Water Resources Management in Bulgaria Dr. Atanas Paskalev * Bulgarian National Association on Water Quality ABSTRACT Located on the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria has an area of 110 911 km2 and population of 8 000 000 residents. Bulgarian has common boundaries with Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, Former Yogosl.Rep.,Macedonia, and Turkey as it shown on Fig. 1. The Bulgarian territory is about three-fourth mountainous and one-fourth plains. Slovakia Ukraine Austria Hungary Switzerland Slovenia Romania Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina Yugoslavia Sofia Italy Bulgaria Albania Fmr Yug Rep Macedonia Greece Turkey Fig. 1 Average population density is 81 persons per km2. About 65 percent of the population live in towns1). Urban population expanded rapidly through the 1970s. Sofia, the capital city, had a population of 1 250 000 in 1992. |Other large cities are Plovdiv 350,000, Varna 250 000, Ruse 193 000, Pleven 138 000, Dobrich 114 000, Vratsa 84 000,Gabrovo 80 000, Vidin 67 000, Razgrad 58 000, Silistra 57 000, Montana 566 000, Lovech 51 000. Average annual precipitation fluctuates within the range of 2000 mm in high mountains (Central Rila Mountains) to 500 mm in the North-East Bulgaria (Silistra region). In the plains of the Danubian plain the precipitation is only 500 - 600 mm. In some years there is no precipitation over the summer period (from June to the end of August). 1 In humid years the long-term average values are exceeded by 120 - 150%. In dry years the precipitation total decreases down the minimum of 300 mm in North-East. The annual distribution of precipitation shows the maximum in spring (April - May), when convective precipitation constitutes a considerable contribution to the total precipitation. The minimum precipitation occur in February and end of summer (July - September). The water resources in Bulgaria are formed by the run-off of the internal rivers, underground waters and part of the Danube River waters. The average year quantity per inhabitant is about 2300 - 2400 cub.m. and the used part of it varies from 600 to 1000 cub.m / inhabitant. In comparison with Turkey, former Yugoslavia and Austria our water resources are 3 times less and in comparison with the Central European level - 2 times less. The average perennial run-off of the internal rivers is evaluated at 20.2x109 - 20.7x109 cub.m and decreases to 9x109 cub.m in a very dry / 95% / year, under ground waters are approximately 6x109 cub.m. For the run-off regulation 2045 water storages, with total useful volume of about 6x109 cub.m. in which are regulated and re distributed about 40% of the average perennial surface run-off, have been built3). The underground waters as operational stock piles are evaluated between 3.5x109 and 4.2x109 cub.m. Water source for Northern Bulgaria is the Danube river, which average run-off in the Bulgarian section is about 170.2x109 cub.m. The contribution of Bulgarian rivers to the Danube is 6.3x109cub.m. At the moment waters used from the Danube river varies and reaches 1.08x109cub.m. per year. The potential possible water consumption from the Danube is estimated at 6- 7x109cub.m. In the recent years a tendency for decreasing of the precipitation and the total reserves has been observed. Especially unfavorable was year 1994, when the water reserves fell to 27% of their total useful volume. The constructed facilities for water usage can ensure about 10 x 109cub.m. in an average wet year. In case of drying up the water volumes fell sharply - in an average dry year to 7-8 x109cub.m., and in case of drying up for a long time it can be relied only on dams, which ensure 5-6 x 109cub.m. annually. The water consumption for the period 1985-1989 varies between 9 and 12 x 109cub.m. in dependence on the humidity of the year, average 10.5x109cub. m. As a result of production decrease after 1989 and the considerable increase of the water price water decrease to 8x 109cub.m in 1994 with 23% re - used water. Despite of this water deficit appear, which size is about 1.5 - 2 x 109cub. m. appeared .16 towns and 100 villages are at permanent regime and at a seasonal - 120 towns and 1200 villages. At the same time the specific total water consumption for inhabitant, including potable-domestic, industrial and economics needs is very high and according to approximate evaluation is about 580 2 l/c/d. per capita in 1991 and 422 l/c/d. per capita in 1994 with about 160 l/c/d per capita for potable - domestic needs. Water supply of the available waters is limited by their worsen qualities as a result of the pollution. If the tendency for increasing of the water consumption continue in the future, the water deficit will grow and will turn into very serious social, economic and environmental problem for the