WATER MANAGEMENT IN UKRAINE

Olena Boyeva State Committee for water management of Ukraine Kiyv, Ukraine [email protected]

Abstract

Water resource is important factor which determines and provides sustainable economical and social development of a country and its environmental safety. Nowadays dependence of society on water resources increases and the level of demands to its quality and quantity raises as well. Rational use, protection and water resources renovation with ecological priority are the barest necessities for every country. The main goals of state water policy are to provide water supply of economy and population with water resources and to solve water economy and water ecology problems. Being situated in the centre of Europe Ukraine shares its main river basins (the Dnipro, the Dnestr, the Danube, the Siverskiy Donets and the Western Bug) with neighbour countries that stipulate importance of transboundary dimension for water system state. Taking into a count importance of integrative water resource management Ukraine has great interest in developing effective strategy on rational use and protection water resources. Necessity implementation of water resource management in accordance with basin principle is declared in water legislation of EU and in Ukrainian legislation as well. The State Committee of Ukraine on Water management with other state authorities realize state policy which based on integrated aproaches to water resource management by creating state interdepartmental and river basin councils, international consulting bodies on integrative river basin management within transboundary rivers, collaborate on international ecologycal projects with neigbour countries, take part in scientific conferences, workshopes round tables. Creations river basin authorities is one of the steps in this direction. It includes a working out regulating documents, examination existing and providing appropriate methodology, restructuring of functions of regional water organization. First stage (2006-2009) – reorganization of management structure, including creation new river basin authorities; developing and implementation of pilot projects for economical and practical elaboration of the water resource management model based on the basin principle. Second stage (2010-2012) working out and preparation the whole pack of legislation and regulations papers on implementation of the basin principle in Ukraine. Third stage (2013-2015) - completion phase - creating legislative base and a new structure of river basin organizations, realization water policy with accordance integrated approaches.

Keywords: the integrative water resource management, basin principle, river basin authorities. Water resource is important factor which determines and provides sustainable economical and social development of a country and its environmental safety. Nowadays dependence of society on water resources increases and the level of demands to its quality and quantity raise as well. Deterioration of freshwater quality and quantity require actions to be implemented aiming at sustainable management and protection of freshwater resources. Rational use, protection and water resources renovation with ecological priority are the barest necessities for every country. The main goals of state water policy are to provide water supply of economy and population with water resources and to solve water economy and water ecology problems. Being situated in the centre of Europe Ukraine shares its main river basins (the Dnipro, the Dnestr, the Danube, the Siverskiy Donets and the Western Bug) with neighbour countries that increase importance of transboundary influence on water system state.

Figure 1 The great amount of water resources (58%) is in boundary regions of the Danube river basin, where demand for it not exceeds 5% of total resource. The least quantities of water resources are in the industrial regions of Donbass, Kriviy Rig, Crimea and the southern oblasts (regions) of Ukraine where main consumers concentrated. The transit river run-off exceeds the local one practically in all oblasts (regions) with exception only of Crimea, Lvivska and Zakarpatska oblasts. That is why water management in Ukraine is one of the priorities of the government policy. The problem of water supply in Ukraine is solving by water run-off regulation and redistribution during a year and even in a number of years. World community understands the leading role of join operation in realizing integrated water resource management within river basins where both economical and ecological aspects have to be taking into aсcount. Ukraine has great interest in the developing effective strategy on rational use and protection water resources. Necessity of implementation a water resource management in accordance with basin principle is declared in water legislation of EU and in Ukrainian legislation as well. The Program of Euro integration of Ukraine is based on phased harmonization of Ukrainian legislation, particularly, in sphere of environmental safety with European one. UN and ECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Helsinki, March 1992), the Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River (Sophia, June 1994) and Water Frame Directive (2000) form a basis for agreements with neugbour countries. To support the implementation of integrated water resources management in accordance with the Johannesburg Summit 2002 resolution the State Committee of Ukraine for Water Management signed bilateral intergovernmental agreements on water management on transboundary waters with all neighboring countries, namely:

 Russia (1992);  Moldova (1994);  Slovakia (1994);  Hungary (1993, resigned 1997);  Romania (1997);  Poland (1998);  Byelorussia (2001).

