\ *li$Sci)leta t UN/ECE Task Force on Monitoring & Assessment vMUOsSJ^KJO^lli under the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Helsinki, 1992) Working programme 1994/1995 Volume 1: Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes RIZA report nr.: 95.064 ISBN 9036945569 Authors: R.M.A. Breukel (RIZA), J.G. Timmerman (RIZA) Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management RIZA Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment Lelystad, January 1996 Colofon lay-out: RIZA Design Cover design: Ph. Hogeboom (Bureau Beekvisser bNO) J.J. Ottens (RIZA) Cover pictures: RIZA Pictures reflect main functions of rivers Printed by: Koninklijke Vermande BV English corrections: M.T. Villars (Delft Hydraulics) Maps: 1/2 Directorate-General of Public Works and Water Management Survey Department, Delft 3/8 Wolters-Noordhoff Atlas Productions, Groningen Reproduction permitted only when quoting is evident. Additional copies of the following 5 volumes can be ordered from RIZA, Institute for Inland Water Manage­ ment and Waste Water Treatment, ECE Task Force project-secretariat, P.O. box 17, 8200 AA Lelystad, The Netherlands. Fax: +31 (0)320 249218 Volume 1 Transboundary rivers and international lakes (ISBN 9036945569) Volume 2 Current practices in monitoring and assessment of rivers and lakes (ISBN 9036945666) Volume 3 Biological assessment methods for watercourses (ISBN 9036945763) Volume 4 Quality assurance (ISBN 9036945860) Volume 5 State of the art on monitoring and assessment of rivers (ISBN 9036945968) NOTE: The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expres­ sion of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. UN/ECE Task Force on Monitonng and Assessment Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes Preface This report has been prepared by R.M.A. Breukel and J.G. Timmerman (both RIZA, The Netherlands). The guidance-committee on this report comprised of W.H. Mulder, A. Schafer, M. van Oirschot, J. Botterweg, M. Adriaanse and A. Wilting (all RIZA, The Netherlands). The report was discussed and accepted by the ECE Task Force on Monitor­ ing and Assessment under the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Helsinki, 1992). Designated experts for the Task Force were: Austria K. Schwaiger Bulgaria N. Matev Czech Republic J. Plainer, P. Puncochaf Croatia B. Glumbic, M. Marijanovic Estonia V Taal, K. Turk Finland S. Antikainen Germany F. Kohmann, M. Schleuter Greece P. Karakatsoulis Hungary Zs. Buzas, E. Poroszlai Latvia R. Bebris The Netherlands A.B. van Luin, M. Adriaanse, J.G. Timmerman Poland M. Landsberg-Ucziwek, H. Soszka Portugal V.M. da Silva Romania TL. Constantinescu, C. Ognean Russian Federation V.S. Kukosh Slovak Republic Z. Kelnarova, M. Matuska Slovenia M.Zupan Spain J.L. Ortiz-Casas Ukraine O. Kryjanovskaia, N. Padun, O. Tarasova United Kingdom J. Seager UN/ECE R. Enderlein WMO J. Bassier, N. Sehmi UN/ECE Task Force on Monitoring and Assessment Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes UN/ECE Task Force on Monitoring and Assessment Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes Contents Preface 3 List of tables and figures 6 0. Summary and recommendations 7 0.1 Transboundary water courses: identification, functions and uses 7 0.2 Monitoring efforts, current practises and gaps 7 0.3 Current practices in international cooperation 8 0.4 Recommendations 8 1. Introduction 9 1.1 General 9 1.2 Objectives, scope and restrictions 10 1.3 Methods 11 1.4 Readers guide 77 2. Transboundary rivers and international lakes 73 2.1 Transboundary rivers 13 2.2 International lakes 75 3. Organisational aspects 77 4. International cooperation 79 4.1 Transboundary aspects 79 4.2 Organisations and agreements 79 5. Functions and use of, and influences on water systems 23 5.1 Recreation, wildlife, fishing 23 5.2 Industry, cooling 23 5.3 Drinking water 25 5.4 Population, households 25 5.5 Agriculture, irrigation 26 5.6 Shipping, regulation 27 5.7 Air pollution 28 6. Monitoring networks 37 6.1 Types of monitoring 37 6.2 Choice of media 32 7. Objectives and assessment 35 References 37 Appendices I: List of ECE and TASK-force countries and contacts 47 II: Transboundary rivers and lakes 42 III: Organisations involved in Monitoring and Assessment 46 IV: Anthropogenic influences and types of monitoring 49 V: River basins, catchment areas and countries 54 UN/ECE Task Force on Monitoring and Assessment Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes List of tables and figures Table 2.1: Overview of the identified transboundary rivers, ECE region 74 Table 2.2: Comparison of rivers 74 Table 2.3: Overview of the identified international lakes, ECE region 76 Figure 2.1: Comparison of reported rivers 73 Figure 3.1: Organisations in water management 77 Figure 5.1: Use and functions of reported waters 23 Figure 5.2: Anthropogenic influences 25 Figure 6.1: Types of monitoring 37 Map 1: Main transboundary rivers and international lakes (folded) 