There is a general opinion on the importance of groundwater, as it contains a much larger volume of fresh water than surface water and has become increasingly important for water security in many countries and regions. But many aquifers are subject to unstable withdrawal levels and pollution [1]. The United Nations reports that groundwater supplies at least 50% of the world's population with drinking water and accounts for 43% of all water used for irrigation, and that approximately 20% of the world's aquifers are overexploited [2]. The main causes of aquifers overexploitation are extraction for irrigation, industrial and mining use. The relative importance of each of these uses varies considerably by country, climate and degree of economic development. The problem of overexploitation occurs in fossil aquifers due to their lack of natural recharge, as well as in naturally recharged aquifers, where groundwater is withdrawn faster than its long-term recharge. The main consequences are falling water levels, increased pumping costs, land subsidence, water quality degradation, saline intrusion and sea level rise. The proposed solutions provide both an increase in water supply and its preservation: in the first case, due to artificial recharge of aquifers and interventions to improve the quality of groundwater; in the second case, through the implementation of administrative control and economic incentives [3]. In addition, given the close connection between surface and groundwater, the long-term sustainability of their use requires integrated management of all water resources in accordance with the approach adopted in the Water Framework Directive and the recommendations of the United Nations [4]. Unfortunately, the implementation of policies aimed at the sustainability of groundwater extraction faces serious difficulties, as evidenced by its increasing deterioration.
Legal regulation of the protection and use of groundwater is carried out by national environmental legislation. However, Ukraine shares aquifers with neighboring states and therefore international norms that establish a kind of framework for national legal regulation of the specified water bodies require legal analysis. Ukraine has ratified a number of international conventions related to water resources, in particular the Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes [5], the Convention on cooperation in the protection and sustainable use of the Danube River [6], the Convention on environmental impact assessment in transboundary context [7], etc.
Over the period 1992-2021, Ukraine concluded bilateral intergovernmental agreements on water management in border waters with such neighboring countries as: Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, etc., which are based on the provisions of the Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes [ 5]. The agreements cover a wide range of issues: water resources management and their use, protection against the harmful effects of water, water quality monitoring, information exchange, research and project work, water management and water protection measures, etc.
Analyzing the dynamics of international cooperation, Christina Leb (2015) defines international law as a tool for achieving mutually beneficial relations in this process and explores the general obligation to cooperate in international water law as a legal response to the requirements of interdependence and coordination in the management and development of transboundary water resources [8].
The distinctive feature of this issue is that even if certain actions of the state are legal according to national legislation, the state may violate international norms regarding the use of common natural resources. For example, the state begins actively extract drinking water from an aquifer extending under the jurisdiction of several states to meet the needs of the population. As it is known, with excessive extraction of water from the ground, an angle of incidence is formed, at which the water level drops rapidly everywhere, except for the extraction point. This leads to the drying of agricultural land over the entire territory of the water body. Even if water is extracted on the territory of Ukraine on legal grounds, damage can be caused at a distance of hundreds of kilometers in a neighboring state.
Therefore, the existence of international norms regarding the regulation of transboundary aquifers determines the dual nature of their legal regulation. That is why it is important to implement international standards into Ukrainian legislation and strictly adhere to them. Transboundary natural resources, in particular, groundwater, are based on the common interests of states, which must always be taken into account and balanced, because common natural resources determine the mutual and compromising nature of the regulation regarding protection and use. The effectiveness of international law depends on how states implement its recommendations and implement them into their legislation. Underdeveloped national legislation can lead to improper implementation of agreements, resulting in a negative result of compliance with international legal norms.
An important element of international cooperation is participation in international technical assistance projects. Thus, in the period of 2016-2021, with the support of the European Union, the project “Water Initiative Plus of the European Union for the Eastern Partnership” (EUWI+4EaP) was implemented, aimed at improving the management of water resources in the countries of the Eastern Partnership, in particular, transboundary rivers. One of the main results of the project is the preparation of the project Dnipro River Basin Management Plan 2025-2030 (part 1). In the period of 2017-2021, the project of the Global Environmental Fund “Promoting cross-border cooperation and integrated management of water resources in the Dniester River basin” was implemented.
On March 31, 2021, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine signed a joint statement approving the Strategic Action Program (SPA) aimed at ensuring that the 8 million inhabitants of the Dniester River basin between the two countries benefit from joint efforts in the field of environmentally safe use of water and other natural resources and ecosystems in the region. In 2020, the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine implemented the OSCE project “Strengthening the capacity to monitor and manage water resources in eastern Ukraine”.
According to the decision of the Joint Governing Body of the Transboundary Cooperation Program of the European Neighborhood Instrument (ENI) Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine 2014-2020 dated 30.04.2021, the Upper Tisza Directorate of Water Management signed a Grant contract for the implementation of the project “Creation of a transboundary water quality monitoring network in the basin of the Upper Tisza with further development and modernization of the joint Ukrainian-Hungarian hydrographic telemetry system” (TiszaMonitorNet), in which the Tisza BUVR acts as a partner. The goal of the project is the reconstruction and expansion of the existing network of facilities of the joint Ukrainian-Hungarian AIVS “Tisza” on both sides of the border for timely warning and response to emergency situations related to the quality and quantity of water by improving the monitoring system on the upper side of the Tisza River.
Clarification and interpretation of the main concepts and institutions of water law as a set of norms regulating the protection and use of a limited and vulnerable natural resource are relevant in connection with the aggravation of water problems in the world. For the organization of rational water use, the classification of water bodies is important, depending on which the water regime and water protection are carried out. However, the current water legislation of Ukraine still does not contain a definition of the concept of “transboundary aquifers”, which is repeatedly emphasized by scientists [9; 10; 11].
