Day 1 3.annukka lipponen -convention&groundwater - unece
1. Groundwater Governance
Fifth Regional Consultation: UNECE Region
The UNECE Water Convention:
Improving groundwater governance
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
Francesca Bernardini
Secretary
UNECE Water Convention
2. The Water Convention
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
• Signed on 17 March 1992
• Entered into force on 6
October 1996
• Amended in 2003 to allow
accession to countries
beyond the UNECE region
• Amendment entered into
force on 6 February 2013 =>
countries outside ECE to
accede as of end of 2013
3. Status of ratification of the Convention
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
Status of ratification of the
Convention
38 countries and the
European Union
Parties
Countries in accession
Non Parties
.
38 countries and the
European Union
Parties
Countries in accession
Non Parties
4. Main obligations under the Convention
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
• Protection of transboundary
waters by preventing, controlling
and reducing transboundary
impacts
• Reasonable and equitable use of
transboundary waters
• Obligation to cooperate through
agreements and joint institutions
=> Overall objective of
sustainability
5. Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
Applicability to groundwater
• "Transboundary waters" means any
surface or ground waters which mark,
cross or are located on boundaries
between two or more States (Art.1(1))
• The Guide to Implementing the
Convention: “As for groundwaters, the
Convention includes both confined and
unconfined aquifers”
6. Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
Two categories of obligations
• For all Parties => also benefit for national
legislation
• For Riparian Parties => the Convention does not
replace basin agreements
– Conclude bilateral and multilateral agreements Cooperate
on the basis of IWRM
– Establish joint bodies (e.g. river commissions)
– Consult and exchange of information
– Joint monitoring and assessment
– Elaborate joint objectives and action programme
7. Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
Early years…
• Inventory of transboundary groundwaters by UNECE Task
Force on Monitoring and Assessment 1999
• Guidelines on monitoring and assessment of transboundary
groundwaters (2000)
• Pilot projects to apply the guidelines
8. Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
Recent activities…
• Inventory and assessment: First (2007) and Second
(2011) Assessments of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes
and Groundwaters in UNECE region
• Preliminary study of the application of the principles of
the Convention to transboundary groundwater (2010-
2011) and Study on groundwater in transboundary
water agreements in EECCA (2009)
• 2012 Model provisions for transboundary groundwaters
• Capacity for Water Cooperation workshop for EECCA
countries (Almaty, 2012)
• Activities on adaptation to climate change in the
transboundary context
9. Model Provisions on
Transboundary Groundwaters
• Challenges in practical implementation of Water
Convention’s obligations, together with specificity of
groundwater =>
Meeting of the Parties to UNECE Water Convention (2009)
mandated the Legal Board together with Working Group on
IWRM to elaborate study with proposals for future action
• Active participation of UNESCO and International
Association of Hydrogeologists
• Preliminary study on the application of the principles of the
Convention to transboundary groundwater (2010)
• Model Provisions adopted by MOP in 2012
10. Model Provisions on
Transboundary Groundwaters
• Non-binding guidance
• Build on the ILC Draft Articles
• To be used by Parties and non-Parties when entering into or
reviewing bilateral or multilateral agreements on
transboundary groundwaters (in the form of an additional
protocol to an existing agreement or a new and separate
specific agreement on groundwaters)
• Accompanied by commentaries with references to
international commitments and existing State practice
11. Model Provisions on
Transboundary Groundwaters
Provision 1
-obligation to take all appropriate measures to prevent,
control and reduce any transboundary impact
-obligation to use transboundary groundwaters in an
equitable and reasonable manner, taking into account all
relevant factors
Provision 2
-obligation to use transboundary groundwaters in a
sustainable manner
12. Model Provisions on
Transboundary Groundwaters
Provision 3
-Obligation of cooperation in the common identification,
delineation and characterization of their transboundary
groundwaters
-Programmes for the joint monitoring and assessment of
quantity and quality of transboundary groundwaters
Provision 4
-Integrated management of transboundary groundwaters
and surface waters
13. Model Provisions on
Transboundary Groundwaters
Provision 5
-Prevention, control and reduction of the pollution of
transboundary groundwaters
Provision 6
-Exchange of information and available data on
transboundary groundwaters
Provision 7
-Joint or coordinated plans for the proper management of
their transboundary groundwaters
14. Model Provisions on
Transboundary Groundwaters
Provision 8
-Environmental impact assessment
-Notification of the other Party and consultations
-Access to information, public participation and access to
justice with respect to the conditions of transboundary
groundwaters
Provision 9
-Joint body
15. Decision on cooperation with UNESCO
•Recognizes benefits of closer cooperation with UNESCO and
calls to further enhance cooperation
•Invites UNESCO IHP, within the framework of ISARM
Programme, to consider the Convention, once it is open for
accession by all United Nations Member States, for its work
on transboundary groundwaters worldwide and to promote
the Convention and its guidance documents
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
Meeting of the Parties
Rome, 28-30 November 2012
16. Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
Thank you!
More information
including guidelines, publications and information
on activities under the Convention can be found at
http://unece.org/env/water
water.convention@unece.org
Hinweis der Redaktion
What the map shows
Upstream/downstream
Water rich/water poor
Wealthier/poorer
Strategic, rather than technical
Specific aspects of groundwater monitoring and application on integrated approach
Identification of groundwater management issues
Information needs
Elements of monitoring and assessment strategies
Monitoring programmes
Data management
Quality management
Role of joint institutions
Aggtelek - Slovak Karst (Hungary-Slovakia) and
part of the Bug groundwaters (Belarus-Poland)
Provision 1
1.Each Party shall, in its utilization of transboundary groundwaters, or while undertaking any activity affecting in any way transboundary groundwaters, take all appropriate measures to prevent, control and reduce any transboundary impact.
