Water Talk 1/2005

1. New GWP CEE report Calendar of Events
on public participation GWP CEE Council Meeting
9-10 April 2005
Krakow, Poland
A NEW REPORT ON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN terested parties in the implementation of the
WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE EASTERN BAL- directive. This and other EU environmental pol- River Basin Management – progress towards im-
TIC SEA REGION WAS PREPARED AS PART OF icy documents call for the wide partnership plementation of the Water Framework Directive
GWP CEE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION TASK FORCE and participation of the society represented 19-20 May 2005
ACTIVITIES. by diverse stakeholder groups in environmen- Budapest, Hungary
tal management. Public participation is rec- The conference focuses on the fresh water com-
CREDIT: P. UNT/PEIPSI CTC
ognized as a tool that helps create awareness ponents of the Water Framework Directive (WFD),
and ownership of decisions, which in turn is to review progress to date, share experience and
necessary for their successful implementa- to identify possible future issues which may arise
tion. Today a great number of examples (e.g. as the WFD is progressively implemented.
GWP Tool Box) prove that public participation
strengthens democracy by showing stakehold- GWP Network meeting of the Consulting Partners
ers that they can exert influence over the deci- 24-25 May 2005
sions that are made. The report gives an over- Antigua, Guatemala
view on the progress of public involvement in The Consulting Partners meeting will focus on
Lake Peipsi on the border between Estonia and Russia water management in Estonia, Latvia, Lithua- progress in preparing national Integrated Water
nia and Poland. In addition, it analyzes public Resources Management (IWRM) and water effi-
Recent years have seen the rapid growth of in- participation case studies and pilot projects ciency strategies by 2005.
terest in public participation in a wide range and draws conclusions and recommendations
of sectors and contexts, including environmen- for the future. The authors of the report are: Third International Symposium on Flood Defence
tal management, agriculture and conservation. Janusz Topilko; Regional Water Management 25-27 May 2005
Public participation has gained wide recogni- Board, Gdansk, Poland; Dmitrij Zharkov, Cent- Nijmegen, The Netherlands
tion on different levels of governance as a key er for Environmental Policy, Lithuania; Erika Scientists, engineers and administrators involved
principle for water management. In 2000 the Lagzdina, The Regional Environmental Cent- in flood management are invited to participate.
EU Water Framework Directive was adopted, er for CEE (REC) Latvia and Margit Säre, Peip-
thus establishing a framework for community si Center for Transboundary Cooperation; International Conference on Hydrology, Ecology
action in the field of water policy and stress- Estonia. You can find the full report on http:// and Water
ing the importance of consultation with all in- www.riverdialogue.org/participation/ 20-23 June 2005
Bergen, Norway
The conference will address a wide range of wa-
GWP CEE celebrated World Water Day ter related topics, linking together several themes
in rural development, and soil and water conser-
IN THE OCCASION OF 22 MARCH WORLD WATER DAY, GWP CEE COUNTRY WATER PARTNERSHIPS vation.
(CWPS) IN BULGARIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, ESTONIA, HUNGARY, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, POLAND, RO-
MANIA, SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA ACTIVELY PROMOTED PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRATED WATER RE- Symposium for European freshwater sciences
SOURCES MANAGEMENT (IWRM) THROUGH A SERIES OF NATIONAL AND LOCAL EVENTS. CWPs 22-16 August 2005
also participated in broader frame of celebrations together with other water stakeholders, e.g. Krakow, Poland
GWP Lithuania organised drawing and photo competitions in close cooperation with local mu- The symposium will be devoted to basic questions
nicipalities. GWP Bulgaria and their partners also contributed to 12th National Celebration of in freshwater biology and various aspects of ap-
World Water Day in the capital city of Sofia, with presentations about IWRM, flash floods and plied freshwater science.
economic aspects of EU Water Framework Directive. GWP Bulgaria also published an article
about flash floods for “Water Affairs” magazine devoted specially to World Water Day. In Esto- SIWI Water Week
nia, Estonian Water Association, Estonian Union of Waterworks and Ministry of the Environment 21-27 August 2005
organised a traditional Water Day conference. Main topics of the conference were floods and Stockholm, Sweden
storms, in order to remind heavy storms which hit Baltic countries in the beginning of Janu- Water Symposium, a part of Stockholm Water
ary 2005. Presentations covered a broach range of topics about marine environment, pollution, Week 2005, will explore the complementarities of
floods and forecasting systems. In addition, Water Saving Prize was awarded for an outstanding soft and hard approaches in water management.
success and model behaviour in water management. The relations between the water sector and other
sectors of society will be of special relevance.

2. Interview with Raimonds Vejonis, efit from that support? How much money
is needed for improving and developing the
the Latvian Minister of Environment environmental water infrastructure in the
near future?
