APPROVED by Resolution No. 1098 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 21 July 2010 NEMUNAS RIVER BASIN DISTRICT MANAGEMENT PLAN CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS 1. While implementing the provisions of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Water ∗ (Žin. , 1997, No. 104-2615; 2000, No. 61-1816; 2003, No. 36-1544), which has also transposed the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (hereinafter – WFD), the key EU legal act in the field of water policy, the Environmental Protection Agency, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Geological Survey, has drawn up this Nemunas RBD Management Plan. Upon Lithuania’s accession to the European Union, water bodies have to be managed and protected according to the natural hydrological boundaries of river basins instead of administrative boundaries. A river basin means the area from which all surface water flows into one river. The river water quality is affected by natural processes within the territory of its basin and the overall impacts of economic activities. For the purpose of implementing the requirements of legislation on water protection, Lithuania will have to achieve “good” status for all water bodies within the country by the year 2015. Water management will be continued in administrative units (municipalities); however, in order to achieve the objectives in water bodies, measures aimed at improving water status will have to be coordinated by municipal institutions in the whole or part of their territory falling within the total area of the river basin. Seeking to facilitate management of water and water bodies, the Lithuanian river basins were combined into the following four river basin districts (hereinafter – RBD): Nemunas, Venta, Lielup ÷ and Dauguva. River basin district management plans and programmes for implementing relevant measures have to be produced and approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for each river basin district. The management plans will be implemented in the period from 2010 through 2015 and updated every six years, that is, in 2015, 2021, etc. The management plans present an overview of the current RBD status and the results of the analysis of impacts of human activity, provide information on water protection objectives and their justification, identify water bodies at risk of failing to achieve good status by 2015, foresee measures for achieving water protection objectives, and give other relevant information. RBD management plans are intended for the public, state and municipal institutions, the European Commission, and various interested parties in Lithuania. River basin management plans include both the identification of environmental priorities and the assessment of economic and social aspects. The management of water resources aims at balancing and coordinating water use for household, agricultural, industrial, recreational, and ecological purposes. ∗ Valstyb ÷s žinios (official gazette) 2 Striving for sustainable use of public, economic and natural resources and seeking a balance between water protection objectives and other public needs, legal acts provide for certain exceptions. One of them is the extension of the deadline for achieving the set objective (until 2027 at the latest), provided that the objective cannot be achieved in time for reasons of technical feasibility, disproportionate costs or natural conditions. When “good” status cannot be achieved even by 2027, another exception is allowed setting a lower objective, provided it cannot be achieved for reasons of technical feasibility, disproportionate costs, natural conditions, or high levels of pollution, and when the achievement of “good” status would lead to far-reaching negative socio-economic consequences that cannot be avoided by any significantly better environmental option. When the achievement of water protection objectives is impeded by physical and morphological alterations by human activity to a water body, e.g. construction of port facilities, dredging of the river bed, construction of a dam, the water body may be identified as “heavily modified” and less stringent water quality requirements may also be set for that body. An important role in managing water resources is played by the population which has to take part in the process of the management of water bodies. The population was informed about the most acute problems relating to water management and protection which had been identified in the analysis of the characteristics of RBD. Representatives of the population and interested parties were twice invited to submit their comments and remarks on preliminary Nemunas RBD management plans, which were placed on the website of the Environmental Protection Agency. The draft Nemunas RBD Management Plan and Programme of Measures were discussed at several meetings of the Coordination Board and extended workshops. Reasonable written comments