3RD PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING WAS HELD

The 3rd Project Steering Committee Meeting of the Technical Assistance Project on Preparation of River Basin Management Plans for Six Basins, co-financed by the European Union and Türkiye within the scope of the IPA-2 period of the European Union Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, was held on 15 Sep 2022 at Ankara Wyndham Hotel.
  

The meeting started with the opening speech of Mr. Yakup Karaaslan, Deputy Director General for Water Management, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. In his speech, Mr. Karaaslan delivered information on the preparation of River Basin Management Plans, which form the basis of the holistic management approach on the basin-basis in Türkiye, and sectoral water allocation plans, aiming to ensure the allocation of water resources at the basin and sub-basin scale and future planning of the water resources and to meet the water needs of each sector in a fair, efficient and sustainable manner. Currently, River Basin Management Plans have been completed in 11 basins, and studies continue in 7 basins.  Sectoral Water Allocation Plans have been prepared in 6 basins and studies continue in 11 basins.

The technical presentation on the "Technical Assistance on Preparation of River Basin Management Plans for 6 Basins", the biggest project in Turkey on basin management, was delivered by the Project Team Leader, Mr. Jaroslav Slobodnik. In his presentation, Mr. Slobodnik delivered detailed information about the progress of the project in the third and fourth quarters. Mr. Slobodnik provided information on the events and meetings held in the third and fourth quarters of the project and delviered detailed explanations about the Characterisation Reports presented on 13 September 2022 and the annexes of the reports.

After the presentation of Mr. Slobodnik, the presentation on the Characterisation Studies in 6 Basins was delivered by the River Basin Management Plans Coordinator Ms. Oytun Arıkan.

After the presentation of Ms. Arıkan, the presentation on Current Sectoral Water Use in 6 Basins was delivered by the Basin Responsible Mr. Bora Turan. 

Following Mr. Turan's presentation, Mr. Slobodnik provided information on the activities planned in the 5th quarter of the project, significant water management issues, visibility and communication of the project. 

After the presentations, a question-and-answer session was held and the meeting was concluded with the closing speech Mr. Karaaslan.  

The 3rd Steering Committee Meeting of the project was held with the participation of more than 100 representatives from central institutions working on water management, local institutions in 6 basins and non-governmental organizations.  

The project, which will last for 42 months, started in September 2021 and is planned to be completed in March 2025. 

The Contracting Authority of the project is the Department of EU Investments, under the Directorate General for European Union and Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. The End Recipient of the project is the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Directorate General for Water Management. The budget of the project is 6,915,000 Euro. 

The project is implemented by the consortium consisting of DAI Global Austria GmbH & Co KG, NFB Mühendislik ve Müşavirlik, SYKE - Finnish Environment Institute, and ACC Danışmanlık. 

The project aims to achieve good water status in all water bodies in six basins through the implementation of the WFD and its related daughter directives, and to meet the water needs of each sector in an equitable, efficient, and sustainable manner.      

The main outputs to be achieved based on the overall objective and purpose of the project are: 

1. Progress will be made on the fulfilment of the closing benchmark of Environment and Climate Change Chapter through preparation of six RBMPs.

2. Meeting water demand equitably for each sector will be ensured by the preparation of six Sectoral Water Allocation Plans (SWAPs) based on sharing the benefits of water use rather than on sharing the water itself in six basins considering the effects of climate change and drought analysis.

3. Legislation for strengthening the current institutional structure to apply the requirements of basin SWAPs will be prepared.

4. Institutional capacity and public awareness will be improved.

5. Environmental and Health Impacts of the Implementation of Environmental Quality Standards in Doğu Akdeniz Basin will be determined.

Within the scope of the project, Characterisation Reports, Significant Water Management Issues Reports, Monitoring Reports, Environmental Objectives Reports and the Programmes of Measures, which are significant components of River Basin Management Plans, as well as Sectoral Water Allocation Plans and Strategic Environmental Assessment Reports will be prepared for six basins.