IN CONTINUATION OF OUR SERIES OF INTER- year old Riga, the Riga Port is well known from The highest priority for acquiring EU Structur-
VIEWS WITH THE MINISTERS OF THE ENVIRON- the Hansatic Union and the shipping channel al Funds and Cohesion Fund assistance is as-
MENT FROM THE 10 CENTRAL AND EASTERN or ‘’fare water’’ which is artificially maintained signed to the development of municipal water
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, WHICH ARE PART OF by many hydro technical structures, all located supply and waste water collection and treat-
GWP CEE REGION, WE BRING YOU THE INTER- roughly 20 kilometers from the sea. The build- ment systems in order to provide safe drinking
VIEW WITH LATVIAN MINISTER OF THE ENVI- ings are stable and continue to work well; very water and ensure proper collection and treat-
RONMENT, RAIMONDS VEJONIS. few accidents have been recorded over many ment of wastewater. With the assistance of the
centuries. Only environmentally sustainable ISPA pre-accession financial instrument, water
RAIMONDS VEJONIS studied Water and Envi- structures can survive under the pressure of services development projects are being imple-
ronmental Management at the University of natural elements, therefore we can thank the mented in 23 towns and cities, but through the
Tampere, Finland and graduated from the Uni- brilliant engineers from former generations. use of Cohesion Fund and ERDF co-financing -
versity of Latvia. He has a strong background in During the last century we have built three water services will be developed in 67 agglom-
biology, ecology and environmental engineer-
ing. During his professional career he has held
various senior level positions in governmental
organizations in Latvia. Vejonis also has vast
experience in implementing environmental in-
frastructure projects such as wastewater treat-
ment and waste disposal. He is currently a vice-
chairman of the Green Party of Latvia.
Water Talk: GWP defines Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM) as a proc-
ess which promotes the coordinated devel-
opment and management of water, land and
related resources, in order to maximize the
resultant economic and social welfare in an
equitable manner without compromising the
sustainability of vital ecosystems. How do
you see the challenges of IWRM implemen-
tation in the practice in Latvia?
If we are talking about water resources per large hydro power plants on the River Dau- erations with populations above 2000, and in
capita, Latvia, along with Canada, Sweden and gava. On the one hand we have reduced our more than 120 agglomerations with popula-
Russia, is one of the very rich countries. How- dependence on energy imports. On the other, tions below 2000. In order to fully implement
ever, half of our surface waters have their ori- the Daugava was the biggest salmon river in legal requirements related to water infrastruc-
gin in neighboring countries and trans-bound- the Baltic Sae area and one of the biggest in ture, estimates show that investments of over
ary waters are strongly influenced by activities the world. Therefore nowadays we are trying 900 million euro will be required.
outside Latvia and even the EU. Therefore we to integrate carefully not only fish resources
are active not only in implementation of the but all the wealth of hydro biological resourc- Water Talk: WFD is the most complex set
EU WFD but in supporting UN/ECE Water Con- es into water management. Latvia is located of goals, tools and commitments in the EU
vention and other tools like the EU Water Initi- at the edge of inland waters and the sea and water sector to date. Two of the main WFD
ative and the GWP. One could say that Latvia is we should bear in mind that not only the Gulf goals are the protection and improvement
on the lucky side with a rather low population of Riga but the entire Baltic Sea is vulnerable. of water ecosystems quality and sustainable,
density and an abundance of forests, including Therefore we must feel more responsible for balanced and equitable water use. This direc-
swampy forests, and wetlands, marches and water resources management and introduce tive provides broad opportunities for public
bogs, which are good preconditions for the IWRM as the best tool we can apply. participation in river basin management and
successful development of IWRM. Neverthe- is probably transposed into Latvian legis-
less, part of the country consists of lowlands, Water Talk: Implementation of EU legisla- lation. How could the participation of the
similar to those in Holland, where settlements tion for the new members, which entered the public and NGO’s be ensured during imple-
can be located and agriculture developed only EU in May 2004, means an opportunity for mentation of this directive and especially in
after water regulation activities have been improving the environmental infrastructure preparation of river basin management plans
successfully implemented. Our capital city of with co-financing from EU funds. To which which must be completed by 2009?
