This chapter is intended for presentation of the water legislation formation principles. It gives compendium of the main legislative documents, facilitating orientation in problems of water legislation, in legal limitations on water engineering and economic activities, and requirement on observation of ecological demands.
Section 3.1 describes the state accounting for water resources, the State Water Cadastre, and the state water reserves. Here attention is paid to a necessity to distinctly delineate the state accounting of water in natural water bodies and the water abstracted from water bodies. Such distinction is necessary because water bodies forming natural links of the water cycle are regulated in accordance with the environmental legislation, while economic/municipal water is regulated by the civil legislation.
In subsection 3.1.1 are considered problems of the state water accounting, necessary for environmental and economic management. Also here are discussed problems of accounting functions sharing between state administration departments on the one hand and water users and consumers on the other. Data to be taken into account are given.
In subsection 3.1.2 problems of the State Water Cadastre record-keeping, its information structure, components of primary and summarized final information are considered.
In subsection 3.1.3 is presented information on the state water reserves. Lawfulness of inclusion of man-made reservoirs and canals into the state water reserve is discussed. Data on dynamic water reserves in some European countries are given.
Section 3.2 is devoted to the state water policy and economic and ecological constraints to its implementation. Two sides – ecological and economic – of this policy are considered. Ecological demands are aimed at minimization of pressure on water reserves, causing deviation of their state from natural one. Economic demands are aimed at satisfaction of needs of water users, with concurrent gain of profit. At the same time, they both must be aimed at provision of sustainable economic development, with satisfaction of human needs in natural resources, at present and in long-term future.
Subsection 3.2.1 describes interconnections among the environmental strategy, the economic development, and the legislation on the state level. It is stressed here that in preparation of state documents necessary for attainment of a concrete socially important aim not always a logical chain of actions is observed: i.e. concept – policy – strategy – programme – plan.
In subsection 3.2.2 are considered key legislative terms “water use” and “water consumption”, connected with two types of water relationships: ecological and economic. It is stressed that the present day environmental-friendly regional strategy of the water economy management is based on a basin approach, when the water reserve within the river basin is considered as an object of the state administration. A positive example of the basin management in France is given.
In section 3.3 a short comparative characteristic of water legislation in EU and in Eastern Europe countries is given. Basic principles of EU directive (2000) establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy are given (subsection 3.3.1). The key demand of the directive consists in arrangement of basin water management within River Basin Districts of each country.
In subsection 3.3.2 are considered problems of harmonization of the Eastern European counties’ water legislations with that of EU countries. There are given approximate costs of such work and period of its implementation.
In section 3.4 are outlined some problems of interstate water resources and their transborder transfer. It is noticed that joint use of transboundary streams and lakes is gaining in importance (subsection 3.4.1). At that interstate water relations are regulated by Helsinki Convention (1992). Its main demands are given. In subsection 3.4.2 this connection is considered in more details. In particular, tasks of joint basin commissions which are being created for transboundary water bodies management – in accordance with international agreements – are given.
During the whole period of civilization development, up to the second half of 19th century, human society considered water as a gift of God, unlimited natural resource, usable in any desirable way. Impact of relatively small human population on the state of water was insignificant, and there were no need to regulate this impact. It means there were no need to account for water. But explosive development of productive forces in 20th century, population growth, especially in towns and cities, had led to such negative consequences as pollution and depletion of surface and groundwater, increment in their harmful effects. This stimulated investigation of the water problem. People started to comprehend a necessity to manage water, and consequently to account for its use.
Prior to the modern concept of the natural environment, tasks of economic and technical development were considered as the main aims of the human society. When considering questions of water engineering or industrial objects’ construction, problems of environmental pollution were practically neglected. Damage to environment was considered as “price of progress”.
But situations and ideas are changing. And humanity from unreserved support of the economic growth has shifted to a deep concern about its possible consequences for society, connected with environmental pollution. To minimize negative ecological impacts of economic activities, governments accepted upon themselves responsibility for support of sustainable development of these activities. And management of water resources is an obligatory part of such development. At the beginning of 21st century the systems analysis has gained general recognition as the most appropriate method for water resources management.
Systems analysis is a method for solution of a problem by construction of a picture (model) of a real system or situation, amenable to experimental handling aimed at attainment of a degree of understanding of the real solution. The system should be described by a range of mathematical expressions so as to duplicate a given phenomenon with the help of resultant relationships. It is necessary to consider parameters impacting a given system and factors causing these parameters. So it is assumed that valid mathematical models of a system demand deep knowledge about and understanding of the system. And these can be attained with the help of the most practically available complete and reliable information provided in recorded data.
Water resources management is a set of interconnected processes forming a system of management. It consists of two parts: the system of environmental water management – i.e. management of water as a component of natural environment – and the system for economic management of water abstracted for various purposes from the water body.
