THE CITY WATER RESILIENCE APPROACH CITY CHARACTERISATION REPORT THESSALONIKI ` ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS On behalf of the study team, I would like to thank The 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Rockefeller Foundation and The Resilience Shift for supporting this project. 6 BACKGROUND 10 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The CWRA is a joint effort developed in collaboration with our project partners, the Stockholm International 12 UNDERSTANDING THESSALONIKI’S WATER SYSTEM Water Institute (SIWI), along with city partners in Amman, Cape Town, Greater Miami and the Beaches, Mexico City, 16 ENGAGEMENT WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS Kingston upon Hull, Greater Manchester, Rotterdam and Thessaloniki, and with contributions from 100 Resilient 22 CHARACTERISING RESILIENCE Cities and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 24 Interdependencies of the water system Development (OECD). 25 Key shocks and stresses 28 Key factors of resilience This project would not have been possible without the valued guidance and support of the CWRA Steering 30 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Group. Our thanks to the following: Fred Boltz (Resolute Development Solutions), Casey Brown & Sarah Freeman 32 ANNEX A: THESSALONIKI WATER SYSTEM (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Katrin Bruebach & Andrew Salkin (100 Resilient Cities), Jo da Silva (Arup), 34 ANNEX B: THESSALONIKI WATER GOVERNANCE DIAGRAM Nancy Kete & Juliet Mian (The Resilience Shift), Diego Rodriguez & Maria Angelica Sotomayor (World Bank). 36 ANNEX C: THESSALONIKI WATER GOVERNANCE MATRIX 39 ANNEX D: THESSALONIKI WATER GOVERNANCE STAKEHOLDERS MARK FLETCHER Arup Global Water Leader 40 REFERENCES April 2019 The CWRA project team includes Pilar Avello (SIWI), George Beane (Arup), Kieran Birtill (Arup), James Bristow (Arup), Alexa Bruce (Arup / The Resilience Shift), Louise Ellis (Arup / The Resilience Shift), Sophie Fisher (Arup), Mark Fletcher (Arup), Caroline Karmann (Arup), Richard Gine (SIWI), Alejandro Jiménez (SIWI), James Leten (SIWI), Kathryn Pharr (Venturi Innovation), Oriana Romano (OECD), Iñigo Ruiz-Apilánez (Arup / The Resilience Shift), Panchali Saikia (SIWI), Martin Shouler (Arup) and Paul Simkins (Arup). 4 CITY WATER RESILIENCE APPROACH 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City Water Resilience Approach (CWRA) of quality of life, the mitigation and adjustment critical infrastructure, inadequate governance, helps cities plan and implement actions to build to the implications of climate change and the pollution, aging infrastructure, limited funding resilient urban water systems. A critical first step enhancement of mechanisms and institutions for and investment, and illegal connections all hinder in this process is understanding the local water environmental governance. the resilience of a city. system, and the factors that contribute to or detract from resilience. This report details research undertaken in KEY STAKEHOLDERS BUILDING RESILIENCE Thessaloniki with the goals to: The Ministry of Environment and Energy is responsible for regulating water quality and Through engagement with Thessaloniki’s 1. Define the city water basin including resources at a national level. The General stakeholders, it was identified that strong human natural basin(s), the urban water system Organisation of Land Reclamation is responsible resources, effective engagement of communities, and its governance structure, and the for improvements to dams, irrigation canals, decreases of pollution, and an upgraded sewer interdependencies with other systems drainage ditches and pumping stations managing system would all positively contribute to the 2. Identify the factors contributing to the the distribution of the water needed for resilience of the Thessaloniki’s urban water resilience of the city water system and agricultural irrigation purposes. EYATH SA is the system. those increasing its vulnerability main utility company in Thessaloniki providing water supply and sewage services. There are In developing this characterisation report, the various other stakeholders that manage risks, team collected desktop data on the biophysical environment and economic and social-cultural characteristics of the basin and key actors in the aspects of the water system. water system. SHOCKS AND STRESSES THESSALONIKI’S WATER SYSTEM The key interdependencies between the water Located along the Thermaikos Gulf in the system and city systems in Thessaloniki is northwest corner of the Aegean Sea, Thessaloniki the water-food-energy Nexus, particularly is Greece’s second largest city and home to agriculture and energy where the city is 1.12 million people. Due to austerity measures, struggling to meet demand. Damage to housing tourism (2 million annually, 75% international) and critical infrastructure