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Seminar on Integrated Water Management in the Tisza River Basin
Final Report - VII
Country Presentations of Ukraine
17. Water management policy of the Ukraine
By Mr. Alexandr Deziron
Ukraine focus on international cooperation in water management of transboundary river basins for environmental protection, sustainable development of regions, living standards of population improvement, enhancing of local economy, natural resources and cultural heritage conservation.
Actions regarding water quality and erosion (environmental concerns):
 Implement measures that combine stable water management and land management planning re. IRBM (pollution, flood forecasting, control, management and reduction of habitats fragmentation)
Implement policy on stable surface and ground water management for providing sufficient supply and availability and access to fresh water of good quality and in sufficient quantity
Implement policy on conservation of natural waters (streams, lakes and ground water) as well as wetlands and wetland-ecosystems, to protect against impacts such as floods and water pollution.
Actions regarding flooding risks and events:
Work out measures for common effort and activity for early warning of trans-boundary impacts on the flood water regime as well as water pollution caused by breakdown
Cooperate on the damages caused by above mentioned accidents prevention and reduction as well as assistance in restorative works.
Actions regarding regional rural development:
Support stable traditional farming, and related measures on implementation of agricultural policy concerning mountain ecosystem and landscape preservation, biological diversity and less favourable conditions for agriculture development in mountain regions
Implement policy on realization of measures such as agro-ecological programs in Carpathians enhancing agricultural policy and land management planning taking into account importance of Carpathian mountain ecosystem (e.g. natural and semi-natural grassland ecosystems)
Implement policy on enhancing and supporting realization of programs and measures that correspond to conventional principles of stable forestry management
Practice stable mountain forestry management in Carpathians, considering multi-functions of forests, and ecological importance of Carpathian mountain ecosystem
Implement policy of environment-oriented terrain estimation within natural forests and primeval forests of sufficient size and quantity in order to restrict or prohibit their usage
Promote application of environmental measures in agriculture and forestry to provide sufficient rainfall delay in mountains for flood prevention and safety increasing of life and property.
Actions regarding nature conservation:
Implement policy on conservation, stable usage and reproduction of biological and landscape diversity all over the Carpathians. Realise measures for preservation and sustainable use of natural and semi-natural habitats, their integrity and interface, and species preservation
Promote implementation of policy concerning natural habitats, degraded environment renewal and supports working out and realization of the related management plans
Implement policy on prevention of alien species import and genetically-modified species that posses a threat to ecosystems, environment or species
Develop/promote compatibility in monitoring systems, coordinated regional inventory of species and environment as well as scientific researches
Develop an ecological framework in Carpathians, as part of European Ecological framework, create and support Carpathian framework of environmental terrains, and enhance measures on preservation and stable management of terrains arranged outside above mentioned terrains
Realize measures of preservation and sustainable management of biological and landscape diversity and transferring them into state policy.
Inter-ministerial cooperation concerning river management issues:
The cooperation in the field of trans-boundary water management between offices of countries located in Carpathian region is in place in a number of ways of international cooperation
Specific issues specified in international conventions (such as Danube or Carpathian Convention) and intergovernmental agreements can be more successfully settled within inter-ministerial agreements between offices of Carpathian region countries.
Ministerial involvement in Ukraine concerning river management issues:
Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine (preservation and management of biological and landscape diversity)
The State Land Committee (territorial planning of the land management)
The State Land Committee for Water Management (sustainable integrated water management)
Ministry of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine (agriculture incl. fishery)
Ministry of Transport of Ukraine (transport and infrastructure development)
State Committee of Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism (tourism)
Ministry of Energetics of Ukraine
The State Forestry Committee (wind-belt works).
Trans-boundary cooperation policy is oriented on:
Achieving the goals of sustainable water management, including conservation, improvement and rational use of surface water and ground water in the catchment area
Control the hazards originating from accidents involving substances hazardous to water, floods and ice-hazards of the Danube
Cooperation on water management and adoption of appropriate legal, administrative and technical measures, to maintain and improve environmental and water quality conditions of the Danube.
Priorities concerning international cooperation on management of the Tisza:
Preservation and steady usage of a biological and landscape diversity
Stable local development and terrain planning
Sustainable and integrated water management (including river management)
Stable planning of the transport and infrastructure
Sustainable tourism
Renewal power sources and high technologies introduction
Environmental control of monitoring and prevention
The cultural heritage and local customs
Increasing of a level of public awareness, education and participation.
18. Technical aspects - Ukrainian overview
By Mr. Valerii Kasianchuk
Human activity has considerably changed the course of natural processes occurring in Upstream Tisza watershed. Efficient water management on the Ukrainian part of Tisza basin is extremely important for a sustainable development and preservation of the environment due to the following reasons:
Much of the water in the Tisza River are formed in mountain areas in the headstream of the river where precipitation levels are high
The headstream condition directly influences life of people residing in zones with risk of flooding
The region has been passing through social and economic crisis. This possesses a threat to well-balanced natural resources usage, which in return is a threat for ecological balance of the Tisza
The headstream is located in an area with natural disposal to mudflows, landslips and catastrophic high waters. Human activity should be oriented on reduction of this risk instead of its increasing
Upstream Tisza region is of a great ecological value.