The system of the state environmental administration of water encompasses water in all its aggregate states, pertaining to natural links of the hydrological cycle: atmospheric, oceanic, lithogenic, edaphic, fluvial, and lacustrine. The administration is aimed at provision of favourable ecological situation in water bodies, with maximal approximation to a virgin natural state. Natural waters have a number of names, depending upon their locality: azonal, alluvial, artesian, swamp water, vadose, interstial, phreatic. There are also stormwater, sea water, lake water, groundwater, subsurface water, surface water. There are also river, river-bed, slope, thalweg, peat bog, transborder waters, etc. Administration of all these water bodies is performed by state, on a non-profit basis.
System of economy water management encompasses water in its all aggregate states, pertaining to the economic link of the water cycle in all branches of manufacture and catering. This link is initiated at the moment of fresh water abstraction from the water body, and ends at the moment of the used water return to the water body. In the period of the water residence in the economic link of its cycle it is called economic water. Depending upon purpose and site of use, water is called ballast, additional, drainage, boiler, bilge, or sludge water, and so on. There are also recycling, produced, stratal, watering-and-washing, purging waters. Also there are such economic waters as waste, thermal, heat exchange, technological, mine waters, etc. Economic water is filling-up reservoirs, pipelines, canals and other man-made units, and also various municipal and industrial systems.
Economic water management is aimed at satisfaction of municipal and industrial needs in water of appropriate quality, with concurrent gaining of profit.
It is important to understand that the ecological and the economic water management differ not only in aims but also in objects and subjects of management. In the first (ecological) case, object of management is natural water in water bodies, and the management subject is a state organ of ecological regulation. In the second case they are dealing with economic water, used by man outside the water body, and the state organ of economic regulation of waters is the management subject here.
Any system of management consists of the following six functional elements: planning, organizational aspect, regulation, monitoring, inspection, and accounting. Regulation can be legal, administrative, economic, and technical. Under such system of management, the function of accounting may serve as a source of information necessary for initial and sequential corrective decision making when planning, plan implementation, and current regulation of management actions.
Tasks of the state water accounting consist in finding data on quantity and quality of natural waters, and also data on use of water (including abstraction of fresh water from water bodies, and discharge of used “return” water into them). Also data on water use and discharge to sewerage lines are collected. Obtained data are used for distribution of water among water users and water consumers; for elaboration of measures aimed at rational use, protection, and regeneration of water resources.
It is necessary to distinctly delineate water users and water consumers. First ones are dealing with water bodies and with natural water contained in them. Second are dealing with water engineering units and objects, i.e. with economic water. Unfortunately, these clear criteria are often neglected in the process of elaboration of national water legislation. And this leads to mixing up of concepts of environmental and economic management in laws and secondary legal acts. As a result, it hinders organization of effective state administration in the water sector of economics.
When considering use of water, connected with abstraction of fresh water from and discharge of used water into the water body, it is necessary to remember that all water users are also water consumers because they inevitably consume a certain portion of fresh water for their own needs. But not all water consumers are water users. E.g., industries obtaining water from municipal water lines and discharging used water into sewerage line should not be considered as water users. They are registered clients of municipal services, and they have no direct influence on the state of water bodies. So, when we are talking about “water users” we should remember that at the same time the user is “water consumer”. And when we are talking about “water consumer” it means that the consumer is not water user directly connected with the water body. Unfortunately, these obvious terms in some Eastern European countries (e.g. in Ukraine) are not included in water legislation.
The state water accounting service should provide data necessary for solution of the following problems of environmental management:
In addition the state water accounting should provide data necessary for implementation of the following water economy management tasks:
In Eastern Europe state accounting of surface waters is usually performed by state hydrometeorological organs. There are networks for continuous hydrometric and hydrochemical monitoring of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of surface waters. They also perform hydrobiological surveys of the state of hydrobiocenoses, in accordance with approved programmes. For some last years here is continuously developing the state monitoring of waters. It is a part of the state system of environmental monitoring of all natural environment components, including atmospheric air, hydrosphere, soils and ground. Mode of the environmental monitoring operation is determined by the government. The monitoring data should provide for evaluation of the current ecological status of water bodies and dynamics of its change in time. For this purpose is used a representative set of physical, chemical, and biological indices of the water body status.
Concurrently it is necessary to obtain data for evaluation of anthropogenic and natural factors pressure (aspects) on the status of water body and its fluctuation in time. Approximate qualitative evaluations of anthropogenic pressure degree allow to obtain data on annual volume of discharge of used (return) water not needing any treatment (i.e. normatively clean water). It also provides data on normatively treated, insufficiently treated and polluted water discharged to water bodies. For more detailed evaluation it is necessary to provide information about separate amounts of priority pollutants discharged to the water body during year, and also information about such comprehensive indicators as chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD).
State accounting for groundwater is usually performed by geological survey organs. They should organize monitoring for quantitative and qualitative characteristics of groundwater, in accordance with an approved programme. As a rule such monitoring is performed as a part of the environmental monitoring system for surface waters. Data obtained by monitoring of all types of natural waters are used as a basis for the state system of accounting of waters.
