned that Georgia is rich with water resources and is enough for the whole population. However, water indicator in the world is low, therefore sustainable use of water and prevention of water resources expiration is extremely important.

2.2 MUNICIPALITY OF TELAVI, KAKHETI, 14 MAY 2019

Number of attendees: 17

On May 14, 2019 in was held public dialogue on the draft water law of Georgia and the draft Alazani-Iori RBMP. Representatives of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Telavi Municipality, local representatives of JSC “Energo-pro Georgia”, LLC “UWSCG”, Ltd “Georgian Amelioration”, representatives of EUWI+ and REC Caucasus attended the meeting.

Local stakeholders, the representatives of the Environment Protection and Agriculture and EUWI+ project discussed several issues, such as:

 Awareness raising – representatives of the municipality mentioned, that people do not have enough knowledge and information about water issues. Due to the fact, that there is no monitoring system and no plans for management people do not care about water resources and they do not understand the concept of sustainable water use. Local population together with representatives of the Ministry and EUWI+ discussed ways to solve mentioned problems and it was mentioned, that adoption of new law will improve existing condition and solve some the problems.

 Quality of water – local people had several question about quality of drinkable water and water for irrigation, they thought that new law should contain rules about improvement and checking of quality. Ms. Mariam Makarova explained, that new law will have clear and precise provisions about quality of water and its improvement, RBMP will also include this issue. As she highlighted, it is important to have this kind of meetings, because cooperation between government, donors and local population is growing and also, suggestions from local people give some directions to project team about which issues are more or less

vulnerable for each municipality and on which problems should RBMP and new law be focused on.

 Water extraction – representatives of the municipality mentioned, that there are no limits for abstraction of water and it creates problem for sustainable water use and protection of resources. Ms. Mariam Makarova explained, that permits for water extraction were annulled in 2008, however, the new law will raise up this system and water extractions will be limited. Representatives of the municipality also mentioned, that extraction of underground water is also a big problem, which is uncontrollable. Underground water of Alazani river has lots of resources, however, it is polluted and extracted illegally by locals.

 Economic mechanisms – Ms. Mariam Makarova talked about licenses and permits, she also explained, that it is very important to reestablish fee system. These economic and legislative measures are needed for introduction of sustainable water use and for prevention of reduction of water resources.  Irrigation system – representatives of the municipality mentioned that irrigation system is demolished, therefore, people are making irrigation systems by themselves which causes loss of water. That is why, as they mentioned, monitoring and supervising system should be establish, which will control people’s activity.

 Illegal landfills – project team had information about illegal landfills, local population dump waste on illegal places, even though municipality has waste bunkers. According population of the municipality, the main reason of creation of such landfills is low awareness and lack of information. Participants agreed that by establishment of penalty system and monitoring system this problem will be eliminated.

 Sewerage system – in cities there are centralized sewerage systems, however, in villages water is cleaned with septic. By the end of the year, water treatment plant will be operating in Telavi municipality. As for municipalities, local methods will be used for treatment, such as holes.

 Problem of river bed – as locals mentioned, debris carried by river creates big problems for them, annually thousands of lands are carried by the river and no one pays attention to this problem. After cutting trees, people leave remains and inert materials goes down to the river. Low awareness was named as one of the main reason of this problem. Some participants also mentioned, that it is crucial to carry out activities against flood, but municipality does not have enough finances for such activities. Therefore, stakeholders agreed, that responsibilities on such activities should be included in the new law.

2.3 MUNICIPALITY OF KVARELI, 14 MAY 2019

Number of attendees: 22

On May 14, 2019 in Kvareli Municipality was held public dialogue on the draft water law of Georgia and the draft Alazani-Iori RBMP. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Kvareli Municipality, Lagodekhi Municipality, local representatives of LLC “United Water Supply Company of Georgia” and Ltd “Georgian Amelioration” and also representatives of EUWI+ and REC Caucasus.

Local stakeholders, the representatives of the Environment Protection and Agriculture and EUWI+ project discussed several issues, such as:

 Fees and tariffs – the establishment of new tariffs and fees is very important issue for the local communities, therefore the representative of the MEPA explained that, the tariffs will be defined by decree, but at the beginning there might be unified tariff for a particular basin but the ministry is still working on this topic.

 Water pollution – contamination from agricultural activities is particularly acute problem for Kvareli and Lagodekhi municipalities. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides contaminate rivers. River Bursa in Kvareli municipality was pointed out as an example of extreme pollution. Therefore use of organic fertilizers and establishment of limits of use is crucially important for water quality improvement. EUWI+ East Project Representative in Georgia explained that the abovementioned issue will be included in the recommendations of programme of measures, which will be obligatory to enforce.

 Illegal dumpsites – even though the disposal of waste is regulated by law, the population still dumps the waste on the banks of the rivers, which is the problem of low awareness of the local population and law enforcement. Both issues require to be addressed.

2.4 MUNICIPALITY OF SIGHNAGHI, 15 MAY 2019

Number of attendees: 27

On May 15, 2019 in Sighnaghi Municipality was held public dialogue on the draft water law of Georgia and the draft Alazani-Iori RBMP. The attendees of the meeting included the representatives of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Sighnaghi Municipality, Dedoplistskharo Municipality, EUWI+ and REC Caucasus.

Stakeholders and representatives of Ministry and EUWI+ discussed several issues, mainly focusing on Identification of the most important concerns and solutions which included:

 Changes in water resources, execution of planned reform and ways of implementation and introduction of sanctions;  Obtaining and exporting rock materials in the west, as they help elevate river basin and result in flood;  Challenge to obtain permit for extraction of sand and gravel despite problems with cleaning river basin from rock materials;  Issues concerning large quantity of fresh water and possibilities for export.  The necessity of fee payment for drinking water in order to conserve its resources.

2.5 MUNICIPALITY OF SAGAREJO, KAKHETI , 15 MAY 2019

Number of attendees: 31

On May 15, 2019 in Sagarejo Municipality was held public dialogue on the draft water law of Georgia and the draft Alazani-Iori RBMP. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Sagarejo Municipality, , local representatives of LLC “United Water Supply Company of Georgia” and Ltd “Georgian Amelioration” and also representatives of EUWI+ and REC Caucasus.

Local stakeholders, the representatives of the Environment Protection and Agriculture and EUWI+ project discussed several issues, such as:

 Fees and tariffs – the establishment of new tariffs and fees is important, but beforehand, drinking and irrigation water supply system should be improved, otherwise it doesn’t make sense for the local population to pay the fees. Also it was clarified that the fees collected by “Georgian Amelioration” is only service fee and doesn’t include cost of water resource itself.

 Public consultations and awareness raising – it was noted by the representatives of the local municipalities that keeping population informed is very important for the enforcement of any law or plan. Also for establishment of new tariffs it is vital to explain every detail to the communities, otherwise protests will occur.

 Sustainable water use – it was noted by the local representatives that installation of meters is turning point for saving water resources, as most of the population uses water in a very unsustainable manner and most of them even use drinking water for irrigation purposes.