Identifying Water Governance Priorities and Gaps in Transboundary Basins through SWOT: The Case Study of Mesta/Nestos River Basin †
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Cooperative Status between the Two States
2.3. SWOT Conceptual Model
- Environmental goals set by WFD, achieving “good” ecological status for the identified water bodies at the basin level. (Art. 4, WFD).
- National/Regional legal/institutional (Legislation scheme), encouraging the use of existing governance structures or set up new to coordinate actions in river basin districts and appointing a Competent Authority for each of the RBDs (River Basin District) to produce the RBMPs and to co-ordinate the implementation of the WFD within it [22], including the international river basin (transboundary cooperation). (Art.3, WFD).
- Public consultation, requiring public participation that different stakeholders should participate in the process of developing management plans. (Art. 14, WFD).
3. Results
4. Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Type of Document | Source | Date |
---|---|---|
EU Commission Working Document-Report to EP (European Parliament) and the Council on the Implementation of the WFD (2000/60/EC) RBMPs | WISE-Water Information System for Europe (Bulgaria) | 11.2021 |
River Basin Management Plan (RBMP), 2016–2021-South-West Aegean River Basin District (Blagoevgrad). West Aegean Sea River Basin Directorate. WEST AEGEAN BASIN: Mesta River-International Cooperation | Republic of Bulgaria-Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEV) (Bulgaria) | 2016–2021 |
EU Commission Working Document-Report to EP and the Council on the Implementation of the WFD (2000/60/EC) and Floods Directive (2007/60/EC)-2nd RBMPs | WISE-Water Information System for Europe (Bulgaria) | 02.2019 |
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EU Commission Working Document-Report to EP and the Council on the Implementation of the WFD (2000/60/EC) and Floods Directive (2007/60/EC)-RBMPs | WISE-Water Information System for Europe (Greece) | 07.2018 |
River Basin Management Plan, River Basin District of Thrace (EL12), 1st Review | Hellenic Ministry of Environment and EGY * (Greece) | 12.2017 |
EU Commission Working Document-Report to EP and the Council on the Implementation of the WFD (2000/60/EC) and Floods Directive (2007/60/EC)-RBMPs | WISE-Water Information System for Europe (Greece) | 03.2015 |
River Basin Management Plan, River Basin District of Thrace (GR12) | Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy—EGY * (Greece) | 07.2013 |
Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Environmental goals set by WFD | Full national monitoring program strategy development | Common PoM’s (Programs of Measures) prioritization absence | Updated pressures status (point, no-point pollution sources) | River Basin Fragmentation, river discontinuity |
Complete monitoring routine | Lack of common scientific database | Updated reference conditions | Good ecological status failure by 2027 | |
Intercalibration process for common WFD implementation | Poor implementation Of PoMs | Common knowledge for specific grey infrastructure (dams, barriers) | ||
Commitment to Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) | Common understanding for applying Nature-based solutions (NBS) | |||
Establishment of reference condition | ||||
National/Regional legal/institutional (Legislation scheme) | Harmonization of both national policies to EU water policy | Centralized decision making, but regional implementation | Conflict resolution mechanisms regulated by official bilateral conventions | Conflict over the resource uses |
Set up of relevant governance structures | Complicated, overlapping responsibilities among water authorities | Key priorities identification | Constraints in compliance with the legislation | |
Shared responsibilities among authorities | Agreements never executed | Mapping of current weaknesses | Absence of common vision | |
Follow the pillars of Green Deal (GD) | Lack of legal binding, enforcement, inspection | Win–win PoMs | No common RBMP | |
Administrative complexity (sectorial levels) | Mobilizing financial tools (national, EU, CAP funds) | Absence of bilateral agreement | ||
Lack of financial resources (Greece) | ||||
RBMP adoption delay | ||||
Public Consultation | Active stakeholder participation need | Economic development activities’ pressure | Awareness of the stakeholders | Resource use conflict |
Low stakeholder’s participation (Greece) | Quantifiable feedback from consultation process | Persistence of local particularities | ||
No bilateral public consultation | Wider regional cooperation and stability incentive | Absence of common vision | ||
Synergies among the key sectors (nexus) |
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Karasani, M.; Dionissis, L.; Susanne, S.; Ifigenia, K. Identifying Water Governance Priorities and Gaps in Transboundary Basins through SWOT: The Case Study of Mesta/Nestos River Basin. Environ. Sci. Proc. 2022, 21, 74. https://doi.org/10.3390/environsciproc2022021074
Karasani M, Dionissis L, Susanne S, Ifigenia K. Identifying Water Governance Priorities and Gaps in Transboundary Basins through SWOT: The Case Study of Mesta/Nestos River Basin. Environmental Sciences Proceedings. 2022; 21(1):74. https://doi.org/10.3390/environsciproc2022021074
Chicago/Turabian StyleKarasani, Maria, Latinopoulos Dionissis, Schmeier Susanne, and Kagalou Ifigenia. 2022. "Identifying Water Governance Priorities and Gaps in Transboundary Basins through SWOT: The Case Study of Mesta/Nestos River Basin" Environmental Sciences Proceedings 21, no. 1: 74. https://doi.org/10.3390/environsciproc2022021074
APA StyleKarasani, M., Dionissis, L., Susanne, S., & Ifigenia, K. (2022). Identifying Water Governance Priorities and Gaps in Transboundary Basins through SWOT: The Case Study of Mesta/Nestos River Basin. Environmental Sciences Proceedings, 21(1), 74. https://doi.org/10.3390/environsciproc2022021074