These two types of accounting, and the third type – accounting for water use impacting the water body state – are representing ecological component of the state accounting for water. In case of a proper organization, the state accounting for water use should be performed by a board managing problems of environmental and natural resources. But in Eastern European countries such accounting is traditionally performed by state boards managing water economy problems which are also responsible for state accounting of water consumption and wastewater removal. And there is no doubt that these two functions should be separated. They have different aims and tasks, apportioned to different organs of the state administration.
Legal relations in attainment of these aims are regulated by different branches of legislation. Environmental legislation is inapplicable to regulation of economic relations, while civil legislation is inapplicable to environmental problems.
Environmental monitoring and economic monitoring have their own specific features. They use different sets of indices and methods of collection, processing, storing, analysis, and delivery of information. But their separation would demand changes in the system of statistical accounting, traditionally used for waters. Primary accounting documentation (registration files, forms) should reflect specific features of the water use (abstraction of fresh water from the water body and discharge of used return water to it) and of water consumption/removal (consumption of economic water and removal of wastewater to sewerage line).
Water users must perform primary accounting of fresh water abstraction from the water body and discharge of used water to it. Also they should provide primary accounting for their own consumption of economic water and its removal. But water consumers should be accountable only for economic water. Water users should install at all water abstraction and water discharge units metering devices (flowmeters, level gauges, etc.), and instruments for determination of water composition and properties. Water consumers also should install such devices.
The state environmental control board through its local organs should provide for supervision over primary accounting of water users for volumes of fresh water abstracted from the water body and return water discharged to it. They also should oversee determination of composition and properties of water, inspection over installation and state of water metering instruments, observation of determined periods of its state certification. Local organs should use data of primary accounting for generalization of information on water abstraction and discharge into water bodies. They also should collect information on content in water of priority pollutants. Generalized information should be available to all interested state organisations, NGOs, and citizens.
In the same way and by the same organisations should be organized monitoring for correctness of water consumers primary accounting of fresh water consumption (separately of sweet and highly mineralized water including sea water), of sequential and closed cycle waters. Such accounting data also would allow to estimate losses of water during its transportation and consumption. The same organisations should control accounting of wastewaters discharge to sewerage lines, to irrigation fields, to filtration beds, constructed wetlands, evaporators, drainless cavities. All these units are elements of the water-engineering system, and they must be monitored by water economy boards.
Also variety of information on types and quantities of primary (limited by legislation) pollutants discharged with wastewaters must be controlled. Comparison of these data with the mass of pollutants contained in abstracted fresh water would allow to determine the mass of pollutants generated by the water consumer. It is also necessary to collect data on the state of water supply and sewerage lines, and their correspondence to sanitary-and-hygienic standards.
For water consumption (water removal) primary accounting should be used registers accepted in a given country with indication of the following information:
The same registers should be used for wastewaters discharged to sewerage lines. There should be indicated:
In some Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, water consumers are obliged to present quarterly accounts of water consumption. The state form of such account is called #2-TP (Vodkhoz). It should be presented to:
Information, generalized by the above-named organizations, is used as the state statistic account data by all interested organizations and persons.
The State Water Cadastre is intended for systematization of the state water accounting data and for determination of water resources availability for use. It is a systematized, continuously up-dated and corrected data code on water bodies forming the state water reserves, with indication of hydrological, hydrophysical, hydrochemical and hydrobiological regimes of waters, and also data on use of waters.
The main task of the water cadastre consists in formation of a comprehensive state information fund helping in solution of environmental problems and water economy problems.
Cadastre data management demands co-operation of a range of state organs responsible for ecological problems and natural resources, dealing with hydrometeorology, geology and mineral resources protection, and with water economy. At present there is no firm division of functions among these organs in relation to cadastre. And in some Eastern European countries (e.g. Ukraine) the Water Code does not provide for participation in cadastre management of state organs responsible for ecological problems and natural resources protection. Maybe it can be explained by lack of understanding at the level of government of necessity to provide strict division between environmental and economic functions in water resources management.
Cadastre management and its information structure can be different in separate countries. To illustrate, let us consider the cadastre section “Use of water resources”, accepted in some Eastern European countries. The section consists of the following parts:
The water cadastre data should be loaded to the information fund and the main data should be published in press. The data composition is defined in normative and technical documents, in instructions and guidance, approved by corresponding state administration boards. The data structure is based on uniform demands to information. This provides for compatibility, univocacy of identification, conformity of indices units and data arrangement, in primary documents and on data mediums.
Primary information on use of water resources includes the following:
The data are presented by cadastre units of state boards for hydrometeorology, and also for geology and mineral resources. Participating state boards should agree upon order of data presentation.
A water economy district area is the minimal territorial area in which ecological and water economy data are collected and processed. Its boundaries are defined as a function of hydrological, water economy, and administrative conditions.
Data of water use directories by river basins are generalized with computation of water-economy balances. Information on administrative and territorial units in a considered region is also given.
These data are applicable for solution of the following problems:
Generalized information on use of water resources provides the following data:
Information users are served with the help of:
Annual data on water use should be published each year, and multiannual data could be published once in five years.
Concrete content of cadastre materials, terms of their preparation, primary information forms, rules of their filling, processing algorithms, etc should be regulated by corresponding guidelines and instructions.
