Information Exchange and Communication

In Transboundary Water Management on the Eastern

European FringeGulnara Roll

Workshop: "European Water Scenarios: from the Mediterranean

Sea to Central Asia",

Goals of the presentation

The presentation will discuss preliminary conclusions and recommendations for the future research on information and communication in management of transboundary waters formulated within the project "Integrated Strategies for the Management of Transboundary Waters on the Eastern European fringe - the pilot study of Lake Peipsi and its drainage basin (MANTRA-East) supported by the EC under the FP5 (contract No. EVK1-CT-2000-00076).

MANTRA East project goals are

To analyse and develop strategic planning methodologies and scientific tools for the integrated water management in transboundary water basins located on the existing and future borders of the European Union.

Following the EU WFD, the project develops recommendations for institutional mechanisms and policy instruments on management of transboundary watercourses and international lakes located on the fringes of the European Union.

The MANTRA East project pilot area is Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe Basin shared by Estonia and Russia; the largest transboundary lake in Europe

Experiences of management of other 10 transboundary waters on current and future EU borders were analysed

EU policy relevanceIn countries on the EU borders as well as globally, the EU within a framework of its Water Initiative promotes cooperation between the countries sharing international river basins … that stimulates economic development and regional integration as well as preventing conflict over water.

The Water Initiative seeks to promote better water governance arrangements and good practice centered on the principles of IWRM, build capacity by providing expertise and knowledge and by facilitating access to information. Research cooperation is an important part of such activities (Strategic Partnership, 2003).

Implementation of the EU WFD is a large scale and a long term Pan-European project that requires extensive communication and information exchange between different levels of governance as well as across the borders.

A political three-way dialogue between policy- and decision - makers, experts and local stakeholders, including water users, is a pre-requisite for sustainable water management.

What concerns information and communication in water management, there is attention mostly paid to the data collection and storage. Often the necessary activities for effective information dissemination to stakeholders are neglected.

Information and communication in implementation of water policy

There is a great body of knowledge on information communication in water management accumulated in the ERA to address issues of transboundary water management. This potential should be used to develop innovative solution to water management challenges in the NIS countries as wellas to promote sustainable development and regional cooperation.

Developing innovative apporaches to information and communication for management of transboundary waters in regions located on the European external border and in the NIS, especially in Central Asia, is important to address specific problems of the region and to promote social learning.

Information and communication in implementation of water policy

Specific for the EU accession countries and NIS issues of transboundary water management

• Often these are new emerging border areas where institutions, including procedures for communication and cooperation are being formed;• The relations across borders are often politically sensitive due to the recent political history; there is a lack of trust that impedes the cooperation;• Transboundary stakeholder networks are weak or non-existent; unlike the situation within the EU, the networks are not formalised;• NB! The situation in EU accession countries has considerably improved in technical measures and institutional development as a part of the accession process.

Specific for the EU accession countries and NIS issues of transboundary water management

• Short history of democratic development that results in weak involvement in water management of local stakeholders; a tradition of a centralised management approach; • Economic basis of water protection measures is poor, the water infrastructure and monitoring equipment are outdated;• Diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds of stakeholders in the region that affect their perceptions of water management issues and the water policies implementation process.

Specific issues for the future EU external borders

On the future external EU borders the main challenge in future is a growing gap in the formal frameworks, practices, and information between different sides of the border.

Estonia works to adapt its laws and the institutional setup to the requirements of the EU. As a part of this work the Estonian Water Act was revised to harmonize with the EU Water Framework Directive.

THERE IS A NEED TO DEVELOP A COMMON GROUND FOR ELABORATION OF TRANSBOUNDARY WATER MANAGEMENT PLANS TO OVERCOME EXISTING

DIFFERENCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS, NORMS, AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKSRussia is not

obliged to apply to the

EU Water legislation and its waters are

managed according to the Russian Federation

Water Code.

There is a growing difference in the levels of There is a growing difference in the levels of the socio-economic development, financing the socio-economic development, financing water protection measures. water protection measures. More funding to More funding to the the eastern eastern side of the border should be side of the border should be provided for provided for planning effective protection planning effective protection measures on regional scale measures on regional scale and and incorporating incorporating the EU WFD principles in preparation of water the EU WFD principles in preparation of water management plans.management plans.

The water management infrastructure is outdated, funds for reconstruction are very limited.

Strong centralized government with little citizen input.

