Development of lake Druksiai/Drisviaty Basin Management Program Feasibility study

Project Vision/ Goals To develop draft integrated water resource management plan and the pilot environmental information management system for Druksiai/Drisviaty lake as building blocks for development of the transboundary water resource management system;

Background information on the project development The lake is the part of the National Park “Braslavskie Ozera” on the Belarusian side. The pollution of lake Druksiai/Drisviaty has been the issue of concern for Belarus and Lithuania for years. Project partners Belarus Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus Institute of Zoology of Belarusian Academy of Sciences Lithuania Lithuanian Environmental Protection Agency, Basin Management and Pollution Prevention Department Institute of Ecology of Vilnius University

Background information on the project development (2) Project needs cross-border assessment of environmental risks joint system of early warning and cohesive basin management plan. integration of the interests of all stakeholders to create preconditions for joint water resource management of lake Druksiai/Drisviaty.

Aims conduct a cross-border assessment study develop the draft integrated water resources management plan develop a pilot environmental information management system (interactive database) for lake Druksiai/Drisviaty contribute to transparency of decision-making provide with training in water resource management, GIS, public relations and awareness raising; build public awareness of the main issues related to environment and security in the area (in cooperation with the ENVSEC media and public participation component)

Actives and project plan Joint project planning, local consultations with stakeholders, data collection December - February Cross-border assessment studyMarch - April Development of the draft integrated water resources management plan April - June Development of the pilot environmental information management system (interactive database) June - September Workshop on water resource management and GISJune Workshop on public relations and awareness raisingNovember Testing and launch of the pilot electronic databaseSeptember - November Development of the draft project development proposal and reporting December

Methodology Legal Agreement Institutional Framework Bilateral Committee Institute of Representatives Information management system bases on GIS Peipsi/Chudskoe Nenanus-Daugava Dniester lake basin

Peipsi/Chudskoe lake basin The region: 4th largest lake and the largest transboundary lake in Europe (since 2004) Major environmental problems: Eutrophication Water polluttion (major sources - sewage and and oil shale mines, agriculture, point pollution) Overfishing

Peipsi/Chudskoe lake basin Legal Agreement Institutional Framework Information management system bases on GIS 1994 Treaty on the conserv tion and use of fishing stocks in Lake Peipsi, Lake Lämmijärv and Lake Pihkva 1996 Agreement on Co-operation in the field of Environment 1997 Agreement on Co-operation in the field of Protection and Sustainable Use of Transboundary Watercourses Two Joint Commissions on Fishery on Transboundary Waters 2001 – 2004 Development and use of transboundary GIS

Major achievements: –Joint monitoring of the transboundary waters – under the Commissions, plus international research and applied projects. –Joint Estonian-Russian Transboundary Water Management Programme for the Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe basin – developed under h UNDP/GEF project. –Annual Peipsi Forums as stallholders meetings for supporting cooperation and contributing to the regional activities. –Regular cooperation among different bodies and organizations both under state programs and international projects aimed at different topics: tourism. Regional development, water protection, biodiversity etc. Peipsi/Chudskoe lake basin

What can Internet-based GIS provide? GIS may facilitate assessment of past, current and future development in the drainage basin and become the basis for a common data and information base used for various river basin management applications, e.g.  Flood forecasting  Characterisation  Modelling of transport paths of pollutants  Source apportionment  Optimisation of pollution abatement strategies  Scenario based trend analysis Building a common transboundary river basin identity through making maps and joint analysis; The Internet-based GIS is the most appropriate environmental information handling, production and dissemination tool for river basins including water bodies; Establishment of an institutional solution for the continued updating and management of the river basin information infrastructure and systems. Implementation of Water Framework Directive.