© Fotolia.com/Robert Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus European Union Water Initiative Plus for the Eastern Partnership Countries (ENI/2016/372-403) DNIEPER RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT PLAN IN BELARUS Report Minsk, Republic of Belarus October 2018 This report has been prepared with the financial assistance of the European Commission Authors Mr Ivan BULAK, Mr Vladimir KORNEEV, Mr Aliaksander PAKHOMAU Supervision Mr Philippe SEGUIN Date October 2018 Version Approved by the Dnieper Basin Council on 25 October 2018 Produced for: EUWI+ Financed by: European Union – Co-financed by Austria/France The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. Project Summary: EUWI+ The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a policy initiative launched at the Prague Summit in May 2009. It aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In recent years, the countries of the Eastern Partnership have demonstrated a willingness to align their water policies and practices with the general principles and specific requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), as well as other thematic and sectoral water directives and UN Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). Moreover, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine have assumed commitments to reform water policies and implement the EU water acquis as part of the Association Agreements signed with the EU in 2014. It is in this context that the European Union Water Initiative Plus for the Eastern Partnership (EUWI+) for Eastern Partnership Countries was initiated by the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) of the European Commission. The European Union Water Initiative Plus for the Eastern Partnership (EUWI+) was launched in September 2016 to assist the 6 Eastern Partnership countries to approximate to the EU Water Framework Directive and its associated directives. Its objective is to improve the sustainable management of water resources with a focus on trans-boundary river basin management. EUWI+ focuses on five thematic areas: 1. Legislation, policy development and institutional strengthening 2. Laboratory and monitoring systems strengthening 3. River Basin Management Plan development 4. River Basin Management Plan implementation 5. Public awareness, communication, and data/information management The OECD and UNECE are implementing activities under thematic area 1. Thematic areas 2–5 are implemented by an EU Member States Consortium comprised of the Environment Agency Austria (UBA) and the International Office for Water (OIEau/IOWater) of France. Experts from other EU Member States will also be involved in activities of the project. The budget for these thematic areas for all 6 countries amounts to Euro 24.6 million in total, which is financed by the European Union with contributions from the Governments of Austria and France. Its planned period of operation is from September 2016 until August 2020 (48 months). The project has developed a website (http://euwipluseast.eu/en/) to publish and disseminate all data, information and services developed and used in the frame of this project. 3 Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus European Union Water Initiative Plus for Eastern Partnership Countries (EUWI+) DNIEPER RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT PLAN October 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... 7 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................................... 9 PREAMBLE ............................................................................................................................................ 11 1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DNIEPER RIVER BASIN ON THE TERRITORY OF BELARUS ...... 12 1.1 Physical and geographical characteristics .................................................................................. 12 1.1.1 Geographical location of the basin ........................................................................................... 12 1.1.2 Climate ..................................................................................................................................... 15 1.1.3 Geological structure ................................................................................................................. 16 1.1.4 Soils and vegetation ............................................................................................................... 16 1.2 Administrative territorial division and social and economic information ..................................... 17 1.2.1 Administrative territorial division and social and population ................................................... 17 1.2.2 Agriculture (plant production, animal husbandry) .................................................................... 20 1.2.3 Fish breeding............................................................................................................................ 21 1.2.4 Forest husbandry .................................................................................................................... 22 1.2.5 Manufacturing.......................................................................................................................... 22 1.2.6 Hydraulic power industry ......................................................................................................... 24 1.2.7 Accumulation of waste ............................................................................................................ 24 1.2.8 Shipping industry ...................................................................................................................... 25 1.2.9 Tourism and recreational use of water bodies ......................................................................... 25 1.2.10 Linear infrastructure ............................................................................................................... 26 1.2.10.1 Transport and traffic network ............................................................................... 26 1.2.10.2 Main petroleum pipelines and product pipelines .................................................. 26 1.3 Water resources .......................................................................................................................... 27 1.3.1 Hydrographic network .............................................................................................................. 27 1.3.1.1 General description ................................................................................................ 27 1.2.1.2 Rivers .................................................................................................................... 28 1.3.1.3 Lakes ..................................................................................................................... 32 1.3.1.4 Reservoirs .............................................................................................................. 34 1.3.1.5 Melioration systems ............................................................................................... 34 1.3.2 Surface water resources .......................................................................................................... 35 1.3.2.1. Primary hydrological characteristics ..................................................................... 36 1.3.2.2 Hydrochemical characteristics of fluvial water ....................................................... 36 1.3.3 Groundwater............................................................................................................................. 38 2 DETERMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF THE RIVER BASIN AND THEIR SOLUTION ........................................................................................................................................ 41 2.1 General analysis of water use and environmental issues ........................................................... 41 5 2.2 Impact assessment of point sources of pollution ........................................................................ 46 2.3 Impact assessment of diffuse sources of pollution ..................................................................... 47 2.4 Hydromorphological changes of water bodies ........................................................................... 51 2.5 Other pressures (filtration fields, landfills for municipal and industrial wastes, radioactive contamination, spread of alien species, road infrastructure) ................................................... 54 2.6 Other pressures associated with hydrometeorological dangerous phenomena, including climate change and possible changes in anthropogenic pressure .......................................... 56 2.6.1 Floods 56 2.6.2 Low-water seasons .................................................................................................................. 57 2.6.3 Erosion processes ................................................................................................................... 58 2.7. Risk analysis .............................................................................................................................. 58 2.7.1 Results of the research on perspective use of water resources