The output data of the State Water Cadastre may include following environmental indices:
In addition, the output data may include the following economic and engineering indices:
All water (water bodies) on the territory of the state are forming its water reserves. In the Eastern Europe the water reserves include:
Justification of consideration of artificial water reservoirs and canals as water bodies is clearly arguable. Such fill-up technological basins, as cooling ponds of thermal and atomic electric stations, fish farming ponds, sedimentation ponds, wastewater lagoons, etc contain not natural but economic water. This water is taken out of the water body and excluded from natural water cycle. It is transferred to economic link of the cycle, and becomes either a commodity or a waste owned by a certain proprietor. And water bodies are components of the national property. So, artificial basins (water reservoirs and ponds), constructed off-rivers or rivulets, cannot be considered as components of the state water reserve. To such reserves belong only channel reservoirs, impacting hydrological regime of the streams but not excluding their water from natural links of the water cycle.
The same is true for canals, where presence and flow of water (i.e. economic, not natural water) are completely regulated by man. There are energy-supplying, irrigation, drainage, water supply, sewerage canals. In many cases instead of them pipelines can be used. There are also canals for timber floatage, navigation, fish-farming. But they cannot be considered as surface water bodies because water in them is not natural. Canal owner can at any moment dewater such canal. And such action cannot be done with a natural water body.
But in some cases when artificial water bodies due to certain situations acquire considerable ecological importance they can be subjected to demands of the water legislation. Such decision can be taken by competent organs dealing with waters. Artificial water bodies used for potable water supply or for sport and/or recreation should be subjected to public-health standards, but not to ecological norms. And fish-farming units should be subjected to fish-farming standards.
The present-day science is considering all natural waters as a united system in which water moves from one link of water cycle to another in the processes of water circulation. evaporation from ocean and land surfaces is an initial link of that cycle. Atmospheric precipitations are feeding rivers, lakes, groundwater, and glaciers. And rivers in their turn are feeding lakes and groundwater, while glaciers supply water to rivers and lakes. Water in all its states is continuously consumed and renewed. River waters are the most dynamic. In a year they are renewed more than 20 times. Sea, ground, and glacier waters are renewed slowly, once in hundreds and thousands of years.
Annually renewed part of the static water resources is their dynamic component. The global volume of surface river discharge, available for use by man – so-called dynamic water resource – is estimated roughly as 37 000 km3/yr.
The main feature of the surface water resources consists in their continuous fluctuations in time. This leads to considerable differences in river discharge in separate years, months or even days. E.g., in Poland in a very dry year the river flow volume may amount to 31-34 km3 (about 55 % of average annual flow discharge) while in an extremely wet year it may amount to 90 km3 (155 % of average annual flow).
Constructed reservoirs are very important means for river flow regulation. They can accumulate flood flows and redistribute them in accordance with needs in water. In some countries of Eastern Europe they continue to design and construct river reservoirs intended for single purpose and multipurpose use. But the construction intensity is much lower than in previous period. It can be explained by economic and ecological reasons. High cost of reservoir construction and its possible negative impact on the water status demand cautions approach to such design. Among negative impacts there are such as disadvantageous changes in hydrologic regime of water bodies, marginal degradation of banks and bottom, blue-green algae blooming, groundwater level uprise, unfavourable changes in soil and vegetative cover, etc. Therefore in the processes of design, construction, and exploitation of reservoirs it is very important to make quantitative, including cost terms, evaluation of positive and negative shifts in the environment and its collation with social and economic effects generated by the reservoir.
Dimensions of the river flow will drastically change not only in time but also in space. Mean multiannual discharge volumes in some regions are fairly limited: in Hungary it is 6.0 km3/yr, in Bulgaria 18.1 km3/yr, in Ukraine 52.4 km3/yr, in Poland 53.4 km3/yr. But in Great Britain it is 122 km3/yr, in France 168.0 km3/yr, in Sweden 180.0 km3/yr, in Italy 185.0 km3/yr. It is connected with territorial irregularity in atmospheric precipitations. Mean multiannual data on precipitations indicate that the smallest occurs in Poland (600 mm/yr) and Ukraine (625 mm/yr), while the largest in Italy (1000 mm/yr) and UK (1064 mm/yr).
Small volume of local runoff in some countries to a certain extent (sometimes fairly large) is compensated by contribution from other countries. E.g., Hungary receives from abroad 114.0 km3/yr (as the value of the mean multiannual discharge), Bulgaria 182.0 km3/yr. It is about 20 and tenfold (correspondingly) more than value of local runoff.
Groundwater are contributing considerable volume to the dynamic water resources. So-called exploitation resources are of great importance for practical use of water. Such resources are defined as a volume of groundwater extractable by technically and economically acceptable water abstraction units operating under prescribed regime during the whole design period of use of water. At that, water quality should correspond to demands of a given type of water use. Exploitable reserves of groundwater in European countries as a rule are much smaller than the volume of average total multiannual river flow, including waters inflowing from other countries. E.g., in Bulgaria exploitable reserves of groundwater amount to 1.2 km3/yr, in Poland 2.0 km3/yr, in Hungary 6.6 km3/yr.
