Tisza River Basin transboundary cooperation

Péter Kovács State secretary for water, Hungary

2013.01.08-10, Zaragoza,Spain

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HUNGARY IN THE DANUBE BASIN

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Human activities damaged the Tisza River Basin

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Danube River Protection ConventionLegal frame for cooperation to assure protection

of water and ecological resources and their sustainable use in the Danube River Basin.

Signed: 29 June 1994, Sofia

The main objectives of the Convention:

- sustainable and equitable water management- conservation and rational use of surface and groundwater- contol of hazardous substances originating from accidents- control of floods and ice-hazards- reduction of pollution loads of Black sea

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River Basin Management Working Group

ICPDR

Secretary

Pressures and Measures Working Group

Monitoring and Assessment Working Group

Flood Protection Working Group

ICPDR – Delegation of Contracting Parties

(Ad Hoc) Information and GIS EG

(Ad hoc)Public Relation EG

(Ad hoc) Strategic EG

Stucture of co-operation

Tisza Expert Group

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• Assets– The Tisza River Basin

• one of the most picturesque regions in Europe• blessed with rich biodiversity • it has unique freshwater ecosystems • percentage in the Danube River Basin is 19.5%

• Problems to solve – Human influenced the region during recent centuries

contributing to problems due to • Farming, forestry• Mining• River engineering

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• Initiating cooperation in Tisza sub-basin scale – In the frame of the 7th Ordinary Meeting of the

ICPDR (2004) counties adopted and signed the Tisza Memorandum of Understanding to • Develop the Tisza Analysis Report as a first step • Prepare the Integrated Tisza River Basin

Management Plan• Implement the Program of Measures

– In 2011 MoU renewed has been strengthened (Tisza Ministerial Meeting, 11 April 2011, Uzhgorod, Ukraine)

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• Main pillars of the cooperation – The framework of the work is the ICPDR, the cooperation

facilitated via ICPDR Secretariat– Work has been supported by all relevant ICPDR Expert

Groups– Significant financing sources from

• Countries of the Tisza River Basin (Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia)

• European Commission• UNDP• GEF • UNEP Carpathian Convention

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What has been done 2004-2012– ICPDR Tisza Group has been established within

the framework of the ICPDR in 2004– Experts delegated to the ICPDR Tisza Group from

all countries of the Tisza River Basin + observers– ICPDR Tisza Group (within the framework of the

ICPDR) developed the Tisza Analysis Report (2007) and Integrated Tisza River Basin Management Plan (2010)

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Overview of the main achievements of ICPDR Tisza Group

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Challenges to be addressed in the TRB

•Water quality related pressures•Water quantity related pressures•Integration of water quality and quantity in the TRB•Implementation of the Tisza Program of

Measures(2011 – ongoing)

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Pressures – water quality

OrganicPollution

Hazardous Substances

Pollution

Hydro-morphologi

calAlterations

Nutrient Pollution

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Pressures – water quantity

Floods Droughts Climate change

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Measures to be addressed• Identify measures to reduce impacts from pressures

(nutrient-, organic-, hazardous substance - pollution, engineering work)

• Identify measures with positive impact on both water quality and quantity

…. to reach good water status by 2015

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Implementation Implementation of the ITRBM Plan will be done in national level ICPDR Tisza Group will follow up on and monitor

implementation of Tisza PoM and will report about the process in the 2012 report and will summarize achievements in the 2nd TRBM Plan in 2015

16Agenda Item: 7.2

Relevant project: EU Grant DRBMP-2012 • Development of the Tisza case study on agriculture

and water management as well as• Development of the Tisza case study on climate

change adaptation

Ongoing activities

17Agenda Item: 7.2

• Further development of Communication Strategy for Integrated Water Management in the Tisza River Basin

• US "IGERT" Program in Watershed Science & Policy: 2013 Research Partnership in the Tisza River Basin

• Cooperation with UNEP Carpathian Convention

Other relevant activities

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• Work still need to be done – The next step is to implement the Joint Tisza

Programme of Measures to reach good status of the waters of the Tisza River Basin supporting the sustainable development of the region

• Challenges – Integrating water quality and quantity in land and water

planning will be essential. To achieve this success in the Tisza River Basin, countries must work together and with all other partners

– Countries have committed themselves for the continuation of the work, but future financial basis still need to be secured

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• Lessons learnt – The Tisza River Basin is a good example of coordinated

successful co-financing, bringing together diverse countries for commonly agreed goals

– The described Tisza activities also exemplify how the benefits of financial funds can be maximized having high level commitments as a basis of the transboundary work

• Replication potential – Danube Delta sub basin– Prut River Basin– Other sub basins (?)

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Thank you for your kind attention !