Call for Expressions of Interest: Final evaluation of the project ‘Design and testing of a multipurpose (transboundary) groundwater monitoring network (Albania & Montenegro)” (Submission deadline: 28 October 2020) The Antenna in Sarajevo of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, is seeking expressions of interest from qualified and experienced individuals, to carry out the final evaluation of the project entitled ‘Design and testing of a multipurpose (transboundary) groundwater monitoring network (Albania and Montenegro)” I. Background Brief description of the project: 1.1 Drin Project Setting out from the two Prespa Lakes, linked to each other by a small channel, water flows through underground karst cavities to Lake Ohrid, the largest lake in terms of water volume in South-East Europe. The only surface outflow of Lake Ohrid, the Black Drin River flows north through the Republic of North Macedonia and enters Albania. The White Drin River flows into Albania, where it meets the Black Drin and forms the Drin River. Flowing westward through Albania, the Drin River meets the Buna/Bojana River, close after the outflow of the latter from Lake Skadar/Shkoder, the largest lake in terms of surface in South-East Europe. The Buna/Bojana River directly discharges into the Adriatic Sea. The overall concept for enhanced cooperation among the Riparians for the management of the Basin was initially discussed by representatives of the competent ministries and other key stakeholders during the International Roundtable on Integrated Management of Shared Lake Basins in South-Eastern Europe, organized under the Petersberg Phase II/Athens Declaration Process and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) IW:LEARN Programme, in Ohrid, on 12- 14 October 2006. Coordinated action at the Drin River Basin level took an important step with the development of the Shared Vision for the sustainable management of the Drin Basin and the signing of a related Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Tirana (25 November 2011) by the Ministers of the water and environment management competent ministries of the Drin Riparians i.e. Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Greece and Montenegro. This was the outcome of the Drin Dialogue coordinated by the Global Water Partnership Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and UNECE. A process called the “Drin CORDA”, Drin Coordinated Action for the implementation of the Drin MoU, was put in place after the signing of the latter. An Action Plan was prepared to operationalize the Drin CORDA. The Drin Core Group (DCG) is the multilateral body responsible for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding. The DCG and GWP-Med, which serves as the Secretariat of the Drin Core Group, guide the implementation of the action plan while its implementation is currently being supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The GEF supported Project “Enabling transboundary cooperation and integrated water resources management in the extended Drin River Basin” (GEF Drin Project) is aligned in content, aims and objectives with the Action Plan and the activities under the Drin CORDA. The objective of the project is to promote joint management of the shared water resources of the transboundary Drin River Basin, including coordination mechanisms among the various sub-basin joint commissions and committees. Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia and Montenegro are the Project beneficiaries. The objective of the GEF Drin Project is to “promote joint management of the shared water resources of the transboundary Drin River Basin, including coordination mechanisms among the various sub-basin joint commissions and committees”. The envisaged Outcome 5 of the GEF Drin project is to demonstrate benefits on the ground by environmentally sound approaches and technologies new to the region. The achievement of this outcome is to be pursued through the implementation of a programme of field pilot demonstrations. The Drin Pilot project is as such an output (number 11) of the GEF Drin project and intends to provide multiple benefits to allow the countries to: (i) accrue direct experience on approaches, technologies, practices and organizational settings novel to the region and test their cost effectiveness and feasibility in the regional context; (ii) test cooperative arrangements and (iii) feed into the joint SAP (Strategic Action Plan) formulation process. The Drin Pilot Project “Design and testing of a multi-purpose (transboundary) groundwater monitoring network (Albania & Montenegro)“ aims at designing and testing a multi-purpose transboundary groundwater monitoring network in the Extended Drin River Basin (Albania and Montenegro). The project focuses on the Skadar/Shkoder – Bojana/Buna Delta transboundary alluvial aquifer and will provide the competent authorities of Albania and Montenegro with the tools to implement (wherever deemed necessary and decided by the National Authorities) a systematic monitoring of groundwater resources state (quantity and quality) in the project focus area. Further to the tools, the project will provide the countries with limited practical experience on approaches for monitoring their shared groundwater resources. 1.2 Project Objectives The Drin Pilot Project - focusing on the Skadar/Shkoder – Bojana/Buna Delta transboundary alluvial aquifer - will conceptualize, design and pilot test a modern multi-purpose transboundary groundwater monitoring network, in line with relevant EU legislation, as well as protocols for data sharing. The Drin Pilot Project will provide the competent authorities of Albania and Montenegro with the tools in the form of equipment and protocols for the operation and maintenance of the networks, consistent with requirements of the relevant European Union (EU) legislation (WFD and GWD) - to implement (wherever deemed necessary and decided by the National Authorities) a systematic monitoring of groundwater resources state (quantity and quality) in the project focus area. In addition, the pilot project will provide a proposal of a transboundary groundwater monitoring programme for the focus area (hereafter: Programme of monitoring of groundwater) in line with requirements of the provisions of the EU Water framework directive (IPA 2017 Strengthening Capacities for the Implementation of WFD). The project’s results will be an input for the development of the national waters monitoring system through IPA 2014. The monitoring system and program will be designed to provide data on quantity and quality in line with recommended standards of the Water Framework Directive and Groundwater Directive. The networks and protocols will be designed based on: (i) Updated studies of hydrogeology in the focus area and assessment of the vulnerability of the shallow aquifers; (ii) The identification, based on existing information, of groundwater dependent ecosystems and of major submarine groundwater discharge areas; (iii) The mapping of water uses for domestic, agricultural, industrial) purposes, and inventory of groundwater wells, discharge points of wastewater and pollution hot spots. Focus will be placed on the following issues: Over-abstraction, and interactions between karst and alluvial aquifers; Salinization and interactions of coastal aquifers with sea/lake water, including estimation location and volumes of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD); Wastewater discharges (untreated waste waters, septic tanks) and industrial pollution; Impact on groundwater dependent ecosystems sustainability. The overall network will ensure a homogeneous, albeit sparse, coverage of the focus area. It will include both quantity and quality (e.g. salinity) detection systems. 1.3 Demonstration sites Two wells will be drilled (if necessary) and equipped with newly acquired instrumentation and used for testing targeted parameters of the previously defined proposal of the program of monitoring of groundwater. The equipment will remain property of the countries. Rain gauges will be installed in the two stations that will be used for the testing of the monitoring system. The two new stations will provide precise measurements of at least groundwater levels, temperature, conductivity and rainfall with reliable data loggers, using wireless data transmission. Stations will include data loggers, and real time transmission of data, unless requested otherwise by the Member States. The proposal consists of a number of activities to be carried out, identification of parameters to be measured for data collection with defined methodologies and relevant quality standards for monitoring the groundwater, in line with requirements of the mentioned EU legislation. This will allow the country authorities, local administrators and stakeholders to: - Define and adopt general strategies and guidelines for the protection and sustainable use of the resource based on real time information; - Develop River Basin Management Plans fully according to WFD and Groundwater Directives, including Programme of Measures; - Identify and control contamination and/or over abstraction; - Develop short-term forecasting capability in emergencies; - Build and validate models of surface - groundwater interactions, seawater intrusion along coastal areas, contamination trends, etc.; - Recognize and evaluate the existence and impacts on coastal ecosystems of submarine groundwater discharge along Mediterranean coastal areas; - Utilize the project’s results as an input in developing the national monitoring programme of groundwater, in line with WFD and GWD. 1.4 Human