In many European countries the share of groundwater in satisfaction of potable needs of population is predominant (with exclusion of Norway, Finland, and Great Britain). E.g., in Denmark it is equal to 100 %, in Italy 91 %, in Hungary 88 %, in Switzerland 85 %, in Bulgaria 80 %. As groundwater are protected against pollution better than surface water it could be expected that their share in satisfaction of potable needs will be constantly increasing.
The state water policy is aimed at provisions for rational use of water and its protection against pollution, clogging and depletion. It is formed along two interconnected directions which up to recent time were considered as a single one. But realistically it is necessary to differentiate between environmental water policy and interconnected with it water economics policy. In accordance with the present day views these policies should be based on the principle of natural resources sustainability.
Water economics policy development has a long history. Practically during the whole 20th century in Eastern European countries there were vigorous growths in industrial, agricultural and municipal use of water. It led to augmentation of fresh water abstraction from water bodies and discharge of them to used water. There were considerable losses of economic water. As a result, processes of water bodies contamination, clogging and depletion were intensified. And, with time, the negative consequences of these processes were becoming more and more evident. Problems of obtaining fresh water of good quality were becoming ever more urgent, while previously it used to be considered as a free gift of nature. Water abstracted from the water body is considered as economic water which is a valuable raw material. And in many regions shortage of water was acting as a restraining factor of economic development. Deterioration of fresh water quality was causing sanitary, hygienic, and industrial problems.
General public were becoming more and more dissatisfied with ecological deterioration of water bodies. Degradation of aquatic ecosystems started to hinder satisfaction of aesthetic, recreational, and health-improving demands of population. Gradually economic water policy became laced with elements of ecological policy aimed at nature protection. Industrialists and politicians were becoming aware of necessity and expediency of introduction of ecological demands in the economic water policy. But in case of conflicts between economics and ecology, economy was considered as priority. It was deemed that economic activities would generate profit in a short period of time, while ecological damage would become perceptible after a long time or not at all. Attempts of ecologists to get out of confinement of the economic water policy and corresponding administrative framework are as yet far from complete success. But there are certain achievements, discussed below.
In the Eastern European countries shortage of financial and other resources is the main cause of economic restraint on formulation and implementation of the state water policy aimed at continuous improvement of water quality and ecological situation in water bodies. In addition to economic difficulties during transitory period in these countries there are also obstacles caused by the absence of efficient legal, administrative, economic, and technical mechanisms for regulation of ecologically safe economic activities.
It would be possible to create such mechanisms in the framework of a system for basin-wide environmental management of water. Such system would allow to stimulate water-protective activities of water users and consumers, to urge them to improve quality of natural water. Also all money obtained for use and consumption of water should be used for solution of water-protection problems.
At present there is no one responsible for quality of fresh water abstracted from water bodies, and fee for abstraction has no gradation dependent on the quality of this water. Water users should welcome creation of an environmental basin management of waters. It would mean that there would be an owner of water bodies, responsible for their status and having resources for its support on a necessary level. Such conclusion is confirmed by experience of France and other countries having basin management boards. The boards are having direct financial relationships with industries. And this fact allows to provide for financing of necessary water-protective measures.
Legislative introduction of environmental quality standards in water bodies, for compliance with which basin management boards are responsible, would demand setting of ecological limitations to all anthropogenic impacts on the ecological status of water bodies. Limitation mechanisms existing in Eastern European countries cannot be considered as satisfactory. And transfer to basin management mechanisms existing in developed countries, with application of best available technics, would demand considerable capital investments and long time for implementation.
In our opinion the correct trend in environmental policy would demand systematic introduction of ecological limits on the best available technics level to new and reconstructed industries. At that the total impact on the water body of all enterprises situated in a given region should not become greater under any circumstances. This might demand decommissioning of some ecologically harmful old industries, and introduction of modern ecologically safe enterprises. Legal mechanism for such transformations must be affirmed by law.
The logical chain of documents for posing and attainment of a concrete aim, from concept to its practical implementation, can be represented by five links: concept – policy – strategy – programme – plan. Each sequential link is detailing content of the previous link, without introducing any essential changes to it. Each consecutive link is approximating the concept to a practically implementable level of action. Concept formulation should be sufficient for description of a general idea and intentions of its creators. It should not pose concrete aims and terms of their attainment. Concept is only a system of attitudes as to selection of a direction of further development, while policy should strictly formulate verifiable aims and tasks, attainable within indicated period of time. Strategy should determine the ways and means for attainment of the posed tasks. Programmes should present details of the ways, with indication of concrete measures and periods of their implementation. And plans should provide information about concrete performers, scope of works, their costs, etc.
Initially the term “strategy” (from Greek strategia: stratos – army, ago – lead) was limited to management of an army in a campaign. Later the notion was spread to the art of leadership in community and political struggle. At present its application is very wide. Strategy is understood as a mode of usage of means and resources for attainment of the aim of operation. Environmental strategy is aimed at attainment of ecological results, formulated in terms of the state of natural environment components, subjected to management. The main management actions are ecological limitations imposed on atmospheric emissions of dust and gases, on discharges of used return water to water bodies, and on waste disposal. Modern environmental strategy consists in integrated minimization of anthropogenic pressure leading to deterioration in the state of environment.