and remarks of interested parties were taken into account in amending the Management Plan. Pursuant to Order No. 591 of the Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Lithuania of 25 November 2003 on the approval of the procedure for the development of river basin district management plans and programmes of measures intended for achieving water protection objectives and the agreement thereof with foreign states (Žin ., 2003, No. 114-5170), the Environmental Protection Agency was appointed as the authority responsible for producing and coordinating river basin management plans across the Lithuanian territory, as well as for reporting to the European Commission. CHAPTER II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEMUNAS RIVER BASIN DISTRICT SECTION I. SURFACE WATER BODIES 2. The Nemunas River Basin District (RBD) comprises the Lithuanian parts of the Nemunas and Prieglius River basins and of the Curonian Lagoon ( Kurši ų marios ), as well as the Lithuanian Coastal Rivers Basin, plume of the Curonian Lagoon in the Baltic Sea, and coastal waters of the Baltic Sea. The Lithuanian Coastal Rivers Basin and the Prieglius River Basin were assigned to the Nemunas RBD for the reason of relatively small areas of their catchments as compared to the Nemunas River Basin. It was decided that developing management plans for those small basins and setting appropriate management structures would not be a feasible option. The Lithuanian Coastal Rivers Basin was assigned to the Nemunas RBD and not to the Venta RBD because it affects the quality of the Lithuanian coastal waters in the way the Nemunas River Basin does. 3 The Nemunas River Basin lies at 56 o15‘-52 o45‘ N and 22 o40‘-28 o10‘ E. The total length of the river is 937 km, and the basin area constitutes 97 928 km 2. The Lithuanian part of the basin covers the area of 46 626 km 2. The Nemunas Basin drains the territories of Belarus, Lithuania, Russian Federation (Kaliningrad Region), Latvia (only about 100 km 2), and Poland. The Prieglius River Basin occupies the area of 15 500 km 2, of which only 88.4 km 2 belong to Lithuania. The area of the Lithuanian Coastal Rivers Basin is 1 100 km 2. The resulting total area of the Nemunas RBD in Lithuania (excluding the coastal and transitional waters assigned thereto) is 47 814 km 2. A one nautical mile wide strip of coastal waters assigned to the Nemunas RBD stretches along 100 km of the Lithuanian coastline. The Curonian Lagoon, a freshwater coastal lagoon in the southeast of the Baltic Sea, is also assigned to the Nemunas RBD as transitional waters. Lithuania owns the northern part of the lagoon which comprises the water area of 402.03 km 2 (26.1 % of the total area). The remaining part of the lagoon (1 181.97 km 2) belongs to the Russian Federation. The length of the coastline of the lagoon in the Lithuanian territory is about 200 km. In addition, the transitional waters also include the waters of the so-called plume of the Curonian Lagoon in the Baltic Sea, which is characterised by mixture, under certain climatic conditions, of saline water of the Baltic Sea and freshwater of the Curonian Lagoon. The plume occupies the area of approximately 112.98 km 2. The total area of the coastal and transitional waters is 629.75 km 2, where Klaip ÷da Strait occupies 6.59 km 2. 3. The total area of the Nemunas RBD, including the transitional and coastal waters, is 48 443.7 km 2. The longest and the largest (by their catchment size) tributaries of the Nemunas in Lithuania are the Merkys, Neris, Nev ÷žis, Dubysa, Šešup ÷, J ūra, and the Minija. The lengths and sizes of the main rivers in the Nemunas RBD which flow in Lithuania are provided in Table 1. The names of these rivers are also the names of 10 sub-basins within the Nemunas River Basin District (including the Nemunas Small Tributaries Sub-basin and the Nemunas River itself) (Figure 1): Table 1. River lengths and catchment sizes River Length, total Length in Catchment size, total, km 2 Catchment size in Lithuania, km Lithuania, km 2 Merkys 203 185.2 4 415.7 3 798.73 Neris 509.5 228 24 942.3 4 266.79 Dubysa 139 139 1 965.9 1 965.9 Šešup ÷ 297.6 157.5 6 104.8 4 769.75 Jūra 171.8 171.8 4 005.06 4 005.06 Nev ÷žis 208.6 208.6 6 140.5 6 140.42 Minija 201.8 201.8 2 939.97 2 939.97 Šventoji 246 246 6 789.18 6 789.18 Žeimena 79.6 79.6 2 775.25 2 775.25 4. In addition, the Nemunas RBD also comprises: 4.1. the Lithuanian Coastal Rivers Basin, 4.2. the Lithuanian part of the Prieglius Basin. 4 Figure 1. Sub-basins and basins within the Nemunas RBD 5 Characterisation of water bodies Water bodies 5. Water bodies within the Nemunas River Basin District are assigned to the following categories: rivers, lakes, transitional waters (Curonian Lagoon, plume of the Curonian Lagoon in the Baltic Sea), coastal waters of the Baltic Sea (coastal waters are territorial waters extending one nautical mile from the shore), artificial and heavily modified water bodies.