2.The Parties shall use transboundary groundwaters in an equitable and reasonable manner, taking into account all relevant factors, including under agreements applicable between them.
Provision 2
1.The Parties shall use transboundary groundwaters in a sustainable manner, with a view to maximizing the long-term benefits accruing therefrom and preserving groundwater-dependent ecosystems.
2.To that end, the Parties shall take into due account the functions of groundwater resources, the amount and the quality of groundwater in reserve and the rate of its replenishment, making their best efforts to prevent the diminution of the groundwater reserve from reaching a critical level.
Provision 3
1.The Parties shall cooperate in the common identification, delineation and characterization of their transboundary groundwaters. They shall also strive to develop common conceptual models whose level of detail depends on the complexity of the system and the pressures weighing on it.
2.The Parties shall establish programmes for the joint monitoring and assessment of quantity and quality of transboundary groundwaters. To this end, they shall, inter alia:
(a)Use common or harmonized standards and methodologies;
(b)Agree upon assessment criteria and key parameters to be regularly monitored, taking into account the specific features of the groundwaters;
(c)Establish a groundwater monitoring network linked to the monitoring of surface waters, where appropriate;
(d)Develop appropriate hydrogeological maps, including vulnerability maps and mathematical models where appropriate.
Provision 4
The Parties shall cooperate on the integrated management of their transboundary groundwaters and surface waters.
Provision 5
1.The Parties shall take appropriate measures to prevent, control and reduce the pollution of transboundary groundwaters, especially those reserved for drinking water supply. In this context, they shall follow the precautionary principle in view of the vulnerability of groundwater to pollution, particularly in cases of possible uncertainty about the nature and extent of transboundary groundwaters.
2.Such measures shall include, inter alia, the following:
(a)The establishment of protection zones, in particular in the most vulnerable/ critical parts of the recharge area of groundwaters, especially of groundwaters used or intended to be used for the provision of drinking water;
(b)The adoption of measures to prevent or limit the release of pollutants into groundwaters, such as negative influences on groundwater from point sources;
(c)The regulation of land uses, including intensive agricultural practices, to combat pollution of groundwater from nitrates and plant protection agents;
(d)The definition of groundwater quality objectives and the adoption of groundwater quality criteria.
Provision 6
The Parties shall establish arrangements for the exchange of information and available data on the condition of transboundary groundwaters, including available data on the parameters prescribed in Provision 3, as well as information on the status of use of transboundary groundwaters.
Provision 7
1.The Parties shall establish and implement joint or coordinated plans for the proper management of their transboundary groundwaters, where appropriate.
2.Such management plans shall provide, inter alia, for:
(a)The allocation of water uses, taking into account all relevant factors, including present and future needs, as well as the needs of groundwater-dependent ecosystems;
(b)The recording of the volume of water abstractions and the prescription of a requirement of prior administrative authorization for abstraction and artificial recharge;
(c)The prescription of pumping limitations, inter alia, in the form of quantification of the aggregate of annual abstraction, and of criteria for the placement of new wells and the development of other abstraction facilities;
(d)The development of programmes of measures for preserving and rehabilitating groundwater quantity and quality.
Provision 8
1.All planned activities which are likely to have a significant effect on transboundary groundwaters and, thereby, to have an adverse impact on another Party, shall be subject to an environmental impact assessment procedure. In addition, the Party of origin of the planned activity shall notify the other Party accordingly as early as possible and, if the latter so wishes, provide the environmental impact assessment documentation and enter into consultations with that Party.
2.The obligations of paragraph 1 shall apply, inter alia, in cases of large-scale abstractions of groundwater from the transboundary aquifer or in case of significant artificial groundwater recharge schemes.
3.The Parties shall adopt measures aiming at raising awareness and providing access to information, public participation and access to justice with respect to the conditions of transboundary groundwaters, and the proposed activities of paragraph 1.
Provision 9
In order to implement the objectives and principles of the present Model Provisions and coordinate their cooperation, the Parties shall establish a joint body.
Recognizing the challenges in the implementation of the Convention related to the management and protection of transboundary groundwaters and the importance of joining forces with partners in this area,
Considering the forthcoming opening of the Convention to non-ECE countries with the expected entry into force of the amendment to its articles 25 and 26, as well as the expected entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non‑navigational Uses of International Watercourses, which will require additional efforts to support implementation of the two instruments worldwide,
Highly valuing the importance of the global network offered by UNESCO, its collaborative centres, regional partners and national IHP committees all over the world, and the potential role of UNESCO in promoting the Convention’s application beyond the ECE region,
Recognizing the many benefits which a closer cooperation between the Convention and UNESCO could offer to both sides and, ultimately, to all Parties and non-Parties to the Convention,
Decides to continue and further enhance cooperation with UNESCO with the shared objective to promote the protection and the reasonable, equitable and sustainable use of transboundary groundwaters, through the exchange of experience and the organization of joint activities;
2. Invites UNESCO IHP, within the framework of the Internationally Shared Aquifers Resources Management (ISARM) Programme, to consider the Convention, once it is open for accession by all United Nations Member States, for its work on transboundary groundwaters worldwide;
3. Also invites UNESCO IHP, within the framework of the ISARM Programme, to promote the Convention and the guidelines developed under its framework when organizing capacity-building and awareness-raising activities within and outside the ECE region, and to promote the use and implementation of the Model Provisions on Transboundary Groundwaters;
4. Further invites UNESCO IHP to report at the meetings of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management and at the seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties about its activities and the efforts undertaken to provide assistance to interested Member States to implement the Convention in relation to transboundary groundwaters.