For attainment of a completely developed environmental strategy it is necessary at first to deal with stages of elaboration, peer review and affirmation at a certain level of authority of environmental concept and environmental policy. And only then it would be possible to elaborate strategy applicable as a basis for working out of programmes and plans. But sometimes such system is not applied. For example, in Ukraine in 1997 was accepted the National programme for ecological improvement in the Dnipro river basin, with potable water quality improvement. The programme was accepted without preliminary affirmation of environmental concept, water policy and strategy, i.e. without necessary basis. This caused situation when problems of concept, strategy and policy had to be elaborated in the framework of the basin programme, while such problems should be solved at the all-state level. And it is quite comprehensible that later in the document “Main directions of the state policy of Ukraine in protection of nature, use of natural resources and provision of ecological safety” environmental aims and tasks differ from that accepted in the National programme.
Figure 3.1 demonstrates interconnections of the environmental strategy, the management of economic development and the legislation. At present conditions it is impossible to promote economic development without management. And policy is the start point of management. Legislation is an instrument for implementation of political decisions, concurrently with the state administration of the processes of social and economic development of the country. As Figure 3.1 demonstrates, the management branch (strategy, programmes, plans) is determined by the legislation branch (laws, by-laws, provision of standards).
Figure 3.1 Interconnections of legislation and management
The process of management (M in Figure 3.1) may be presented as consisting of six elements: planning (P), organization (O), regulation (R), monitoring (MN), control (C) and accounting (A).
Planning demands creation of a system of interconnected, single-aim oriented tasks defining order, consecutiveness and terms of implementation of concrete measures in social and economic development, in accordance with accepted strategy and programme. Formulation of aims and planning are defining a trend of the social and economic development.
Term “organization” means formation as a single unit of the management system structure and functions of its elements. “Regulation” means a process for upkeeping characteristics of the management system on a prescribed trajectory. There are four types of regulation: legal, administrative, economic, and technical. The task of environmental regulation consists in minimization of negative deviations of indices of the state of environmental components from normative values. Methods of regulation should provide for acceptable limitation of anthropogenic pressure on these components. In particular, creation of systems for environmental management and auditing (SEMA) is a modern method of technical management of industries in developed countries aimed at the continual improvement of the environmental performance.
Closely interconnected functions of management – monitoring, control and accounting – allow to receive and transfer information on actual state of the managed object and implementable management actions to all other links of the management system.
First of all information is delivered to the regulating link for introduction of corrections to the regulation process and, in case of need, to organization and planning processes. Such management is called the feedback management.
Control organisations of the state environmental administration in Eastern European countries are attempting, with a certain degree of success, to follow the above-outlined scheme of actions aimed at prevention of deterioration of water bodies ecological status, and at its gradual improvement, with allowance for existing economic potential.
The regional strategy is basically developing in the framework of the national legislation and all-state strategy. As it was noted above, the water economic legislation is closely intermeshed with the environmental legislation. At the same time it is important to distinct the environmental water relations from the economic ones. Figure 3.2 demonstrates special features of these two relations.
Figure 3.2 Two types of water relationships
Environmental water relations are regulated by environmental legislation, and economic water relations by civil legislation. Water usage and water consumption are key legislative concepts used in these two relations.
Water usage is related to natural water considered as the national property, or so to say as the gift of God. It can be performed without and with water abstraction from the water body. In the first case water is used for navigation, hydroenergetics, aquatic sport and recreation, etc. In the second case water is abstracted from and used return water discharged to the water body and these two actions – abstraction and discharge – should be considered as the process of special water use regulated by environmental legislation.
Water consumption is characterized by use of economic water instead of natural water. Water just abstracted from the water body is called fresh water. It can be considered as a raw material. After corresponding treatment fresh water is considered as economic water, i.e. a commodity transported along water supply system for satisfaction of water users’ needs. The used economic water is considered as wastewater and is discharged to the water draining system.
Treated wastewater can be either delivered for reuse or discharged to the water body as return water. It means that such water is excluded from economic cycle and is returned to a natural link of the water cycle. Return water can be considered as a waste, removed by its owner.
Water as natural resource is usually used within the region of its situation. The river basin is a natural geographic region of the use of water (except cases of interbasin water transfer). A set of industries and enterprises of various branches of economics, jointly using water resources of the same river basin, is called the water economy complex. Such complex may include municipal, industrial, thermal and atomic power generating and agricultural water users.
Modern environmental and economic regional strategy for water economy management is based on a basin-wide approach. Problems of water use and protection management, and water resources regeneration can be most effectively dealt with within boundaries of the river basin. At that all issues of water usage, and first of all water abstraction from and used water discharge to the water body, must be considered by the state organisation of basin management and by NGOs in accordance with a procedure approved by all participants of the water economy complex, as well as by central and local boards of environmental administration looking after interests of the local population. Authorization of this organisation with powers to economically stimulate business activities of the water economy complex participants, connected with use and protection of water, is of key importance. Regional strategy of such stimulation must provide for elaboration and application of a mechanism for obtaining payments from water users and consumers, and their investment into prevention of irrational use of water, its protection against pollution, clogging and/or depletion in the region, as well as into reproduction of water resources.
