Project objectives

The objective of this project is that representatives of state authoritites and the public of Moldova and Ukraine develop and agree on an Action Programme to improve the transboundary water management of the Dniester River Basin.

A second project objective is the establishment of an official river basin website.

Background

Geographical and environmental conditions

The Dniester River is a transboundary river with a length of 1352 km, which starts in the Ukrainian Carpathians, flows through Moldova and reaches Ukraine again near the Black Sea. More than 5 million people populate its basin. In the Soviet times the water basin was managed as one system, but since 1991 Moldova and Ukraine have been separately managing their respective parts. The Dniester is the main source of drinking water in Moldova and a significant part of Ukraine, especially the City of Odessa.

The Dniester is currently facing severe environmental problems due to pollution and impacts associated with the water flow regime. The environmental degradation of the Dniester River is exacerbated by the Transdniestrian conflict, which inter alia impacts negatively on the use of joint infrastructure for waste water treatment. The problem takes on transboundary dimensions as polluted water flows into Moldova from Ukraine and there after back into Ukraine again and is discharged into the Black Sea south-west of the City of Odessa.

Political developments

At two joint sessions of the Moldovan and Ukrainian parliamentary committees held in 1997 and 1999 decisions were made to support the elaboration and signing of a bilateral convention on the Dniester. The Moldovan Environment Ministry submitted in May 2000 a draft Convention on the Use of Water and Biological Resources and Conservation of Biodiversity of the Dniester River to its Ukrainian counterpart. The Ukrainian authorities have raised concerns regarding the compatibility of and need for the draft convention with existing rules applicable to the River Dniester. No new developments have taken place thereafter.

At this stage Ukraine prefers to develop the bilateral co-operation with Moldova within the framework of existing agreements. Authorities are in the process of elaborating a national work program for the Dniester River. Ukraine has pronounced its willingness to allow the proposed project to feed in to the national work program thus providing the transboundary dimension thereof and facilitating application of modern principles of integrated water resources management.

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg the world's nations committed themselves to principles of integrated water resources management, requiring countries to consider entire river basins as one system, and to collaborate in the management of transboundary rivers' basins. The UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, to which both Ukraine and Moldova are parties, also prescribes States to co-operate in the management of transboundary rivers.

The rationale for OSCE and UNECE involvement

Moldova and Ukraine have started preliminary discussions on the joint management of the river basin. International support for the initiative would contribute to increasing the political will of the governments involved to reach a conclusion on how to expand their bilateral cooperation to encompass modern principles of integrated water resources management.

The connection of this activity to that of the Transdniestrian conflict lies in the element of confidence building and normalization of relations that result from having Moldovan authorities and local authorities of the Transdniestrian region forming part of the same national working group and participating in regular, bilateral working meetings. There are many examples from history of how opportunities offered by water management can be used to build confidence and foster co-operation among states and communities.

It was in recognizing this fact that the OSCE chose water as the topic for the 10th Economic Forum. In working with the Forum and subsequently in activities designed to follow up recommendations from the Forum the OSCE has learned some valuable lessons regarding water and conflict prevention, which will serve as the basis for this project.

UNECE is presently intensifying its activities in the EECCA region under the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. This is being done as a contribution to the implementation of the EECCA Environmental Strategy endorsed at the Kiev Ministerial Conference in 2003. The Convention Secretariat has an extensive experience of the development of transboundary water cooperation under the Convention, to which Ukraine as well as Moldova are parties.

Environmental NGOs of Moldova and Ukraine have been pushing their governments towards increased bilateral co-operation on the management of the Dniester for several years. The existence of a well-developed engagement of civil society is a positive force that could be used as a vehicle for asserting political momentum and spreading awareness. OCEEA as well as the UNECE are actively working for the promotion of public participation in environmental decision-making. The Secretariat of the Aarhus Convention is situated in the UNECE, and OSCE and UNECE collaborate frequently on projects and capacity building in support of the Convention. Involvement of civil society in this activity is a key part of the proposal and would set a good precedent for similar efforts in other states.

Approach

Expected outputs

• An agreed Action Programme as outlined above, and .

• A river basin website managed by Moldovan and Ukrainian authorities. 

Activities

1. Nomination of delegations by the two countries. Delegations will include representatives from the relevant authorities:

- Ministries of Foreign Affairs

- Ministries of Environmental Protection 

- State Water Committee / State Water Management Concern  

- sanitary-epidemiological services

- NGOs. 

Authorities responsible for health, emergency situations and fisheries as well as local and regional authorities will be invited to those meetings where these issues are discussed.

Efforts will be made to make it possible for authorities of the Transdniestrian region of the Republic of Moldova to participate in the project. 

2. A series of four negotiation rounds will be organized to develop and agree on the Action Programme. Heads of delegations will co-chair the negotiation sessions and will be responsible for the necessary internal coordination and political processes to ensure final approval of the Action Programme. Before each of the meetings a background paper will be prepared with proposals, which will be the basis for the negotiations.

An agreed Action Programme will be presented for endorsement and when possible decisions by the responsible Plenipotentiaries in a meeting in the end of 2006 and after that submitted to the competent authorities of the parties concerned for their consideration and approval in accordance with national requirements. The Action Programme will further be presented in an international meeting, e,g, the Stockholm Water Week.

Tentatively the four negotiations rounds would focus on one of the following items:

a) The legal framework for cooperation;

b) Institutions for the cooperation including the establishment and work of working groups.

c) Cooperation on emergency and health issues, and

d) Information management.  

3. Preparation of an outline for the establishment of a shared and open information system on the Dniester River Basin. An expert group will meet twice in parallel with 2 of the 3 first negotiation rounds. This activity will include the creation of an official river basin website. 

4. Two meeting for consultations with NGOs and the public in each of Ukraine and Moldova will be arranged to discuss the draft Action Programme. 

Involvement of civil society

Active participation of NGOs and the population in the water basin is a key element in integrated river basin management. In the implementation of this project particular efforts will be made to maintain a dialogue with stakeholders and civil society, to provide access to information and to consult them and make use of their expertise as regards in particular the environmental status of the Dniestr basin throughout the process.

Risks/Assumptions

The project assumes that there is a political will to agree on an action programme and on both sides and in various authorities within each country. It would be an advantage, but it is not essential that the authorities of the Transdniestrian region of the Republic of Moldova will participate in the project. Due to the political tensions between Moldova proper and the Transdniester region it may be difficult to find a formula for the participation of the latter.