Riga is located on a territory formed by the in- measures in the area of water protection and
teractions of rivers and the sea on sediment use is the support from Structural Funds and The transposition of WFD in Latvia was not
accumulation and wind activities less than a Cohesion Fund for the programming period ‘’probably’’ but definitely a very responsible step
thousand years ago. Just like eight hundred of 2004-2006 directed and who might ben- made by the adoption of the Law on Water Man-
2

3. agement in the Parliament just some days after The farmers might be the easiest and latest step. JRC really shows changes in temperature and
Slovenia, which was the first of the EU acceding The latest experience with WFD and the devel- precipitation and identifies stronger winds and
countries to do so. Our delay was caused by long opment of the European Marine Strategy clear- corresponding higher water levels on the sea-
and deep discussion on the law with the scien- ly points out that the EU Common Agricultural shores. Heavy storms and rainfall are becom-
tific community and NGO’s. Stakeholder involve- Policy and common Fisheries Policy should be ing more frequent and even regular. Neverthe-
ment and open and transparent discussion on completely revised to decrease eutrophycation less, most floods in central Europe really show
all levels is a common approach in policy elab- by revising subsidies and limiting cattle and ag- that even discharges much lower than histori-
oration and implementation in Latvia; we rati- ricultural production per hectare. Latvia came cally recognized maximum results are becom-
fied the Aarhus Convention in 2002 much earlier to these conclusions during our HELCOM Presi- ing more visible and costly. Many rivers are
than most EU nations. The water sector munici- dency from 2002 –2004 when discussions with canalized and huge territories in catchments
palities and the Municipal Water Works togeth- other Baltic Sea Environmental Ministers and are provided by storm water canalization sys-
er with the scientific and academic communities with the OSPAR Ministers from the North Sea tems which allow the draining of heavy rain-
and representatives from the Technical Asso- resulted in the common understanding that ag- fall volumes to the nearest river in less than
ciation and the NGO’s are playing a great role. riculture, fisheries and transport are the main one hour. The majority of flood plains have
Nevertheless successful implementation of WFD sources of the pollution of inland waters in- been changed to built-up territories and natu-
requires much more than a good and open proc- cluding groundwater and the marine environ- ral lakes and wetlands have been reduced dra-
ess and discussions with the strongest interest ment. But these are really future challenges matically, thus reducing storage capacities in
groups. Many small municipalities and parishes which belong to the responsibilities of the Min- some links or even for all catchments. Several
located on the outskirts of river basin districts isters of Environment and should be raised at central European EU member countries see the
far from the main streams have never consid- the high EU level. On one hand Latvia has de- new EU Directive as a protective measure that
ered themselves responsible for water manage- creased its agriculture more than twice since will probably protect riverbeds and flood plains
ment of the big river. Up to now they have rec- 1990 and uses much less manure, artificial fer- from further canalization and even restore
ognized only their local rivers and lakes, which tilizers and pesticides per hectare than the aver- some lost wetlands through strict legislation.
in many cases are not even considered as sepa- age EU member country. On the other hand, our Many northern European countries, where riv-
rate ‘’Water Bodies’’ under WFD. All these small farmers have recently been able to approach the ers are still natural and wetlands are main-
stakeholders should be informed and involved in EU for funds for manure storage and the pur- tained and serve as reservoirs, do not see any
the common actions towards implementation chase of modern technology. The farmers have reason for legislative measures. On the other
and management plans. Just now we are estab- already improved their knowledge under the hand it’s quite difficult to prepare one useful
lishing an advisory board for each of the river Nitrates Directive and Good Agricultural Prac- tool for countries located in mountains and for
basin district administrations as a forum to dis- tice and are actively involved in many training those located below sea level, for Mediterrane-
cuss draft management plans in 2005 and 2006, activities. We are doing a lot to support green an countries which suffer from a lack of pre-
well before 2009. Already plenty of small river and biological agriculture. Direct payments cipitation and for regions with regular storms
basins have voluntarily established stakehold- for NATURA 2000 site management have also and rainfall. These conditions are rather dif-
ers’ cooperation. The River Salaca and Lake Burt- helped to lighten the load from agriculture by ferent. But one thing is clear – the best flood
nieku commissions and the River Barta and River supporting alternative land use. protection is the natural capacity of the river
Slocene organizations are examples. We do hope and everyone should do their best to physically
that these activities will be smoothly integrated Water Talk: Global climate changes in the protect old river beds and wetlands, or to re-
into plans for larger River Basin Districts later. form of flash floods and heavy storms are store them, as it costs less than high barrages
affecting all countries in the region of Cen- along river banks.
Water Talk: The implementation of EU Di- tral and Eastern Europe. Which arrange- Latvia lost some wetlands in the middle of
rectives will be an important factor in miti- ments and measures should be adopted in last century and many rivers have become
gating the agricultural impact on the envi- order to reduce the results of this threat? drained. But we still have many old river beds,
ronment; however, it is necessary to involve flood plains, lakes and wetlands. And we are
farmers in the practical realization of envi- Many European countries have suffered from protecting this wealth because well-integrat-
ronmental legislation. What kind of measures heavy flooding at the end of nineties and even ed water management gives you integrated
for mitigating impacts and enhancing envi- in recent years. Climate changes are becoming benefits like clean water, flood protection and
ronmental benefits are applied in Latvia? more visible and the last Report from the EU bio-diversity.
