Europe - UNEP

CHAPTER 5. HYDROPOLITICAL VULNERABILITY
AND RESILIENCE CASE STUDIES
Alistair Rieu-Clarke
Selected case studies representing instances of either hydropolitical vulnerability or resilience are
discussed below in order to depict the hydropolitical situation in Europe. The hydropolitical
vulnerability of the Dnieper, the Danube, and the Narva river basins is discussed below.
5.1 THE DNIEPER (DNIPRO) RIVER BASIN
The Dnieper River basin, or in Ukrainian, Dnipro, is the third largest in Europe (after the Volga and the
Danube). Shared between the former Soviet Union countries of Belarus, Russia, and the Ukraine, 33
million people live in the Dnieper basin. The total basin area is 516,300 km 2 and the river spans 2,200
km in length (see Figure 5.1). This river has a number of transboundary tributaries including the
Berezina, Pripyat, Desna, Psel, Vorska, and the Inhulets. The transboundary importance of the river is
increased by the fact that the Dnieper empties into the Black Sea; therefore, upstream impacts within
the basin affect those countries sharing the Black Sea, i.e., Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey,
and Ukraine. The Dnieper is particularly important for Belarus and the Ukraine because around 48% of
the Ukraine and 56% of Belarus lie within the basin. Furthermore, both the countries capitals (Kiev,
Ukraine, and Minsk, Belarus) are situated within the basin, as is Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear
power plant accident.
In large part due to a legacy of converting a traditionally agricultural region into a mainly
industrial one, the Dnieper River has been heavily utilised (UNDP, 2003). Several major dams exist in
the basin and 300 hydroelectric plants. Approximately 1,677 km of the river is navigable year-round,
except during two months when it is frozen; therefore, it represents a major shipping artery for Eastern
Europe.
The countries in the Dnieper basin are relatively poor in terms of GDP per capita, and rely heavily
on the water of the Dnieper to improve their economic situation. Major transboundary problems within
the basin include intensively farmed areas with a history of over-fertilisation, excessive damming –
including six major reservoirs on the main-stem of the river and over 500 smaller dams on the
tributaries. Further problems include the draining of wetlands to provide more land for agriculture,
large scale and extensive water extraction for agriculture and industry, poorly regulated deposits of
tailings from mining complexes – including wastes from uranium mining – as well as industrial
accidents, frequent accidental spills of contaminated wastewater, and partial treatment of only 45% of
waste waters (UNDP, 2003). In addition, unsustainable practices within the Dnieper basin have resulted
in high concentrations of nutrients, biological oxygen demand (BOD), bacteria, heavy metals and toxic
organic contaminants leading to very poor water quality.
Despite such threats to the aquatic environment, parts of the Dnieper basin remain unique areas
of natural beauty. Approximately 50% of Belarusian territory of the basin is forested; compared to 30%
Chapter 5. Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience Case Studies — 65