EU SUPPORT TO INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT A MECHANISM TO COORDINATE, IMPLEMENT AND MONITOR THE WATER SECTOR REFORM IN ALBANIA Martin WOLFF . Team Leader EUSIWM . Austrian Development Agency EUROPEAN UNION SUPPORT TO INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT IN ALBANIA The EUSIWM_2018_2021, aims to enhance the implementation of the National Water Sector Reform Agenda in Albania, and to assist the relevant competent authorities in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) requirements, including the preparation of a country wide WFD Roadmap and the implementation of the Initial Elements of WFD compliant River Basins Management Plans (RBMP) for the Ishem – Erzen & Mati River Basins. The four Major Project Activities comprise: I. Harmonisation of water management legislation with specific focus on the Water Framework Directive II. Initial Elements of WFD compliant River Basins Management Plans III.Capacity Building and Integrated Training Programme IV. Establishment of the Cost Recovery & Polluter Pays principles for water use (WFD Art. 5) at river basin level – as precondition / incentive to improve the quality of the water services and an additional driving force in the process of reform of the water management sector in Albania. TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT APPROACH IN ALBANIA The EUSIWM aims to follow-up previous work in the water sector, to reinforce the established River Basin Management Planning Framework in order to make it more effective towards meeting EU accession requirements for the water sector • Major emphasis will be put on the programmatic approach, to ensure a true policy-based budgeting, proper monitoring of policy-objectives, solid justification of public investments and effective accountability of budget-holders. •In the absence of an effective river basin based water management approach a true integrated management of water resources cannot be put into practice. The consensus about the modalities on the objectives of the INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT (IWM) AGENDA among the key water sector stakeholders in the country is essential, • to achieve EU environmental acquis (Chapter 27) objectives • to implement the WFD requirements and • to create (among others) the framework conditions for the successful management and operation of sustainable water service providers (WSP) at a country wide scale. Lessons Learnt shall be put to Optimal Use Key recommendation: central and local government institutions will need to improve cooperation / coordination between the relevant sector institutions - to enable the establishment of an INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT (IWM) AGENDA Effective implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in Albania and the successful preparation of river basin management plans (RBMPs) simply will not become a reality without effective coordination. In particular, with regard to COST RECOVERY of water use at river basin level the Competent Water Management Authorities shall ensure that the budgetary framework and economic analysis for water extraction and water use at basin level is improved in line with WFD principles, and that the tariff structure is reviewed and enforceable. THE WATER SECTOR REFORM CHALLENGE IN ALBANIA IWM principles require the national water sector institutions • to link the river basin management planning (i.e. vehicle for implementation of WFD) with the development and management of sustainable water and wastewater service providers under a common framework and • to better integrate the drinking water resources protection considerations into river basin management planning (WFD Art. 7 Water used for the abstraction of drinking water) The coherence of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) with the Drinking Water Directive (DWD) is especially important as the protection of drinking water resources is established as indispensable part of the plans and measures under the WFD RELATIVE SCOPE OF WFD AND DWD / WATER SAFETY PLANS RELATIVE SCOPE OF WFD AND DWD / WATER SAFETY PLANS Source: European Commission, DG Environment; Workshop - Rome, 1 Oct 14, The Water Framework Directive and drinking water protection (WFD) RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION OF URBAN WASTEWATER TREATMENT DIRECTIVE (UWWTD) list of agglom eration s sensitive areas WATER AND WASTE Delineating EU catchment load WATER areas UWWTD generated SERVICE RIVER BASIN PROVIDERS permitting collection MANAGEMENT procedure systems, treatment PLANNING level RIVER BASIN ORGANISATION DRIN-BUNA DRIN-BUNA ARBO RBC MATI RBC MATI-ISHËM- ISHËM RBC ERZEN ARBO ERZENI RBC SHKUMBIN- SHKUMBINI SEMAN ARBO RBC SEMANI RBC VJOSA ARBO VJOSA RBC MATI RIVER BASIN Total surface area of the basin = 2.993 km². The basin consists of the two main rivers, Fan and Mat. The catchment for Mati