Water quality and erosion (environmental concerns):
During the last decades, the economic infrastructure of the Zakarpattya area has changed considerably; anthropogenic stress for river ecosystem has increased causing water quality deterioration and erosion of river-banks and slopes. The water quality of upstream rivers of Zakarpattya remains rather good in general. However, absence in the majority of settlements and the enterprises of sewage works and treatment facilities has resulted in pollution of several rivers within the Zakarpattya lowland and a water quality not always meeting actual requirements.
Essential hazard is caused by erosion as a result of significant reduction of the mature forest area because of high level of logging, changing of their specific structure, slow growth of young woods. Ecologically safe methods of logging are not encouraged and illegal logging is still going on. Also overgrazing (concerning sheep and goats) results in vegetative cover destruction, poaching and subsequent surface run-off and erosion increase. Further reasons for erosion are: a) economic use of the flood plains without taking into account possible negative consequences, b) uncontrolled construction and economic activities on territories with high flood risk, and c) mining activities.
Main problem for Zakarpattya region is protection of population, enterprises, agricultural lands and urban regions against floods and high water caused by Tisza River and its tributaries. Flood protecting facilities in the Zakarpattya region are designed for different levels of floods but in accordance with standards of the time they were put into operation. Some of them are out of order and need reconstruction and structure rehabilitation. The dams don't meet up-to-date standards and technical requirements. Insufficient financing of flood protection measures in Zakarpattya region was one of the reasons that caused the hard flood damages of November 1998 and March 2001.
Regional rural development
One of the basic problems is also agricultural reclaiming of high water dangerous floodplains caused by shortage of suitable areas for agriculture. It is necessary to take the following steps:
disable a part of agriculture land from agricultural usage
resettlement of people from dangerous areas
introduction of the circuit-meliorative terrain organization
introduction of ecologically safe agriculture technologies.
Nature conservation
The Ukrainian part of Tisza river basin is of a great ecological value. Implementing a policy, oriented on preservation, development and reproduction of biological and landscape diversity, Ukraine participates in Carpathian network of reserve territories (Carpathian biosphere reserve, Carpathian national park, national park "Sinevir", regional landscape parks, refugium and conservation gorges).
Actual problems in this field are caused by:
Short-financing of natural-protection fund objects
Uncontrollable economic activities destroying natural habitats integrity
Non-authorized deforestation, poaching
Insufficient education of the population in the field of wildlife conservation.
Planned and implemented mitigation measures, including cost estimates and funding sources
Integrated Program of Protection Against High Water in Tisza River Basin in Zakarpattya in 2002-2015 (adopted in 2001) will be implemented in following stages: 1 stage: carry out urgent measures for water hazard prevention; 2 stage: carry out measures of high priority for catastrophic high water and flood hazards prevention, organization of reliable system against high water; 3 stage: carry out long-term measures.
Outline of water management institutional structure, with responsibilities of the implementing levels
Organization of implementation the Program and coordination of activity is done by the State Water Management Committee. Other central executive and local authorities are involved in Program within their competence.
Inter-ministerial Coordination Council consisting of the representatives of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, Ministry of Economics and European Integration Issues of Ukraine, Ministry of Emergency of Ukraine, Ministry of ecology of Ukraine, Ministry of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine, Ministry of Transport of Ukraine, State Construction Committee, State Land Committee, State Forest Committee, other related ministries and other executive bodies as well as leading scientific organizations, specialists and scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
The ministerial cooperation for implementation of the Program (2001):
State Water Management Committee (organisation of coordination and realisation of program) - State Forest Committee (wind-belts)
Ministry of Ecology of Ukraine (hydro-stations and forecasting and monitoring systems)
Ministry of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine (erosion prevention)
Ministry of Transport (reconstruction of roads)
Regional agreements concerning TRB are:
Agreement on Organization of Association "Carpathian European Region" between local government administrations of trans-boundary areas of Ukraine, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia;
Carpathian Convention (2003)
Bilateral agreements:
Agreement on cooperation in the field of environment conservation between the Government of Ukraine and Government of Hungary (1992)
Agreement on cooperation in the field of environment conservation between the Government of Ukraine and Government of Republic of Poland (1994)
The Budapest Agreement on mutual aid in of emergency situations prevention (1998)
Agreement on cooperation in the field of environment conservation between Ministry of environmental conservation of Ukraine and Ministry of Environment of Slovakia (1994)
Inter-ministerial Poland-Slovakia-Ukrainian triangular agreement on biodiversity conservation of forests in Eastern Carpathians
Agreement between Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine on organisation of international biosphere conservation area "Eastern Carpathians"
Declaration on Environment and Sustainable Development in Carpathian and Danube regions adopted on the Summit on Environment and Sustainable Development in Carpathian and Danube regions (Bucharest, 2001)
Various initiatives are currently implemented through the EU, UNEP, NATO, WB, UNDP, the GEF and other organisations, such as IUCN and the WWF.
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