Almaty – Starting today, policy and decision makers, legal and technical experts, members of academia and non-governmental organizations from the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia will be looking for solutions to address challenges related to the management of transboundary groundwater resources during a three-day training workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
In recent decades, the countries of the subregion have focused their efforts on developing transboundary cooperation primarily on surface waters. Groundwater management has often suffered from neglect, despite the importance of these resources for drinking water supply and, in certain areas, for agricultural and other uses.
According to the Second Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters, which was prepared by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for the “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference in Astana (21–23 September 2011) and provides statistics and analyses for the UNECE region, there are a number of specific issues that need to be addressed with regard to groundwaters in the subregion. There is little coordination in the various countries between organizations involved in managing surface and groundwaters, as well as in addition, there a lack of data exchange between various agencies. There is also pollution of groundwaters from agricultural and other sources, while at the same time the capacity to monitor groundwaters needs to be significantly improved. Furthermore, appropriate controls for groundwater abstraction need to be put into place. There is a growing need to improve the legal frameworks and strengthen institutions for management and protection of groundwaters.
The Second Assessment also demonstrates that there are significant gaps in knowledge about the exact locations, delineations and water resources contained in the groundwater-bearing formations. Due to the limited information and the deficiencies of monitoring, transboundary impacts from groundwater abstraction and pollution are inadequately known.
To assist the countries of the subregion in addressing these challenges, the workshop will increase the level of expertise in the field of transboundary groundwater management among decision makers and water managers and will identify policy, legal, administrative and other measures to improve the management and protection of groundwaters at the national and transboundary levels.
The workshop also provides a platform to share experiences and lessons learned in implementing the 1992 UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) in relation to groundwaters. The Convention promotes protection and ensuring the quantity, quality and sustainable use of transboundary water resources — both surface waters and groundwaters. Model provisions on transboundary groundwaters are being developed under the Convention to assist countries in elaborating protocols to existing agreements or new specific agreements with their neighbours on transboundary groundwaters. Furthermore, the workshop draws the attention of countries in the subregion to the 2008 Draft Articles on The Law of Transboundary Aquifers developed by the United Nations International Law Commission with the technical and scientific assistance of the International Hydrological Programme of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and further endorsed and commended to the United Nations Member States by the General Assembly in 2008 and 2011.
The workshop is jointly organized by UNECE, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Centre in Astana, UNESCO, the United Nations Development Programme and the “Cooperation for Sustainable Development” Centre (Almaty), with financial support from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is organized in the framework of the Capacity for Water Cooperation project of the Water Convention.
For further information please visit: http://www.unece.org/env/water
or contact:
Ms. Iulia Tombitcaia
UNECE Water Convention Secretariat
Phone: +41 (0)22 917 3332
E-mail: [email protected]
Note to Editors:
The majority of international water agreements address transboundary surface waters, while only few contain specific provisions on groundwaters and even fewer are wholly devoted to groundwaters. The general principles of international water law applicable to groundwaters have been consolidated in the 2008 Draft Articles on The Law of Transboundary Aquifers of the United Nations International Law Commission, endorsed and commended to the United Nations Member States by the General Assembly in 2008 and 2011 (General Assembly resolutions 63/124 and 66/104).
The central aim of the UNECE Water Convention (Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, adopted in Helsinki, Finland on 17 March 1992) is to strengthen measures at the local, national and transboundary levels to protect and ensure the quantity, quality and sustainable use of transboundary water resources — both surface waters and groundwaters. It is the only international framework agreement in force on transboundary freshwater. The Convention takes a holistic approach, based on the understanding that water resources play an integral part in ecosystems as well as in human societies and economies. Thirty-seven countries and the European Union are Parties to the Convention.
The Second Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters (2011) is the latest comprehensive overview by UNECE of the status of transboundary waters in the pan-European region, including groundwaters. The publication is accessible from http://www.unece.org/env/water/publications/pub/second_assessment.html.
The Capacity for Water Cooperation (CWC) project aims to strengthen the capacity of transboundary water management in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The objective of the project is to create a framework for exchange of experience between river basins and countries on regulatory, institutional, methodological and other aspects of integrated management of transboundary waters. Five CWC workshops have been conducted since 2004 on specific themes related to transboundary water cooperation. For more information see http://www.unece.org/env/water/cwc.htm.