river is = 2445 km2, total length 144km average elevation above sea level 746 m. Fani river is made of the two main tributaries Fan i Madh and Fan i Vogel. Fan i Madh has a catchment of 540 km2 and is 77 km long. Fan i vogel has a catchment area of 415 km2 and is 55 km long. ISHEM ERZEN RIVER BASIN Total surface area of the basin = 1.439 km². The basin consists of the two main rivers, Ishem and Erzen. The watershed for Erzen = 760 km2, total length 110 km average elevation above sea level 440 m. Ishem river is part of the river basin, with a total annual discharge volume of 660 million m3. The Ishem river has a high importance as it crosses the center of Albania, i.e. Tirana, the most urbanized area. WFD Implementation in Albania IN GENERAL TERMS THE WFD ASKS THREE CONCEPTUAL QUESTIONS (AND TO BE ANSWERED FOR RIVER BASINS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME) What is the present situation regarding Prepare BASE-LINE LEGISLATION, STATUS on water quality, DESCRIPTION of river basins RESOURCES and PRESSURES from WFD Art.5 (Characteristics), Annex II society? Where do we want to go and what shall be Prepare PLAN and OBJECTIVES achieved in the future? to be achieved WFD Art.4 (Env. Obj.) , Art. 8 (Monitoring), Annex V How to reach the planned OBJECTIVES Prepare PROGRAMME of MEASURES, and expected achievements? budgets for implementation and ENFORCEMENT activities WFD Art. 11 (PoM), Annex VI WFD Art. 13 (RBMP), Annex VII Framework for Preparation of River Basin Management Plan EU Acquis Legislation Chapter 27 Development Environment - ON EU Water Administrative Framework Capacity Directive Building RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Plans 08.02.2018 6 of ° WATER N River Basin Management Resources for Investment Investment Planning National Strategy for I ntegratedWater Resources Management LAW No. 111/ 2012 onthe date Adopted 15.11.2012 and amended as Law the by INTEGRATED INTEGRATED Measures Towards Effective River Basin Management Common framework for WFD_RBM implementation in Albania • Ownership: implementation shall fit in sector strategies and policies at country level • Enhanced cooperation of ALL stakeholders Effective RBMP requires combination of ALL the following • Continuous monitoring and data collection • Updated Registers (databases) of ALL abstraction and pollution points • Informative GIS based maps and ‘decision tools’ • Good knowledge of local activities in the river basin • Good technical evaluation of Measures and setting of Permit criteria • Proper Register of Permits – (criteria must be measurable) • Inspection & Enforcement • Proper enforcement of the LAW through Permits CORE OF A RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT PLAN IDENTIFY ASSESS ENFORCEMENT PRESSURES STATUS Collect data WFD “No Are Abstractions deterioration” • waterbodies Yes Discharges • of • Constructions Requires ACTIVE ‘GOOD management • STATUS’? Mining/agriculture through PERMITS No MAINTAIN REGISTERS CONSIDER RBMP 6 YEARS SOLUTIONS • Water quality • Abstractions Analyse causes • Discharges Set priorities and targets • Constructions Consult and implement • PROGRAMME OF Mining/agriculture MEASURES ESTABLISHMENT OF WFD EXPERT GROUPS Need to establish / re-enforce a RBM Expert Group for the management & supervision of all on-going WFD - RBM implementation projects in the country in order to ensure a better understanding, knowledge/information sharing and access to the various (somehow separately implemented) projects Eventually – what will start as project based WFD Expert Groups shall be transformed into a WFD Implementation Unit - and it shall ideally be an integral part of the AMBU Management Structure. AMBU / AWRM ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE Central Level Coordination To strengthen central level coordination and establish an Integrated Water Resource Management Agenda at the National level - under the lead of the AMBU => This includes strengthening the operational modus of the National Water Council Central Agencies should research the economic case for consolidating water service providers (WSPs) to realize economies of scale, thereby improving service delivery efficiencies, lower unit costs Should be a pooling of resources around catchment areas so that economies of scale can be realized and financial sustainability of WSP’s enhanced Investment Planning for water service providers (WSP) At the moment WSP’s investment planning preparations are not enough rigorous: Generally, the WSP’s prepare investment plans in one of two main ways: ‘Wish lists’ which are not always supported by rigorous feasibility studies; Fully fledged feasibility studies (FS) sponsored by development partners such as the EU, EIB, KfW or the World Bank. The FS have been mainly focused on high cost wastewater collection and treatment investments, formulated without clear water resource management policy The ‘wish