TRANSBOUNDARY WATERCOURSES IN THE UNECE REGION

1. TRANSBOUNDARY WATERCOURSES IN THE UNECE REGION Assessments of transboundary water bodies Sirkka Haunia Finnish Environment Institute

2. Work Plan 2004-2006 adopted by the Parties at their third meeting (November 2003 in Madrid, Spain) for Assessment and reporting Work to be undertaken: Preparation of assessments of European transboundary water bodies (rivers, groundwaters and lakes) as a contribution to the fourth assessment report of the state of the environment for the sixth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” in 2007 and to the second World Water Development Report. A project plan will be prepared together with the European Environment Agency to define the contribution of the Working Group. IWAC will draw up the modalities for contributing to the World Water Development Report.

3. Work Plan 2004-2006 adopted by the Parties at their third meeting (November 2003 in Madrid, Spain) for Assessment and reporting (continued) The work already accomplished by the Working Group will be a basis for this activity: the report “10 Transboundary Rivers in Europe – Assessment Practices and Environmental Status”, the different reports of the river pilot projects, the groundwaters inventory, the “Background paper for the Guidelines on Monitoring and Assessment of Transboundary and International Lakes - General properties and monitoring practices of selected transboundary/international lakes” and the Lake Peipsi case study in the first World Water Development Report.

4. The Assessment of the Status of Transboundary Waters and International Lakes 1 Introduction 2 Present Monitoring and Assessment activities 3 The loading to and the state and trends of Transboundary Waters and International Lakes • The pollution problems (such as eutrophication, organic pollution, hazardous substances, acidification), and the present status of water bodies (maps and statistics based on reports got from MSs by Questionnaires, or from internet) • The trends of the state of Transboundary Waters and International Lakes • Some successful case reports 4 Evaluation of the future state of Transboundary Waters and International Lakes • Scenarios of future state of Transboundary Waters and International Lakes • A rough estimate of the measures (and costs?) needed in coming years for improving the status of water bodies 5 Summary

5. TRANSBOUNDARY WATERCOURSE, EUROPE

6. TRANSBOUNDARY WATERCOURSE, EUROPE

7. Issues/factors • Total area of the river basin: • Different countries separately: km2 (%) • Population density (persons/km2): • Title of agreement: • Field of application: • Area of application: • Signatories: • Date of agreement: • Joint body: • Monitoring activity (2000-2004) including hydrology/water quality/pressure: • Data registers: • Publications (1995-2004): • Pressure factors: • Most serious water problems/possible trends: • Internet-address:

8. Co-operation with EEA • EEA has produced all the previous pan-European state-of-the-environment reports, and will prepare also the fourth report for the next “Environment for Europe” ministerial conference in Belgrade (2007) • There are needs to assess the situation for transboundary issues at least in EECCA countries • The structure and content will be discussed during this year, and they should be ready in February 2006, and the final text in January-February 2007 (Belgrade Conference September 2007) • We have got positive feedback from EEA for our preliminary enquiries to participate this process

9. Global International Waters Assessment (GIWA) Most critical transboundary issues: • suspended solids • eutrophication • microbial pollution • solid wastes • chemical pollution • oil spills • radionuclides • thermal pollution

10. Tasks to be done • The structure of the Data base • Selection of river basins and lakes to be assessed for the report 2007 • Contact organisations/persons for all river basins and lakes • The structure of the Assessment report • The Core group on Assessment • The preliminary time table

11. Data base for the practical implementation of the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) The purpose is to collect • all the important basic geographical, hydrological, biological and administrative material and information as well as • all the information of the use, monitoring and management activity of the transboundary watercourses and international lakes, including their watersheds in one data base so, that it can be used in public information, and as basic, up-dated material for reporting and assessment purposes.  

12. The content of the Data base • the location of transboundary surface waters (on maps, GIS application) • the location of the important transboundary ground water bodies (on maps) • the location of the important wetlands connected to transboundary water courses (on maps) • the hydrological description of different water bodies • description of the character of the watershed (ground, soil, ecoregion, population density etc.) • waste water loading and other pressure factors (non-point loading from agriculture, etc.) • monitoring activity • general description of the status of the transboundary water bodies • data of the use of transboundary waters for different purposes • history of water protection management • information of relevant administration • information on the legislative basis for monitoring • information of all contact organizations and persons