Network meeting of the New GWP Handbook and Policy
Consulting Partners Brief supports governments‘
THIS YEAR‘S 10TH NETWORK MEETING OF
THE CONSULTING PARTNERS (CP) OF THE efforts to tackle water and
GLOBAL WATER PARTNERSHIP WILL TAKE
PLACE IN ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA ON 24- economic development
25 MAY 2005. The CP will focus on the A HANDBOOK AND A POLICY BRIEF for governments, on the prac-
progress in preparing national Integrated tical steps for making national water management strategies,
Water Resources Management (IWRM) and which support their efforts towards reaching the 2015 Millenni-
water efficiency strategies by end of 2005. um Development Goals (MDGs), can be download on www.gwp-
For more information on how to register, forum.org. Norway‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded the pro-
please click on www.gwpforum.org. duction of the handbook.
3

4. Bourgas Lakes. Gradimir Gradev (Green Balkans) highlighted the years of
Wetlands Seminar wetlands experience in the Maritza River Basin, the Danube River Basin
and other basins in Bulgaria. Ivan Hristov presented the past and present
on the Danube River Basin activities of the Balkan Wildlife Society in the Dragoman Marsh. Milkana
Mochurova (GWP-Bulgaria) informed the participants about the cur-
rent public participation project financed by the Phare Civil Society De-
THE CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION AND EDUCATION –
velopment Programme. The lecture was followed by a trip to Dragoman
CEIE (A GWP PARTNER) AND THE “GREEN BALKANS” FEDERATION OF NA-
Marsh, where Ivan Hristov introduced the participants to the natural
TURE CONSERVATION organized a national seminar entitled “Strength-
beauty and incredible variety of wildlife there.
ening the Capacity for Wetlands Restoration and Management and
Nutrient Reduction in the Danube River Basin” on January 27-28, 2005
As a result of the seminar, local Danube NGO’s used their enhanced
in Sofia, Bulgaria.
knowledge of the forms of nature conservation to initiate various lo-
CREDIT: MILENA DIMITROVA/CEIE
This initiative was carried out within the framework of the Danube Re-
gional Project (DRP) “Strengthening the Implementation Capacities for
Nutrient Reduction and Transboundary Cooperation in the Danube River
Basin”, and financed by the UNDP/GEF. The target groups of the seminar
were local non-governmental organizations in the Danube River Basin
which have implemented or are interested in wetland concepts, nutri-
ent reduction and ecological health in the Danube River Basin. The aim
of this educational event was to mobilize the potential of local NGO’s in
attracting the participation of local citizens and to raise the awareness
of the EU WFD and its transposition into Bulgarian legislation.
The first seminar day was dedicated to the EU WFD. CEIE representa-
tives presented the activities of the Danube Environmental Forum (DEF)
and public participation in decision-making to support the process of
integrated water resource management. Milena Dimitrova (CEIE) gave
a detailed presentation on the principles and mechanisms of the pub-
lic participation process. In the afternoon, Danka Marinova presented
the structure and function of the Danube River Basin Directorate and
Dragoman Marsh near Sofia city
the main problems of the administrative working process. She also ad-
dressed an appeal for more active involvement from all interested par- cal level activities. However, there are still opportunities to increase our
ties in this process in order to achieve better results. Stanislava Boshnak- knowledge of procedures and mechanisms for accessing information.
ova (REC) presented a new project “Improving the Access to Information These issues were addressed by Danube Basin Directorate representa-
and Public Participation in the Environmental Decision-making Process”, tives, who pointed out that the best way for ensuring public participa-
which was followed by discussion. tion is by establishing sub-basin councils. The most important outcome
of this meeting was the opportunity given to local organizations to ex-
The second day of the event was devoted to wetlands and the national change information and experience on recent and forthcoming activities
experience in wetland research and conservation. This subject has been a in the Danube River Basin and to build new partnerships.