Specific issues for Central Asia transboundary waters

On the transboundary waters in Central Asia a strong tradition exists for the compartmentalized planning where no cooperation between water management organisations with environmental protection organisations.

Specific issues for Central Asia transboundary waters

RecommendationsTailor-made information dissemination approaches should be elaborated and actively used to deliver relevant and understandable information to the stakeholders involved in implementation of water policies and receive the feedback. This will facilitate and promote more effective implementation of the water policy. This was the focus in the MANTRA East project

I. Continuation of present trends: The economical situation will remain the same and pollution loads and emission remain at present level.

II. ‘Target/fast development scenario’. Estonia: fast adaptation to the EU. Russia: domestic fast economic and social development

III. ‘Crisis scenario’. Conditions

radically deteriorate into ‘crisis’

in both countries

IV. ‘Isolation scenario’. Estonia: slow,

unwilling adaptation to the EU.

Russia: isolation from Europe and

a growth of nationalist sentiment.

V. Combination of II. and III.

Estonia: fast development.

Russia: Crisis

MANTRA East scenarios (storylines)

Summary of results• Given the 5 scenarios of the future regional development, the riverine nutrient loads into the lake will generally decrease.•The target/fast development scenario (II) results in a substantial larger Ntot input to the lake.

•The Crisis scenario (III) yields the largest Ptot load.

•No scenario predicts larger nutrient loads than in the communist period.

•Change of the amount of arable land is a major factor controlling nutrient loads to Lake Peipsi.

•Although connection to wastewater treatment plants and larger removal efficiencies for these installations can solve hygienic problems locally, strategies for nutrient load reduction should mainly focus on agricultural nutrient runoff, especially in the Russian part of the drainage basin.

MANTRA East Information Dissemination and Communication Strategy for Lake

Peipsi Basin• Is aimed to communicate expert based and scientific information to local stakeholders and further to promote a three-way political dialogue between decision-makers, experts and local stakeholders; • Web-based and non web-based information communication tailor made to needs of stakeholders

The central communication vehicle is a regional web portal www.peipsi.org to communicate expert based information about the lake and water management to local stakeholders in local languages

The portal offers:- Cause-effect related environmental information about the lake transboundary water basin;- Systematized collection of texts, reports, links to websites; uses knowledge management IT solutions;- To look for geographical location on the interactive map

GEF supportGEF supporteded preparation of preparation of the the Lake Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe Management ProgramPeipsi/Chudskoe Management Program; ; co-funding co-funding isis provided from the EU provided from the EU TACIS Baltic Line 2000 ProgrammeTACIS Baltic Line 2000 Programme and and the EU LIFE projectthe EU LIFE project

.

The The MANTRA-East project MANTRA-East project provides a provides a scientific basis for preparation of the scientific basis for preparation of the Lake Managemetn Program.Lake Managemetn Program.

Recommendations for future research

Reconstruction of the technical water infrastructure is on the agenda. But as the technical problems of formulating alternatives for water management could be still solved by local well trained engineers with the help of the various international aid programs.

The water crisis is mainly a crisis of governance (GWP, 2000) and designing and developing institutional for transboundary water management is the main challenge in the region. The research should address development of the multisector and multistakeholder cooperation in water management, the capacity of authorities and stakeholders to address current water management issues.

Recommendations for future research

• EU through implementing the IWRM approach should provide support for initiatives that promote regional cooperation and economic development in transboundary water regions. • Include local research and end user institutions, especially social scientists and economists.• Interaction processes in transboundary water basins should be addressed taking into account policies at various levels and established forms of co-operation practices on different sides of the borders, conditioned by the perceptions of various public and private actors

Recommendations for future• Promote broad public access to information by

promoting development of region wide information and communication infrastructures (with a in formats tailor made to the needs of local stakeholders.

• Support transboundary cooperative networks of stakeholders; promote their involement in water management through tailor-made approaches;  

• Synergy in research projects should be provided to ongoing initiatives in the NIS countries of the development aid and international organisations such as UN ECE, UNDP, The World Bank, the OSCE, Asian Development Bank and others.

Recommendations for future research

While in national water projects water management measures are usually implemented in a homogeneous socio-economic, cultural, institutional and political context, water management in a transboundary context is much more complex and political rather than water management within one nation – state.

Transboundary water projects should focus much more on communication, information exchange, and developing trust between all the partners.

Development of scenarios of water demand and availability for the longer term period including the NIS countries, is important.

www.mantraeast.org

www.riverdialogue.org

Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation website: www.ctc.ee