Water Governance in Europe & CIS

Project Objectives: Develop a better understanding of the prevalence and significance of aquifers within the Southern Caucusus region – which falls more or less within the rivers Kura-Araks basin – identify the risks associated with poor management and develop cooperation among countries that share the aquifers so that sustainable management strategies could be developed for implementation in country.

Project Description: The project would be conducted through a participatory process involving all key stakeholders. Initially the process of consultation would be carried out, involving a scoping assessment, identification of the key information needs and the gaps and the establishment of a preliminary inventory. In later stages a hydrogeological system definition would be carried out and potential hot spots identified – these could be associated with excess development, with potential sites that contain toxic chemicals or waste disposal sites that affect the local communities. Based on the assessment conducted in these stages a medium sized project would be formulated for GEF financing. This project would fully involve the national teams in all partner countries, and strategies for long term sustainable management would be developed especially where joint bilateral actions would be needed.

Component of UNDP-GEF project