main DEF activity since the World Wetlands Day celebrations in February
2002. Lubomir Profirov (Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation) introduced Milena Dimitrova
the wetland conception and its progress in recent decades; he also pre- CEIE (GWP partner)
sented his wetland conservation and management work relating to the ceie@ceie.org ; www.ceie.org
Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Integrated Water Resource
Management (IWRM) training in Bulgaria
GWP BULGARIA TOGETHER WITH THE CENTRE posed of managers of medium and large-sized establishment of a map of compliance and pro-
FOR COMPARATIVE STUDIES - SOFIA, THE BUL- enterprises in food, textile, machine-building posals for legislative amendments. The project
GARIAN INDUSTRIAL CAPITAL ASSOCIATION and metal-processing industries in the south- mainly focuses on issues concerning the regula-
AND SOLIDARITY WATER EUROPE - STRAS- west, south-central and northeast regions. Oth- tion of integrated water resource management,
BOURG are implementing the Phare project en- er beneficiaries are environmental NGO’s, repre- coordination among different institutions and
titled “Awareness Raising and Improving the sentatives of local and central authorities, the organizations, coordination of rights and obli-
Implementation of Acquis Communitaire in local media and the general public in the tar- gations among sectors (government, business,
Water Protection”. get regions. Public relations policy, targeted to NGO’s), effective public participation in deci-
potential users‘ needs, will be developed in or- sion-making and private sector participation
The main objective of the project is to raise der to ensure adequate dissemination of results. in water resource management. The project is
awareness of the Acquis Communitaire in water The following main activities are planned from supported by the Phare Civil Society Develop-
protection and to support the implementation November 2004 to November 2005: dissemina- ment 2002 Program.
and improvement of existing Bulgarian legisla- tion of EU WFD and IWRM principles, training Milkana Mochurova
tion in this field. The main target group is com- sessions, development of comparative studies, m.mochurova@iki.bas.bg
4

5. GWP Slovenia focuses Lithuanian Water
on water and education
The Association of the Geographic Societies of ter resources“. The most important outcome of
Partnership Runs
Local IWRM Educa-
Slovenia and the Ministry of Environment and
Spatial Planning organized on 6 December 2004
the conference was the establishment of net-
works among education practitioners. School
tion Campaign
interdisciplinary conference “Slovenia - Water teachers expressed a strong need for cooper- THE LITHUANIAN WATER PARTNERSHIP
Education Path of the Europe”. Presentations ation with universities and experts to improve (LWP) HAS RECEIVED FUNDING FROM THE
were given by university professors, teachers their knowledge about environment and nature EU STRUCTURAL FUND FOR THE PROJECT
from different levels, coordinators of option- trough optional school activities. A close coop- “SAVING WATER RESOURCES FOR FUTURE
al school activities, networks of schools on en- eration has been agreed between network of GENERATIONS”.
vironmental activities, geologists, biologists, Ecoschools and GWP Slovenia in the framework The awarded project is a result of fund
landscape architects and others. The chairman of GWP CEE Water and Education project. raising activities carried out by the LWP
of GWP Slovenia, Martina Zupan, gave a lecture Martina Zupan in 2004. The overall goal of the project is
„Slovenian and global public takes care on wa- GWP Slovenia to educate local citizens on the sustaina-
ble use and protection of water resourc-
CREDIT: B. MACAROL/LIMNOS
es and to encourage them to participate
in local decision making processes. Timely
and comprehensive information about the
status of water resources is an essential
precondition for the involvement of the
society in decision and policy making. The
primary target group of the project is com-
prised of school children. After close con-
sultation with the Ministry of Education,
eight socially and territorially separated
rural schools were selected for the project.
The following activities will be organized in
schools: seminars for pupils, parents and
teachers on important water topics, draw-
ing and photo competitions, publishing
and dissemination of brochures highlight-
ing the need for water resource conserva-
tion and integrated water resource man-
agement, the creation and dissemination
Short stretching exercises after lunch break
of educational video materials on water
resources and the publication of articles
methods and tools could be applied in their
GWP Slovenia takes daily work. Reliable information, trust, educa-
about the project and water resources in
local newspapers. Winners of the drawing
part in the Sava tion, and understanding of the problem have
been identified as the most important chal-
and photo competitions will be present-
ed with awards during a seminar organ-
River participatory
CREDIT: B. MACAROL/LIMNOS
ized on the occasion of World Water Day
2005. In addition, clean-up campaigns on
processes riverbanks and lakes involving local com-
munities will be organized in four Lithua-
GWP SLOVENIA HAS ACTIVELY PARTICIPAT-
nian districts. The second target group of
ED AT THE WORKSHOP “THE PURPOSE OF
the project is formed by members of the
THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE PROC-
Water Club. A series of seminars on the im-
ESS OF SAVA AGREEMENT”. The venue was
plementation of EU water legislation and
organized by Regional Environmental Cen-
opportunities for the funding of water
tre in Educational Centre Ig near Ljubljana The head of Slovenian delegation in Sava commission,
projects will be organized. The duration of
on 29-30 November 2004. Aim of the work- Mr M. Bricelj, presented the Sava
the project is 18 months, however the LWP
shop was capacity building for efficient par- lenges of modern water planning. The partici-
will continue to organize similar activities
ticipation of stakeholders in water manage- pants agreed that public participation process
for at least 5 years after the termination of
ment and planning. Participants came from in the Sava River basin helps to build prac-
the project.
various sectors including ministries, munici- tical experience and capacity of involved ex-
palities, NGOs, private sector and Slovenian perts from different sectors of the society. Bernardas Paukštys
Chamber of Commerce. The participants dis- Martina Zupan Chairman of the Lithuanian
cussed how presented public participation GWP Slovenia Water Partnership
5

6. Contact our Country Water Partnerships!
IN THIS ISSUE OF WATER TALK WE WILL PRESENT reservoirs, the Danube River – and ground- non-governmental organizations, as well as
WATER PARTNERSHIPS IN ANOTHER FOUR water are relatively poor and unequally dis- individuals.
COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE tributed in time and space. The Danube Del-
– POLAND, ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA. ta, where the river flows into the Black Sea,
is an ecological system unique in Europe. Its
ecological value is inestimable. It covers an
GWP Poland area of about 550,000 hectares of Romani-
an territory, with a hydrological network in- Established:
Water Partnership cluding main branches, secondary branches, November 2001
Located in the Baltic Sea Basin, Poland has a channels and lakes. It contains a wide vari- DR. MICHAL MAKEL
mean annual water resources per capita of ap- ety of species of plants, fish and birds, most c/o Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute
proximately 1,600 m3, almost three times less of which are migratory. Because of this bio- Jeséniova 17
than the mean value for Europe. In addition, diversity the whole zone has been declared 833 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
the available resources are subject to great a protected area and a World Natural Herit- Tel: +421 2 5477 5730
year-to-year variability. Devastating floods and age Site. The Global Water Partnership was Fax: +421 2 5941 5393
local water scarcities are frequent. Water qual- first introduced into Romania in 1998 when E-mail: gwpsr@shmu.sk
ity management is one of the key problems, the country became a member of GWP Cen-
creating problems for people’s livelihoods and tral and Eastern Europe. The Romania Water
the environment. Several river basin authori- Partnership is registered in the Special Reg-
GWP Slovenia
ties were established in 1991. The main objec- ister of the Court of Bucharest as an Associa- Water Partnership
tives of the Poland Water Partnership are to tion and is located in Bucharest.
promote the principles of IWRM and provide a Slovenia is a diverse country with a multi-
forum for bringing water stakeholders togeth- tude of cultures and people, enriched by its
er for knowledge exchange and implementa- vast water resources. There is really no space
tion of action programs. It comprises about for large water bodies, being a small country,
100 members representing government, wa- Established: but there is 7400 km of water courses, thou-
ter authorities, academia, non-governmental August 2002 sands of springs, waterfalls, gorges and lakes.
ecological organizations and various sectors of MR. LIVIU NICOLAE POPESCU GWP Slovenia Water Partnership was estab-
economy. The current programs deal especial- Asociatia Parteneriatul Global al Apei din lished in 2002. It is working as an independent
ly with water, environment and sustainable de- Romania “GWP-Romania” platform for discussion, offering stakeholders
velopment of rural regions, water governance Alea Fizicienilor No 4, Bloc 3C, Ap 16, Sector 3 a neutral ground in their dialogue. The stake-
improvements, and promotion of economic in- Cod 032113, Bucharest, Romania holders include governmental institutions
struments in the area water and environmen- Tel: +40 21 3480 947 (Ministries of Environment, Agriculture and
tal management. Application of the EU Water Fax: +40 21 2215 684 Economics), local governments, professional
Framework Directive is the focus of all activ- E-mail: lipopesc@icim.ro, lipopesc@b.astral.ro associations, research institutions, students,
ities. Actions include stakeholder meetings, private sector, NGOs and so on. The Partner-
baseline studies, local pilot actions, guidelines ship is involved in the implementation of the
and publications, all contributing to achieving
GWP Slovakia Water Act requirements and EU Water Frame-
the Partnership’s objectives. Water Partnership work Directive. GWP Slovenia Water Partner-
ship was recognized as potential partner in
The Slovak Republic is divided between the the process of establishing public participa-
Danube River basin (96%) and the Vistula tion in water management. The main activity
River basin (4%). Surface water and ground- is to promote IWRM at the local level, in the
water resources are plentiful. As in most elementary and secondary schools through
Established: other Central European countries, available local authorities, the Biology Teachers Asso-
February 2001 water resources are subject to great varia- ciation and local communities.
