Project MANTRA-Rivers

1. Management of Transboundary Rivers between Ukraine, Russia and the EU - Identification of Science-Based Goals and Fostering Trilateral Dialogue and Cooperation

Management of Transboundary Rivers between Ukraine, Russia and the EU - Identification of Science-Based Goals and Fostering Trilateral Dialogue and Cooperation

Financed within the initiative of the Volkswagen Foundation:
Trilateral Partnerships – Cooperation Projects between Scholars and Scientists from Ukraine, Russia and Germany

Publications

Partners

Technische Universität Dresden (TUD), Germany
Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), Germany
Lomonosov Moscow State University (LMU), Russia
Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute (UHMI), Ukraine

Duration

September 2016 – May 2020

Background

Transboundary rivers are natural connections between different countries even in times of political disputes. The Ukraine, Russia and the European Union share various river basins that cross one or more international borders. The availability and quality of these water resources is subject of constantly ongoing trans-national negotiations of the riparian states. A joint management is only possible when all factors which influence water availability and quality are known. Thus, sufficient and reliable data are indispensable for the understanding of characteristics of hydrological systems. Ideally, information would be collected and analysed in a consistent manner. Different national regulations and data scarcity can seriously impede a consistent system analysis. Furthermore, the implementation of measures (e.g. conservation, technical and non-technical problem solutions) can be further complicated by institutional or political constraints. To meet the manifold water demands of riparian states and to manage transboundary water resources sustainably, there is no way around a transnational system analysis and dialogue.

This project will partly build on results of the project “International Water Research Alliance Saxony – IWAS” (http://www.ufz.de/iwas-sachsen/), which applied the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach to five different model regions worldwide. One of the IWAS model regions mentioned above was the Western Bug, a river that originates in Ukraine and then becomes a boundary river with Poland.

Using this knowledge as a starting point, a transnational analysis of the Western Bug and two other rivers, namely the River Desna (shared by Russia and Ukraine) and the Western Dvina (shared by Russia, Belarus and Latvia) are envisioned. Water quality problems that need to be dealt with in a transboundary setting are the connective element of these basins.

This project will be carried out in the context of the recently founded Center for Advanced Water Research (CAWR, http://www.ufz.de/cawr/), which uses synergies between all water-related departments of TU Dresden and the UFZ in order to address water challenges which are of high scientific and societal relevance. Together, the two institutions have a long-time cooperation with the Russian and Ukrainian institutions involved in the project consortium.

Objectives

The conceptualization and implementation of an IWRM is a comprehensive, challenging and time-consuming task and needs to involve a large range of stakeholders. Within this project, we plan to investigate the scientific basis for an IWRM conceptualization in the three model river basins with the following objectives:

A. Assessment of the status quo
B. Comparison of data and methods
C. Definition of a future strategy

An overall objective of the project is:
D. Promote trilateral dialogue and cooperation

Investigation areas

Western Bug River Basin
The Western Bug River originates in Ukraine, then becomes a border river with Poland and later with Belarus and drains into a reservoir of River Narew, a tributary of the River Vistula (basin area 39.400 km²). Because the river system discharges into the Baltic Sea, it is subject of the European Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD). The Western Bug suffers from water quality problems caused by outdated or overloaded wastewater treatment plants, agriculture, industry and coal mining. For large sections the river features well-functioning water-land connectivity and a sufficient structural variability. Nevertheless, the upper Western Bug is strongly affected by human interventions generating severe environmental impacts and health issues. Future climate projections indicate decreasing water availability during the summer half-year, which might have serious implications for water quantity, quality and agriculture. The Ukrainian part of the river basin has been well investigated with coupled hydrological and water quality models within the project IWAS.

Desna River Basin
The River Desna is a more than 1.000 km long tributary of the river Dnepr which originates in Russia. Its basin has a size of 88.900 km². Desna serves as drinking water source for large regions of Ukraine and is one of the main drinking water sources for the capital city Kiev.
The ecological state of Desna at particular sections is rather poor mainly due to problems with water quality. The main pollutants are organic substances and pesticides, which are not fully degraded and therefore accumulate in the basin. Bioassay-based toxicity assessments showed that pollution levels in the Desna and the Dnepr rivers are toxicologically relevant under low-flow conditions. LMU operates a network of monitoring stations allowing access to water quality data from the Russian part of the river basin. Furthermore, it serves as case study river for hydro-morphological research. Changes in climatic conditions and human impacts caused an increased intensity of bank erosion in the past. The main peculiarity of regional climate change is a seasonal redistribution of annual river discharge and subsequent changes in water quality.

Western Dvina River Basin
The Western Dvina (or Daugava) river basin covers an area of 86.000km² with significant parts (roughly 1/3 each) located in Russia, Belarus and the EU (Latvia and a minor part in Lithuania). Since it discharges into the Baltic Sea, the Western Dvina falls under the jurisdiction of the European Water Framework Directive. The recent expertise of LMU here is related to environmental surveys of the current status of the river, issues of water quality and ecology. Few field campaigns in 2011 and 2012 in collaboration with research institutes from Russia aimed at detailed longitudinal investigations of hydrology, geochemistry and ecology of the river. Water pollution of the river is severe, with the main sources being agricultural runoff (herbicides, pesticides, nitrate and phosphate), treated wastewater and fish-farming.

Work packages

WP A: Assessment of the status quo in the three basins

Literature review and expert talks on all relevant issues of IWRM
Assessment of hydrological, hydro-morphological, geochemical and ecological state
Identification of important stressors onto the water system
Analysis and comparison of water governance structures and legislation
Identification of data necessary for an integrated assessment of management challenges
Setup of a meta-database indicating availability and quality of the data
Identification of stakeholders

WP B: Comparison of data and methods needed to investigate the scientific basis of IWRM

Comparison of available data (density of stations, monitoring schemes)
Assessment of the consistency of data in transboundary regions
Identification of data gaps and monitoring deficits and discussion of strategies for gap filling
Development of case studies for exemplary transboundary analysis of data
Pilot study: Upgrading of water quality monitoring stations in the Desna and Western Dvina river basins to validate old instruments and laboratory results
Comparison of methods commonly used for river basin analysis
Deficit analysis about the minimal additional data needs for an IWRM concept

WP C: Definition of a future strategy

Discussion of steps to reduce data gaps and harmonize the data
Comparison of regional approaches with e.g. the steps of the Water Framework Directive
Formulation of preliminary recommendations for river basin management regarding a scientific assessment, technical and non-technical management measures, conservation measures etc.
Discussion of follow-up projects that consider IWRM in the basins in its fully range

Activities

First workshop: 4.-5.11.2016 in Ukraine: Kick-off and first results of WP A
Second workshop: October 2017 in Russia: Results of WP A and first results of WP B
Third workshop: May 2018 in Germany: Results of WP B and first results of WP C

Contact: Thomas Pluntke, , +49-351-46331343

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