In France, they are successfully applying water management within river basins for a period of more than 30 years. Such management is legally based on a law enacted in December 1964. The whole system of water management was completely reformed. In the new system functions of water use (issue of permits) and environmental inspection remained the responsibility of government organisations. But at the same time legally was affirmed a very important principle, demanding creation in each of six river basins (or their groups), the River Basin Committee and the Water Agency. These organisations in addition to dealing with traditional technical problems are also considering political and economic issues. This system was further developed by water laws enacted 13 July 1984 and 3 January 1992, and also by decrees of 1966, 1975, 1992, 1993, 1994 years. These French documents can serve as patterns for Eastern European countries for arrangement of their own modern system of water resources management.
Water legislations of EU and Eastern European countries have a number of mutualities, but there are also certain diversities. The main legislative principles are fairly similar. The following ones can be named:
In independant countries practical implementation of these principles may differ due to various historical, geographic, socio-economic, and other conditions.
And Eastern European countries’ water legislations have traditional shortcomings, absent in the EU legislation. The EU legislation scope is much wider than that of Eastern European countries, where there are few norms of direct action. Detalization of legislative demands is insufficient, and national laws as a rule have no addenda with commentaries and additions. There are no concrete normative values and ecological aims as against EU legislation. Such data are indicated only in by-laws. And principle of the risk management and integrated reduction of environmental pollution through best available technics application, as it is demanded in EU legislation, is not used. EU legislation demands performance of monitoring of laws observation with distinct definition of necessary procedures. In laws of majority of Eastern European countries such demands are absent. EU legislation is dynamic, while the Eastern European one may be called static, i.e. there are no provisions for changes with time.
The EU water legislation fundamentals are defined in Directive enacted in the year 2000 by the European Parliament and the European Union Council. This framework directive is based on the following principles:
Demand of the EU water legislation as to establishment of a basin water management board in each country should be considered as a new key demand. It would be easier in the framework of such management to take into account economic and ecological limitations existing in each country. At that prevention of further deterioration in the status of water body is an obligatory demand.
Water legislation, just as the environmental legislation, in general, is a product and at the same time a main form for the state environmental policy consolidation. Eastern European countries have to solve the problem of aim-oriented formation of a new water policy and water legislation, harmonized with EU legislation. It is an obligatory condition for EU joining in future.
As criterion of approximation to EU demands may be considered correspondence of national legislative norms to legislative EU acts, included in a special selective list. For environmental legislation this list is called “The Environmental Aquis”. It includes a system of legislative acts of interstate importance. There is a demand for unification of norms pertaining to interests of all EU members. Such norms should be adopted at the highest level. At present the list consists of 86 directives and 33 regulations, i.e. 119 documents. Demands of directives should be transposed into national legislation. They must be observed by countries aiming at EU membership. Regulations contain obligatory norms of direct action and there is no demand to incorporate them into national legislation.
The EU legislative acts are subdivided into nine groups:
The procedure for national environmental legislation approximation to that of EU is worked out in sufficient details. It provides for performance of this work in three consecutive stages: transposition, implementation, enforcement.
Transposition consists in incorporation of EU legislative norms into national legislation. It demands performance of comparative analysis of EU legislative documents array and that of a given country. It is complicated and labour-consuming task. It is necessary to perform careful comparative analysis of all, without exception, directives included in “Aquis”, and articles of the national environmental legislation, and introduce into it corresponding corrections and additions, and also to perform preparative work for implementation of regulations. At that it is necessary to evaluate degree of their pertinence for a given country at present time, and to define priorities.
The second stage is an implementation, that is creation of all conditions necessary for the changed legislation application. At this stage necessary institutional provisions have to be created and such work has to be started when the first stage is being implemented. The new institutions have to provide for solution of financial problems, to elaborate guidelines and other instructions and by-laws. They are also responsible for training of personnel for administrative boards and industries, and for contacts with population.
Enforcement is the third stage. It should provide for observation of all legislative demands, with application of legal enforcements when necessary.
A mechanism for legislative approximation is outlined in the working document “Guide to the Approximation of European Union Environmental Legislation”, July 1997, 137 pp.
In the process of approximation it is necessary first of all to define the existing level of the national legislation correspondence to the EU legislation, and after that to consider the question about necessary changes and additions to the national legislation. Such preliminary assessment consists of two steps.
Step 1: to elucidate whether there is a pertinent national legislation.
Step 2: if such legislation exists, each article of EU law should be compared to the corresponding national laws.
As to the national legislation, there are the following possibilities:
EU Commission recommends the following steps of approximation to EU Directives.
