A unique opportunity to save Europe's rivers and lakes
6 October 1996
UN/ECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary
Watercourses and International Lakes comes into effect
"Sunday, October 6th, 1996, is an important date in the history of the
protection of Europe's environment" states Kaj Bärlund, Director of the
Environment Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UN/ECE). "Yesterday, a new Convention drawn up under UN/ECE auspices came
into force. This Convention, the first of its kind, will protect our
transboundary watercourses and international lakes." Signed in 1992 by
25 countries and the European Community, it has now been ratified by 18 of
these countries (Albania, Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic
of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Sweden and Switzerland) and by the
European Community.
Why do international waters need special attention?
While many European countries have taken steps to protect and regulate the
use of their rivers and lakes, few have cared about transboundary
watercourses and international lakes. Very often, monitoring at
international level is ineffective, and regular or accidental pollution
imported via these streams is difficult to control and penalize. Moreover,
as new borders have emerged in the ECE region, the problems linked to some
of the watercourses which hitherto were a national responsibility are now
taking on an international dimension.
There are more than 150 large transboundary rivers and some 20
international lakes in Europe. The large rivers which are most affected
by the new Convention are the Danube, the Rhine, the Ural, the Daugava and
the Dnieper. The best-known international lakes are the Aral Sea
(Uzbekistan, Kazakstan), Lake Constance (Germany, Austria and Switzerland),
Lake Geneva (Switzerland, France), Lake Prespa (Albania, Greece, the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and Lake Peipus (Estonia, Russian
Federation). Other lakes affected by water pollution also have a
transboundary basin. The best-known example is Lake Baikal in the Russian
Federation.
According to national reports, the rivers Dnieper, Elbe, Danube and Meuse
suffer the worst organic pollution. On the whole, the bacteriological
quality of Europe's transboundary watercourses is poor, though improving.
Eutrophication or excessive algal growth due to agricultural pollution in
transboundary waters, especially lakes, remains a serious threat. High
levels of phosphorus and nitrates mean that algae proliferate as they are
better able to live in such enriched water. They then deplete the oxygen
and reduce biodiversity by driving out other species of flora and fauna.
The trends in heavy metal pollution are also alarming. For instance,
critical levels of cadmium are exceeded in the rivers Danube, Dnieper,
Elbe, Neisse and Oder. Very high levels of DDT have been found in the
River Oder. Transboundary aquifers are not safe either. Many measurements
show that the concentration of nitrates in their groundwaters makes them
unsafe for human consumption. Traces of contamination by heavy metals,
metalloids and pesticides have also been discovered. The current problems
facing the shrinking Aral Sea, for instance, would not have arisen if the
countries of its entire drainage basin had started cooperating earlier.
Where do the threats come from and what are their effects?
Industry is Europe's biggest water user (on average 50 to 70% of water
used). Apart from the obvious devastating effects of industrial effluent
on the quality of water, the use of water for cooling purposes is also
important. The rise in water temperature is one of the main factors,
together with the rise in water salinity, for the immigration of foreign
species in the waters of the Rhine in the Netherlands. These migrations
come from the east, especially the Danube, through the Main-Danube Canal.
They are more resistant to warm water and so existing species are
destroyed.
The second largest polluter is agriculture. It consumes 20% on average of
all water used in Europe, but its effects are not limited to the use of
water alone. In fact, most agricultural pollution stems from the use of
fertilizers and pesticides, which contaminate not only surface waters but
also groundwater and cause eutrophication.
The poor treatment of waste water also causes pollution. The lack of
treatment plants or their ineffective operation adds nearly 25% to the
Danube's nutrient level.
On the whole, the transport of passengers and goods by waterway is
environmentally friendly, but it does have a very negative impact on
rivers. River transport is often synonymous with leaks of fuel or other
pollutants during loading and unloading.
How will the Convention improve this situation?
The Convention puts in place an international structure to manage
transboundary waters. First of all, the Parties to this Convention will
have to draw up stringent pollution norms and quality criteria that
everyone will have to comply with. Monitoring systems will be set up to
coordinate the efforts of all riparian parties not merely in the event of
an accident but also to monitor pollution routinely. Planners and decision
makers need information on the state of these waters. They also need to
inform the public of joint decisions and their effects on transboundary
waters. That is why the "ECE Guidelines on water-quality monitoring and
assessment" are so important. These were drawn up recently under the
leadership of the Netherlands as part of ECE's work under the new
Convention and are already implemented in some 10 transboundary basins in
Europe and Central Asia.
The polluter-pays principle, which, as its name implies, consists in making
those who create the pollution pay the cost related to it, will be applied
across the national borders.
Countries riparian to the same watercourse or lake will meet to harmonize
their approaches and to define their rights and obligations. As many
countries depend on transboundary water resources for their water supply,
these waters clearly constitute a source of possible dispute. By bringing
riparian countries together, the Convention can help Parties to prevent
disputes over the use of transboundary watercourses and international
lakes.
"This means that any problems that arise can be dealt with before
they escalate into full-blown conflicts. With this Convention, we shall
be able to stop Europe's major rivers from being turned into gigantic
sewers that no one cleans or maintains," continues Kaj Bärlund. "The
Convention should raise awareness throughout Europe. The days that anyone
could pour anything into international rivers or lakes thinking that
downstream countries would clean up the upstream pollution are over. We
must realize that these watercourses and lakes are a common good for which
we are jointly responsible at the European level."
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