PROF. JANUSZ KINDLER bility and the country experiences both dev-
c/o Warsaw University of Technology astating floods and droughts. Groundwater
Faculty of Environmental Engineering is used as drinking water for approximately
ul. Nowowiejska 20, 00-653 Warsaw, Poland 80% of the 5.4 million inhabitants. The Glo-
Tel: +48 22 6607 290, Fax: +48 22 6605 362 bal Water Partnership was first introduced Established:
E-mail: Janusz.Kindler@is.pw.edu.pl into the Slovak Republic in 1998 when the July 2002
country became a member of GWP Central MS. MARTINA ZUPAN
and Eastern Europe. Since then, a number of c/o LIMNOS Company for Applied Ecology
GWP Romania activities have been carried out in promot- Podlimbarskega 31
ing IWRM principles and building bridges be- 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Water Partnership tween different stakeholders and sectors us- Tel.: +386 1 4273 245
Romania‘s water resources, being formed ing water resources. The Partnership consists Fax: +386 1 5057 386
of surface waters – inland rivers, lakes and of members representing governmental and E-mail: martina.zupan@siol.net
6

7. Capacity 2015
modalities: policy, programmes and strategies both countries. The outcome of the project will
formulation and advocacy; and support to pi- be the formulation of two regional development
lot projects. The Capacity 2015 in the ECIS has strategies for Giurgiu - Russe area (aimed on
Europe and the Commonwealth three main thematic areas:
Creation of enabling political and legal na-
tourism) and for Zimnicea - Svishtov area (aimed
on ferryboat transportation). The two Strategies
of Independent States tional frameworks for sustainable local de- that will address the shared development priori-
CAPACITY 2015 AS A NEW CAPACITY DEVELOP- velopment; ties of the partner municipalities are expected
MENT PLATFORM WAS LAUNCHED BY UNITED Practical support to sustainable development to provide the framework that will facilitate the
NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP) and good governance at the local level; mobilization of resources for cross-border coop-
DURING THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SUSTAIN- Transfer of knowledge and networking. eration initiatives from EU funds.
ABLE DEVELOPMENT. It is based on the results,
CREDIT: GWP CEE
successes, achievements and lessons derived
from a decade of successful innovations in ca-
pacity development for sustainable develop-
ment by Capacity 21 and other partners. Capac-
ity 21 was launched at the 1992 United Nations
Conference on Environment & Development
(UNCED), and worked with developing countries
and countries in transition to find the best ways
to achieve sustainable development and meet
the goals of Agenda 21. For more information
please visit www.undp.org/capacity21. Capac-
ity 2015 is a global program that is aiming at
enhancing local capacities to develop and im-
plement policies and practices that will advance
the achievement of the Millennium Develop-
ment Goals (MDGs) and sustainable develop-
ment at the local level. For more information on
MDG please visit www.un.org/millenniumgoals. Capacity 2015’s regional office for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ECIS) is based at UNDP Regional
Centre in Bratislava, Slovakia
Capacity 2015 provides a platform for partner-
ing and sharing experience in tackling the key By beginning of 2005 Capacity 2015 in Eu- Giurgiu - Russe project designs a joint tourism de-
cross-cutting aspects of capacity development rope and the CIS region supported projects velopment strategy and a common website con-
and sustainability. Regional Capacity 2015 strat- in seven countries that focus on partnerships taining information on existing tourist sites and
egies were recently prepared and embedded un- and meaningful alliances for the fulfilment of facilities. The objective of the initiative is to pro-
der the Global Capacity 2015 program. They aim the MDGs. The C2015 projects were support- pose an integrated tourist product to Danube lei-
at addressing region-specific challenges and op- ed in Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ka- sure cruise tourists. Zimnicea - Svishtov project
portunities to sustainable development through zakhstan, Ukraine, and Romania. For short de- supports the preparation of an economic and tech-
tailor-made and strategic national and sub-re- scription of the supported projects please visit nical feasibility study for a ferryboat service with
gional capacity development, knowledge man- www.undp.org/capacity2015/europe. the objective of attracting private investors.
agement and networking initiatives. Prepared by: Dafina Gercheva
Capacity 2015 – Danube Cross border and Milan Chrenko, UNDP /Capacity 2015
Capacity 2015 Europe and the Common- project in Romania and Bulgaria For additional information on Capacity 2015
wealth of Independent States (ECIS) program and activities please contact:
The overall objective of the project “Capacity De-
DAFINA GERCHEVA, PhD - Capacity Development
The main objective of the Capacity 2015 ECIS velopment for Reaching the Millennium Devel- Advisor/ Capacity 2015 Regional Coordinator
Regional Program is creating enabling environ- opment Goals through Fostering Cross-Border MILAN CHRENKO, MSc. - Capacity 2015 Programme
ment for sustainable integrated local develop- Cooperation between Bulgaria and Romania” is Specialist
ment and thus, contributing to the achievement to strengthen and enhance operational capaci- United Nations Development Programme,
of the MDGs. Actions oriented programmes on ties on both sides of the Danube river border in Bratislava Regional Centre
Grosslingova 35, 811 09 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
capacity community development, supported joint participatory strategic planning. In addi-
E-mail: dafina.gercheva@undp.org or
by Capacity 2015, in a way emphasize the im- tion, it aims at promoting cross-border coopera- milan.chrenko@undp.org
plementation aspect of MDGs. Capacity 2015 tion between Romania and Bulgaria based on the Tel: +421-2-59337 192
interventions are implemented at three lev- successful experience and lessons derived from Web: http://www.undp.org/capacity2015/europe
els: regional, national and local; and in two the Local Agenda 21 implementation process in www.undp.sk
7

8. Biannual Conference – Drinking Water 2004
THE CZECH WATER CLUB GWP WAS CO-OR- conference was attended by 231 participants. A cussions on the following four hot topics of wa-
GANIZER OF THE SEVENTH CONFERENCE EN- total of 75 papers were presented by speakers ter supply:
TITLED DRINKING WATER 2004, WHICH WAS primarily from the Czech Republic and Slova- cyanobacterial toxins (convener Assoc. Prof.
