Institutional Support to the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (mesp) and River Basin Authorities cris n° 2008/162-152

1.2Features of the sector

1.2.1Legislation - institutional setting

1. 
   Legislation
   

UNMIK Regulation 2003/9 promulgated the law adopted by the Assembly of Kosovo on Environmental Protection (Law 2002/8), establishing a legal framework for the gradual introduction of EU environmental standards. A Water Law was endorsed in 2004 and was considered as a step towards approximating the EU legislation in the water sector. This Water Law provides important policy provisions for water management. However, few provisions have been implemented. As a result, municipalities have only limited competencies and responsibilities in the management of rivers, lakes and streams. Competent River Basin District Authorities have not yet been established. A draft revision of this Water Law has been circulating since the beginning of 2009. Experts’ comments on these revisions, written in September 2009, highlighted that important parts of the EU water legislation in the water sector still need to be approximated.

2. 
   Institutions in the water sector
   

The responsibilities in the water sector are divided between the following Ministries:

• 
  The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP) was created in 2002. It is in charge of water policies, water monitoring and protection.
  
• 
  The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD) has overlapping responsibilities with MESP on irrigation infrastructure issues.
  
• 
  The Ministry of Health (MH) is in charge of monitoring and protection of drinking water quality.
  

The following bodies play also an important role in water sector issues:

• 
  The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and publicly owned companies (PoE);
  
• 
  The Water and Waste Regulatory Office (WWRO);
  
• 
  The Water Task Force at the Prime Minister’s office, a mechanism for improved sector coordination.
  

1.2.2General status and key issues of water resources in the Drini River basin

There are four River Basins in Kosovo (Drini I Bardhe, Moraves, Ibrit and Lepencit). The Drini River Basin is the largest one. Drini waters flow into a large reservoir which extends into Albanian territory and this receives the pollution and solid wastes coming from the town of Prizren and villages upstream.

Observations and measurements made in various parts of this basin suggest that, in general, the status of water resources and river ecosystems status is deteriorating, except for water located in remote mountain regions. The main driving factor is the development of activities without any efficient control of their negative impact on water resources. Political issues related to Kosovo’s status, reconstruction, economic development are in the front line. Environment protection is not receiving as much attention.

The following main factors contribute to water resource and ecosystem deterioration in Kosovo:

Pollution

The wastewaters from almost all the towns and villages either leak into the soil, with a risk of polluting groundwater, or are discharged through badly maintained pipes or canals into rivers. As a result, water bodies are polluted. Water analyses in rivers and wells have shown that organic, nitrogen and phosphorus contents are high. During the summer, the status of water deteriorates as flows reduce.

Untreated waters are also vectors of dangerous diseases. In many places this creates major drinking water supply problems, especially in villages, but also in towns where groundwater is contaminated and the storage of clean water is located far away. Groundwater knowledge is very poor and so it is difficult to plan the correct use of this resource for drinking purposes.

As a result, groundwater often does not meet EU Directives on water for human consumption. In several instances, it was seen that water was also not fit for watering food crops and vegetables.

The industrial wastewater is not treated and the effluent is also discharged in rivers. Also, there is no monitoring of industrial pollution discharges into rivers.

The Project addressed some of these issues through the elaboration of ToR for the production of a Water Supply and Sanitation Investment Plan for Kosovo.

High water abstractions

A significant portion of the available surface water comes from the mountains. This water is required for many competing purposes. It is reported that around 25% of the arable land in Kosovo is under irrigation. The Project observed that there are many water losses in the irrigation system’s canals and pipes.

In summer, almost all of the water coming from mountains is diverted into irrigation canals. This canalised water is used in properties for different purposes. As a result, the flow downstream is only recharged by groundwater or polluted water returning to the river after its use. Hence, the water ecosystem downstream is dramatically impacted by these abstractions and pollution.

The Project’s ToR requested the water demand and water balance be assessed in Drini River Basin. The idea was to develop a tool to assist in decision-making for water allocation and water management in the Drini River Basin, including its water system. To this end, the Project focused its efforts on the Radoniqi Lake water system where there is competition in drought periods between drinking water supply for the town of Gjakova and water for irrigation downstream of the lake.

Damage to river banks and river beds – solid waste

Many different kinds of large and small solid waste are dumped on the banks of rivers. A large volume of material comes from the remains of houses destroyed during the war. Solid wastes are also disposed of near rivers. These are washed away during flood events. As a result, considerable amounts of solid waste are accumulating in the river system.

Since more than 20 years, the Drini I Bardhe River Basin is subject to severe gravel excavation along both river banks. Gravel is extracted in large quantities from river beds to feed the booming construction sector. This has resulted in significant changes of the morphology of the river. The gravel excavation process involves the separation of mainly medium coursed material from the inert material. In the process, finer particles are washed out leaving behind a disturbed river landscape of mud heaps. Especially during the occurrence of floods, the mainstream is charged with considerable loads of suspended material, which is consequently deposited further downstream. The totally affected area is estimated to cover some 1,156 ha.

1.2.3Flood risks

Within the Drini River Basin large alluvial flood plains have been formed, which span several hundred meters at both sides of the rivers. Below the confluence point of the Peja River the topography of the river bed changes and flood plains are much narrower and less extended. This situation continues until about two kilometres below the confluence point of the Decanit River. Beyond that point the riverine landscape opens again into an alluvial flood plain, which is typical for the Drini River. Accordingly, three types of flood occur within the Drini River Basin:

1. 
   Upper tributary floods, which are generated by heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of the tributaries Istok, Peja on the right bank side and the Klina River on left bank side of the Drini;
   
2. 
   Drini River mainstream floods; and
   
3. 
   Flash floods from mountainous areas.
   

The increased need for firewood and timber for construction has led to uncontrolled and illegal felling. Deforestation is likely to affect the hydrological characteristics of the river basin and increases erosion, especially in upland areas. For several years, land use has also been changing rapidly in the plains and hills. Towns are expanding and the transport infrastructure is enlarging. As a result, large surfaces are covered by impermeable structures. Roads crossing flood plains are elevated, which act as obstacles to surface water flow. All these changes increase the risk of flood damages during flood events. Some investments have been done for protecting inhabitants and houses in flooding zones, however, flood risk mapping have highlighted that these investments do not always provide a high level of protection. Moreover, they might increase the risk of damage during flooding events.