UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Press Releases 1997

[Index]

WILL THE TAP RUN DRY

2 October 1997

Managing Transboundary Waters in Europe

As the floods came sweeping down the Morava and Oder rivers only a few months ago, many people in central Europe suddenly found themselves deprived not only of their worldly possessions but above all of their sense of security. With their homes inundated, their cattle drowned and their crops devastated, they fear the onslaught of winter.

With this recent catastrophe still fresh in our memory, it is hard to imagine that, in normal conditions, water is scarce, especially water of good quality. All over the world, in developed as well as in developing countries, people are making more and more use of the available quantities of fresh water: for drinking, for washing and cleaning, for industrial processes and cooling, for recreation, navigation and irrigation. Most of the available fresh water flows down rivers: we can use it only once, so we should use it wisely. As the majority of rivers flow from one country to another, people downstream depend on what happens upstream. Consequently, international cooperation is necessary to achieve sound transboundary water management.

This is the reason why 160 representatives of more than 25 countries and international organizations gathered at Mrzeyno in Poland to participate in the International Conference on Management of Transboundary Waters in Europe. Under the patronage of the Polish Ministry of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry, this Conference was organized by the Regional Water Management Board, the Voivodeship Inspectorate of Environmental Protection in Szczecin and the Szczecin Economic Information Bureau. It was supported by the International Commission for the Protection of the Oder and the secretariat of the UN/ECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.

The Conference stressed that environmental issues cannot be dealt with in isolation from other social developments. Agriculture, industrial activities, transport, all have an impact on the environment. There is, therefore, a joint responsibility to protect the environment. The common will to cooperate and resolve existing problems through negotiation was reaffirmed at the Conference. Participants underlined the importance of avoiding one-sided promotion of individual, sectoral or national interests.

Progress in European water policy cannot be achieved in closed circles of administrations and scientific experts. Progress requires a much wider involvement of the public at large, including non-governmental organizations and local action groups. The Conference provided a platform for the drafting of action programmes to reduce pollution, revive the ecological systems of transboundary rivers, and protect against floods. These programmes will draw on experience gained on the rivers Rhine and Elbe.

The Conference also gave guidance on transboundary monitoring and alarm systems, which provide information on the quality of water and discharges to those who are involved in crisis management. The hope is that regular publication of monitoring results will also help to raise public awareness. It will help to create partnership not only among representatives of the authorities from the participating countries but also among all those who are personally committed to improving our common environment. International cooperation cannot be achieved by governments or administrations alone. It is above all a matter of relations between human beings.