HELD IN TABOR, THE CZECH REPUBLIC ON JUNE kia; one speaker was from the U.S. and one was B. Maršálek)
from the UK. The sessions were devoted to con- new trends in drinking water filtration (con-
CREDIT: PETR DOLEJS/GWP CZ
ceptual questions of drinking water supply, wa- vener Assoc. Prof. P. Dolejš)
tershed protection and protection zones, reser- use of chlorine dioxide and disinfection by-
voir limnology and water quality, ground water product formation (convener Dr. V. Mergl)
quality, drinking water treatment and technolo- education in the drinking water sector (con-
gy, drinking water quality and changes in drink- veners Prof. J. Wanner and Assoc. Prof.
ing water quality in the distribution system. The J. Hlavác)
proceedings contained 430 pages. The confer-
ence program also included five lectures given All of the panel discussions were open and lively
by invited speakers, who were highly qualified and the topics were discussed in depth. They were
experts in the field. The Invited speakers gave highly appreciated by the participants and high-
the following papers: lighted what the water field clearly requires – in-
Developments in Aquatic Chemistry and teraction between the research, consulting, prac-
Analysis (Prof. P. Pitter) tice, regulatory and managerial spheres. For the
Disinfection of Drinking Water Disinfection first time, the Czech Water Club GWP awarded a
Professor Pavel Pitter is giving his excellent invited lecture on By-products (Prof. V. Janda) prize for the best young speaker’s presentation.
recent developments in aquatic chemistry Sludge Treatment and the Use of Wa- The jury included the entire scientific committee
7-10, 2004. The main aim of this conference se- ter Treatment Sludge in Agriculture (Dr. of the conference and the winner was Dr. Petra
ries is to search for interaction between the wa- L. Benešová) Nováková, who gave an excellent presentation of
tershed, water sources (e.g. reservoirs), water New Trends in Drinking Water Hygiene (Dr. her paper on water quality and protection zones
treatment and the water distribution system. F. Kožíšek) of the Vranov nad Dyjí Reservoir, which is used as
This means that the conference covers the en- Drinking Water Reservoirs – Their Assess- a raw water source for the drinking water sup-
tire system from the watershed to the consum- ment and Management (Dr. J. Duras) ply of the Trebíc region of South Moravia. One of
ers’ tap. This is a reflection and implementation the prizes consisted of free admission to the next
of IWRM principles being put into practice. The The conference program offered also panel dis- conference, which will be organized in 2006.
CREDIT: PETR DOLEJS/GWP CZ
CREDIT: PETR DOLEJS/GWP CZ
Lively discussions occurred during conference sessions (Dr. Pavel Hucko of the Water Research Winner of the GWP Young Speakers Competition giving her paper - Dr. Petra Nováková of the Mendel
Institute in Bratislava chairing the session, and from the left Dr. Frantisek Kožíšek, Ing. Zuzana University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno
Bratská and Dr. Jaroslav Mega)
Volume 5, Issue No. 1/2005, April 2005
Water Talk is the official newsletter of Global Water Partnership Central and Easter Europe (GWP CEE)
published twice a year. Water Talk assists GWP CEE to promote principles of Integrated Water Resourc-
es Management (IWRM) in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. The views and opinions of au-
thors expressed in this issue do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of GWP CEE.
Publisher: GWP CEE - Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe, gwpcee@shmu.sk,
Editor: Richard Müller, Language Proofreading: VKM, s.r.o., Layout and Printing: TYPOCON, s.r.o.
Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic Registration No: 3244/2004
ISSN: 1336-5525
GWP CEE – Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe, c/o Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Jeseniova 17, 833 15 Bratislava, Slovakia,
Tel./fax: +421 2 5941 5294, e-mail: gwpcee@shmu.sk, http://www.gwpcee.com
8