10 Map 2: Types of (routine) monitoring, presently in operation (folded) 10 Map 3: European centres of industry 22 Map 4: Location of European power plants 24 Map 5: Population density in Europe 26 Map 6: Use of soil in Europe 27 Map 7: Air pollution, S02-concentration 28 Map 8: Air pollution, acid rain 30 UN/ECE Task Force on Monitoring and Assessment Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes 0. Summary and recommendations 0.1 Transboundary water courses: identification, functions and uses This volume: 'Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes', contains an inventory of transboundary rivers and international lakes in the ECE region, an identification of general characteristics and a general overview of rou­ tine monitoring and assessment practises in transboundary water courses in the ECE region. Information has been obtained by the use of a question­ naire and other information sources. A total of 158 transboundary rivers and 14 lakes have been submitted to the inventory. In general, these are the water bodies with the largest trans­ boundary impact or the largest discharge. Only 27 rivers have an annual discharge exceeding 200 m3/s, with the Danube being the largest trans­ boundary river in the ECE region. The dimensions (surface area, depth) of the submitted lakes varies greatly, indicating that there are large differences in character and vulnerability of the lakes. The uses and functions of rivers and lakes vary greatly between countries and water bodies. Recreation, fishing and aquatic wildlife are the main functions (±70%), closely followed by industrial use and irrigation (both ±50%). Fewer water bodies have the functions drinking water supply (±40%) or the generation of electrical power (±33%). Navigation and transport is reported for (only) ±22% of all rivers and lakes. Anthropogenic influences are reported for all rivers. Agriculture and house­ holds are the most common (±80%), followed by industry (±70%) and dis­ charge regulation (±40%). Another impact characteristic is the diffuse pol­ lution, such as acid rain. The dimensions, uses and functions of the water bodies, differ greatly per country and/or per catchment-area. This makes it difficult to make useful comparisons of the transboundary rivers and lakes uniformly for the entire ECE-area. Per catchment area, the differences are smaller. 0.2 Monitoring efforts, current practises and gaps Chemical monitoring is performed in every water body. Often the physico- chemical monitoring is confined to the 'classic' variables. The determination of organic micropollutants is far less widely spread. Almost every country has experience with routine biological monitoring in a broader sense than 'just' bacteria. Phytoplankton, zooplankton and inver­ tebrates are monitored by approximately 2/3 of all countries, although not in every water system. Macrophytes and vertebrates, like fish or birds, are monitored (counted) less often. Toxicity tests, using fish or mussels are per­ formed on a routine basis in relatively few countries. Early warning monitoring, usually to protect drinking water interests takes place in relatively few countries. The early warning monitoring may differ widely from simple sensors to highly sophisticated high-tech equipment. Biological methods, using fish or water-fleas are quite often used in early warning networks. Routine effluent monitoring is common practise in 2/3 of the countries. Often the main monitoring effort is executed by the in­ dustry itself and the water authorities are restricted to control-monitoring. UN/ECE Task Force on Monitoring and Assessment Transboundary Rivers and International Lakes Most physico-chemical monitoring in performed in the water-phase only. Relatively few countries have experience with monitoring in suspended sol­ ids, sediments or biota. It has not been possible to determine if this means that concentrations in the water-phase are still high enough to allow accu­ rate monitoring in the water-phase. However it is clear that more attention to other media, certainly in transboundary monitoring networks is neces­ sary to provide a more complete insight in presence, levels and loads of pollution. In most countries, several different organizations, both national and region­ al, are involved in the monitoring and assessment of transboundary rivers and lakes. In some 60% of the countries, the execution of both quality and quantity management lies within the same institute. The monitoring strate­ gy may be the responsibility of the monitoring organisation, but may also lie with 'higher' organisations, such as ministries. The actual monitoring ac­ tivities (sampling, analysis and data storage) are usually carried out by re­ gional organizations, divided geographically or per river basin. These or­ ganizations may have their own laboratories or use local or private laboratories. In general, the data are stored in a database at the organiza­ tions mentioned before.