country. This makes necessary re - evaluation of the water policy and developing of a strategy for management, usage and protection of waters, and special attention to be paid to diminishing of water consumption, recycling and repeated use of waters and improvement of their qualities, which is directly connected to waste waters treatment. In the present paper short explanation of the water environment and water resources are given. The major objectives pursued by the policy for sustainable water infrastructure development are given and the basic principles employed in the water management strategy in Republic of Bulgaria are described, as well. The management of water resources is given in the light of the New Water Law and is made short review of Bulgarian response to the new EU Water Frame Work Directives as a step for harmonization of Bulgarian legislation with the European one. The strategy of the Government concerning the Water sector and the management of the Water Companies are mentioned and needed institutional and regulatory reforms are underlined. The status of the recent national programs for priority construction of Urban Waste Water Treatment Plants is shown. Key words: water, resources, management AVAILABLE WATER RESOURCES Bulgaria’s potential water resources are mostly compound of the surface flow of the country’s internal rivers2). Flow depends mainly on rainfall, which comes to explain its inconstancy and irregularity. The average multiannual flow of the country’s internal rivers is estimated at about 20 km3 and varies from 10 to 30 km3 depending on the humidity of the particular year. Another peculiarity is significant seasonal variations, which cause increase in water quantities by times and potential flooding in the snow melting period (March – May) and severe droughts in summer and autumn accompanied with the drying up of some of the smaller rivers. 3 The territorial irregularity of the river flow is very serious, too. The Aegean drainage area is the richest in water resources, covering 45.5% of the country’s territory and forming 52.3% of Bulgaria’s water resources. The Black Sea drainage area is the poorest in water resources, with 23.3% of the territory and 9.8% of the water resources. The drainage area of the Danube tributaries is 31.2%, and it forms 37.9% of the potential water resources /See Fig.2/. Fig2.Distribution of the water basins areas The Black The Sea Water Danube Basin Water 23.30% Basin 31.20% The White Sea Water Basin 45.50% To satisfy consumers’ water demand and redistribute water resources, Bulgaria has built derivations for transfer of water between river basins, as well as more than 2000 dams of the total aggregated volume of 8 km3, of which 82% usable. The high degree of flow regulation allows multipurpose repeated use of the country’s limited water resources and diminishes the danger of flooding, but at the same time it has a negative impact on water ecosystems and water quality in the drained river areas. Use of Danube water is limited to mainly the coastal area as transporting it to other regions will result in high energy costs and tariffs. The natural resources of fresh ground water are formed by rainfall and surface flow mainly, and account for 30% of the latter (about 6 km3). The usable part is estimated at about 4 km3 per annum. The available facilities allow the use of 2.4 – 2.5 km3 per annum. There are more than 160 mineral water deposits in Bulgaria with a total flow of about 3 m3/sec. About 32% of them are used for various purposes: bottling, balneotherapy, heat power, etc. 4 WATER USE Water is used for various purposes in Bulgaria: domestic use, industrial use, irrigation, power use, aquaculture, etc. The country has built the following facilities in regard to water use: • Domestic water use: 24 thousand km mains, 50 thousand km distribution network within the settlements, 53 potable water treatment plants of total capacity of 20 m3/sec, 5,900 tanks servicing the settlements, 3,850 pump stations, 10 dams, 146 river water intakes, 2,800 wells (pipe, shaft and Rhanei), 6700 catchments and drainage systems; • Hydroelectric power water use: 16 hydroelectric power plants, parts of big water- power cascades, using dam-regulated water, and 53 in-stream hydroelectric power plants on the country’s internal rivers, 22 of which form part of smaller cascades with daytime balancing tanks; • Irrigation water use: 7 thousand irrigation canals and intake systems, 8 thousand irrigation pipelines, 936 irrigation stations, 177 big and about 1,800 smaller dams. The aggregated water demand for agriculture and domestic use is estimated at an average of about 16 km3 per annum. About 30% thereof is provided through the available recycled water systems, and the remaining consumption is satisfied through withdrawal of fresh water.