Step 1. Determine the type of law and its requirements
Step 2. Determine your national choices
Step 3. Determine how the national law will be implemented and enforced
Step 4. Decide information and consultation procedures
Step 5. Define the Implementation Programme
Costs for the national legislation approximation to that of EU can be considerable. E.g. for Ukraine these costs would be about $20 billion or 2.5% GNP, for ten years of the approximation process. The costs would include:
The ten years approximation period for Ukraine corresponds to the Lithuanian period approved in 1997, and providing for the following stages:
It is clear that in different countries real periods of environmental legislation approximation may differ. They will be function of the market transformations and solution of concurrent economic and social problems. At that, presence of political will in governmental structures, their readiness to give higher priority to environmental problems would be of high importance. At present existence of such will in Eastern European countries is not very noticeable. Under conditions of step-by-step development in these countries of democratic forms of government it could be expected that there would be gradual increase in the society awareness of necessity to provide for sustainable social and economic development, satisfying not only present needs in natural resources but also taking care for needs of future generations.
Water resources of neighbouring countries are closely interconnected. This is due to a range of geographic, political and other factors, including territorial irregularity of water resources distribution and their high mobility.
Countries with rich water resources may transfer a part of them to countries with low water reserves. Territorial redistribution of water resources is a method for augmentation of local water reserves. To perform water transfer it is necessary preliminary to provide scientific validation on the basis of detailed economical and ecological investigations with application of state-of-the-art economic and mathematical methods and technical means. Implementation of transboundary transfer projects demands conclusion of interstate agreements between interested countries.
In some Eastern European countries there is a certain experience in redistribution of the river flow volume. The need in such redistribution can be generated by the following factors:
Water transportation in open canals is the most popular method of the river flow volume redistribution. By the end of 20th century in some countries have been constructed canals of hundreds of kilometres long, with discharge up to 300 m3/s. They are instrumental in watering and irrigation of millions of hectares of arid lands, in water supply of large industrial centres. But in last years in Eastern European states works aimed at transboundary transfer of water are practically nonexistent.
The problem of joint use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes is gaining in importance due to growth of population, development of water-intensive industries and irrigated agriculture.
For the regulation of water relations on international level on March 17, 1992 in Helsinki was done Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes. Countries which joined the Convention has decided to prevent, control and reduce pollution of waters caused or likely to cause transboundary impacts, where it is possible in the source of their generation. The Riparian Parties shall cooperate on the basis of equality and reciprocity, in particular through bilateral and multilateral agreements, in order to develop harmonized policies, programmes and strategies covering the relevant catchment areas, or parts thereof. Countries are aimed at environment protection in transboundary waters, including the marine environment.
Convention provides detailed provisions to all parties, and also obligatory demands. In particular, each participating country should set limits for point-source discharge to surface waters, based on the best available technology. They also should develop monitoring programmes for determination of the state of transboundary waters. In addition, each party shall define, where appropriate, water-quality objectives and adopt water-quality criteria for the purpose of preventing, controlling and reducing transboundary impact.
Organization of international co-operation in the field of reasonable use of water resources, their protection against pollution, clogging, and depletion can greatly facilitate such processes. A considerable part of the Helsinki Convention is devoted to this question. It claims that the participating countries should co-operate in investigations and development of effective methods for prevention, control and reduction of transboundary water pollution and negative impacts. For this they should, on bilateral or multilateral basis, strengthen some investigation programmes, in particular aimed at:
The countries shall co-operate in the efforts aimed at elaboration of criteria, guidelines, and methods relating to the outlined responsibilities and obligations.
Concrete forms of international co-operation should be defined by corresponding agreements and contracts. There should be provisions for establishment of joint commissions. Their tasks may include the following assignments:
Such commissions, in various periods of time, have been organized in some transboundary river basins (the Danube, the Dnipro, the Severski Donets).
For the purposes of the implementation of this Convention, the Helsinki Convention participants shall facilitate the exchange of best available technology, particularly the promotion of the commercial exchange of available technology; direct industrial contacts and co-operation, including joint ventures; the exchange of information and experience; and the provision of technical assistance. They shall also undertake joint training programmes and the organization of relevant seminars and meetings.
The countries shall without delay inform each other about any critical situation that may have transboundary impact. They shall set up, where appropriate, and operate coordinated or joint communication, warning and alarm systems with the aim of obtaining transmitting information. These systems shall on the basis of compatible data transmission and it procedures and facilities to be agreed upon by countries.
The Helsinki Convention participants shall ensure that information on the conditions of transboundary waters, measures taken or planned to be taken to prevent, control and reduce transboundary impact, and the effectiveness of those measures, is made available to the public.
Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes provides for all necessary legal conditions for productive international co-operation in usage and management of water resources.
Anonymous, 1977. Council Decision 77/795/EEC of 12 December 1977 establishing a common procedure for the exchange of information on the quality of surface fresh water in the Community European Community Environmental Legislation. Water, 7.
Anonymous, 1992. Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lanes done in Helsinki, on 17 March 1992. United Nations.
Anonymous, 1998. Amelioration and water economy. Water Economy: Reference book, V.5.
Anonymous, 2000. Directive 2000//EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of the European Union establishing a framework for Community action in the field
water policy.