caused by recent and the university scene (with its 150,000 flooding to houses and critical infrastructure was students annually) has become increasingly also identified as a key interdependency with important to sustain the city’s economy. The systems. port is also critical and brings in 293 million USD Thessaloniki’s key shocks and stresses include annually. Greece has a national government water scarcity due to water demand from with a strong central focus. At the national increasing populations. Extensive pluvial level, the Ministry of Environment and Energy flooding in 2009 and 2014 demonstrated works to achieve the protection of the natural that flood mitigation infrastructure needs to environment and resources, the improvement improve. These coupled with a shortfall of 6 CITY WATER RESILIENCE APPROACH 1 BACKGROUND Located along the Thermaikos Gulf in the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea, Thessaloniki is Greece’s second largest city with its second largest port that provides Europe easy access to the Balkans and the Black Sea. Part of the Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, this area has been home to human communities since 315 BCE (Wikipedia, n.d.). Its long history has led to a diversity of architectural styles and historic sites though much of the area was destroyed and then rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1917. With close cultural and economic ties to its neighbours and a strong Jewish history, Thessaloniki is a multicultural city (100RC, n.d.). Photo by Jim Makos 8 CITY WATER RESILIENCE APPROACH 9 BACKGROUND POPULATION ECONOMY GOVERNANCE Of the 1.9 million residents in the Central Due to recent austerity measures, tourism (2 The different levels of the Greek government The province (or periphery) of Central Macedonia region of Greece, 1.12 million million annually, 75% international) and the are outlined in Table 1. Greece has a national Macedonia Region contains seven regional units, live within the Greater Thessaloniki area university scene (with its 150,000 students government with a strong central focus. At the one of which is the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki. (Wikipedia, n.d.). The city’s largest demographic annually) has become increasingly important national level, the Ministry of Environment The Central Macedonia Region relies on the is its ageing population (18.4%) while Greater (Wikipedia, n.d.). The port is also a critical and Energy works to achieve the protection national government for risk management Thessaloniki is home to 15% of Greece’s total component of the local economy, bringing in 293 of the natural environment and resources, funding. The provinces of Central Macedonia, refugee population (Wikipedia, n.d.) (100RC, million USD annually (Wikipedia, n.d.). The gross the improvement of quality of life, the Eastern Macedonia, and Thrace constitute the n.d.). In 2017, 22.1% of Thessaloniki’s 20-64 municipal product in 2011 was € 18.29 billion mitigation and adjustment to the implications Decentralized Administration of Macedonia year old population was unemployed, gradually (Wikipedia, n.d.). of climate change and the enhancement of and Thrace, which supervises the peripheries, decreasing since 2013 when it peaked at 32.1% mechanisms and institutions for environmental regional units, and municipalities. With its (eurostat, 2017). governance (GMEE, n.d.). Within this ministry, financial and administrative autonomy, it has the Special Water Secretariat develops and devolved powers that include urban planning and implements all water resource management environmental and energy policies. and protection programmes throughout the country. The General Organisation of Land The periphery level is the lowest level of National (elected) • Ministry of Environment and Energy (Special Water Secretariat) Reclamation is responsible for human-made government to control European funds, so • General Organisation of Land Reclamation water infrastructure while the Ministry of Rural municipalities are quite dependent on funding • Ministry of Rural Development and Food Development and Food and the Ministry of from national and regional levels. This often • Ministry of Finance and Development Finance and Development work on agriculture leads to difficulties regarding risk management and industry, respectively. of floods and other hindrances to resilience. Municipalities’ limited control results in to Sub-National/Decentralized • Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace Within the national government, there is a sub- low municipal taxes (<0.2%), low levels of local (appointed by national government) national level termed ‘decentralized’ government, independence, and ability to innovation. Half of which manage groups of smaller units called the funding for the Municipality of Thessaloniki Peripheries or Provinces • Central Macedonia Region