The main objectives of the agreements:

 efficient use of water resources to cover the demands of all water consumers and water users;  prevention of water bodies contamination;  development of water monitoring and information exchange systems;  flood and flashflood control;  improvement of early warning systems about emergencies and mitigation of their consequences;  development of standards and technical regulations for water quality assessment of transboundary water bodies and waist waters.

The key documents which determine a water policy in Ukraine are “The main directions of state policy in sphere of environmental protection, use natural resources and guarantee of ecological safety”, “Strategy of economical and social development of Ukraine by mean of Euro integration”, Land, Water, Forest codes of Ukraine, Laws of Ukraine “About environmental protection”, “About state program of water management”, and others. The State Program of water management development aimed at realization of state policy of provision economy branches and population with high-quality water resources, solution of water management and ecological issues, arrangement of conditions for transfer to sustainable and efficient functioning of water management complex. The State Committee of Ukraine on Water management with other state authorities realizes state policy which based on integrated aproaches to water resource management by creating state interdepartmental and river basin councils, international consulting bodies on within transboundary rivers, collaboration of international ecologycal projects taking into account of available scientific and technical data, environmental conditions in the various regions of neigbour countries, partisipation at scientific conferences, workshopes round tables. It plans to develope and introduse up-today computer technologies to support managerial dessisions and the best existing exspirience of EU countries-member and countries-candidates in accordance with the detail elaborated agenda aimed to achieve the main goals in three stages. The first stage (2006-2009) – reorganization of management structure, including creation new river basin authorities; developing and implementation of pilot projects for economical and practical elaboration of the water resource management model based on the basin principle. The second stage (2010-2012) is working out and to prepare the whole pack of legislation and regulations papers on implementation of the basin principle in Ukraine. The third stage (2013-2015) - completion phase - creating legislative base and a new structure of river basin organizations, realization of water policy with accordance integrated approaches. The SCWM of Ukraine improves its water management structure to realize water policy entirely on a basin principle. Nowadays there are eight basin administrations (directorates) within main river basins - the Dnipro, the Siverskiy Donets, the Southern Bug and the Western Bug, the Dnister and the Crimean rivers, the Danube, and the Desna subbusin in Ukraine.

Figure 2 New basin authorities will be created within other river basins: the Tisa, the Desna, the Upstream and Downstream of Dnepr, the Pripyat and the rivers of the Sea of Azov. It will give a posibility to control a situation in whole river basin and to reach neseccary appropriate desissions. The other steps at the first stage are the elaboration of river basin management plan and creation of River Basin Council. In Ukraine the great part of regulated run-off is accumulated in the cascade of reservoirs. The Dnipro reservoirs are the biggest one with total volume 43.8 km3 and conservation zone 18.5 km3. It consists of six reservoirs: Kievske, Kanivske, Dniprovske, Dniprodzerzhinske, Kremenchutske and Kakhovske which have complex use: for fishery, recreation, water supply, navigation, producing energy and other. Water resource regulation in Ukraine is realized taking into account the decisions of interdepartmental commisions which created in the main river basins. They include representatives of different ministries and departments. Scientists, leading specialist of corresponding economy branches, local state administration, and representatives of NGO are invited to participate in meetings. Commissions elaborate work procedure of reservoirs in main river basins (the Dnipro and Dnister). Similar interdepartmental commissions were created within big and middle size river basins (the Ros, the Psel and the Vorskla, the Siverskiy Donets, the Southern Bug, the Danube lakes). Transboundary character of ukrainian rivers stimulates cooperation the SCWM with correspondent bodies of foreighn countries within bilateral agreement with Russia, Belorussia, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania. The interdepartmental commissions can serve as prototype for future Basin Counsil which will realise management in basin. It will have to become the instrument for realization an ecological goal – to achieve good water quality, guarantee stable renovation and sustainable water use, to improve water environment. The realization of these management plans will allow:  gradually decrease surface and ground water pollution, risks of harmful water activity (floods, erosions and extraordinary situation of different origin);  realize equitable water distribution and water use;  resumption of ecosystems;  to improve natural environment in river basins  to create a comfortable condition for population.

It supposes that the reformation of Water Resources Management system will provide:  the improvement of social-economic conditions;  state water demands in general;  the mitigation of damages and negative consequences of water harmful impact.