The concept of transboundary waters and their regulation are defined by the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes of March 17, 1992 [12], according to which transboundary waters are any surface or underground waters that mark, cross the border between two or more states, or located on such borders. Undoubtedly, taking into account the fact that the specified regulatory act has been ratified by Ukraine, the national water legislation should be supplemented with the corresponding legal norms.
Assessment of groundwater reserves is also a very important aspect. However, the lack of a single method of assessment of reserves and water exchange zones complicates groundwater management. This problem may be related to the invisibility of groundwater, which limits the availability of information about the real state of aquifers.
One of the objects of increased danger for underground water resources of Ukraine are tailings storage facilities – natural or artificially created land containers for the accumulation of liquid waste from various industries. Having analyzed the state of tailings storage facilities at three enterprises in 2019 within the framework of the project “Assistance in expanding the environmental monitoring system in Donbas”, implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine, located in the combat areas in eastern Ukraine, it is known that due to mined there is no unhindered safe access to the territory, monitoring of the state of groundwater has not been conducted since 2015. It should also be noted the negative impact on groundwater associated with military operations taking place throughout Ukraine.
Most of the tailings storage facilities have been in operation for more than 45-50 years, which has led to the loss of the waterproofing properties of the structures and, as a result, the filtering of hazardous substances from the storage facilities to the soil and unprotected aquifers. Some of the hazardous storage facilities are inactive, the facilities store waste from past productions. There is a need to build a tailings management system in accordance with European law, focused on the comprehensive support of their environmental and man-made safety through the development and improvement of legislation, a review of methodological recommendations for emergency response planning by state authorities and enterprises, taking into account all types of threats from the operation of tailings, consideration of probable accidents at such objects, assessment of the risks of flooding territories and prevention of accidental cross-border water pollution [13]. This problem applies not only to Ukraine, but also to other states where active mining of minerals was carried out.
The lack of climate monitoring data, as well as monitoring of groundwater withdrawn, its level and quality, makes it difficult to carry out a systematic diagnostic analysis. Such a problem appeared in the Stampriet transboundary aquifer system, located in a large arid zone in Central Namibia, Western Botswana and the Northern Cape of South Africa [14].
Climate change will exert a powerful pressure on groundwater, as the latter will carry the full component of surface water. It should be noted that this kind of changes happen quite quickly, therefore, the legislative framework for regulating the relevant relations does not have time to be formed, which applies not only to Ukraine, but also to other countries. Currently, there is a need to implement comprehensive regulation of the pollution process in order to preserve the quality of groundwater. After all, that entails, for example, one underground horizon that crosses different countries, which establish different requirements for the quality of underground water. The number of drinking water quality indicators varies from country to country, and this number is changing because water is becoming scarcer due to climate change.
Thus, the following can be noted regarding the legal problems of the use and protection of transboundary groundwater. There are a lot of countries that have faced problems of legal regulation of the use of transboundary groundwater resources. In today's conditions, the mechanisms of legal regulation of the use and protection of transboundary groundwater have serious disadvantages, including: limitation of the subject and incompleteness of regulation, lack of application of a comprehensive approach to joint management of transboundary groundwater, lack of means of coordinating the interests of states, inconsistency with changes in natural, economic, social and other conditions, etc. Currently, legal issues regarding the quantitative factors of groundwater extraction from transboundary aquifers and systems have not been fully resolved.
To a large extent, the indicated disadvantages are due to gaps or imperfection of legal regulation both at the national and international levels. The world's groundwater resources are of key importance for sustainable development. And the use of all groundwater resources and the effective control of perennial groundwater problems, such as overuse and pollution, are very difficult tasks. The exchange of information and experience in the field of groundwater management and protection around the world is necessary and extremely useful in this regard.
References:
1. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). Shared Global Vision for Groundwater Governance 2030 and a Call-For-Action; FAO Publications: Rome, Italy, 2016 [Electronic resource]: URL: https://www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/49ae1fdc-9f51-4d14-b5e8-bb57d595ff94/ (date of application: 03.02.2023)
2. WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme). The United Nations World Water Development Report 2015: Water for a Sustainable World; UNESCO: Paris, France, 2015.
3. Konikow, L.F.; Kendy, E. Groundwater depletion: A global problem. Hydrogeol. J. 2005, 13, 317–320. [CrossRef]
4. Water Framework Directive (WFD). (2000). Directive 2000/60/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Union L, 327(22), 275–346. 12/ 2000,0001–0073.
5. On the accession of Ukraine to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes: Law of Ukraine dated July 1, 1999 // Bulletin of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU), 1999, No. 34, Art. 282.
6. Convention on the Protection of the Danube River [Electronic resource]: Law of Ukraine dated 17.01.2002. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/998_800#Text (date of application: 03.02.2023)
7. Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context [Electronic resource]: Law of Ukraine dated 19.03.1999 No 534-ХІV. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/995_272#Text (date of application: 03.02.2023)
8. Christina Leb (2015) One step at a time: international law and the duty to cooperate in the management of shared water resources, Water International, 40:1, 21-32, DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2014.978972
9. Plotnikova O.O. Legal regime of use and protection of groundwater // Legal Bulletin. 2000. No. 2. P. 97-100.
10. Dzhuhan V. O. Legal regulation of water use and protection in Ukraine [Text]: autoref. thesis for obtaining candidate degree in Law Sciences: specialty 12.00.06 “Land law; agrarian law; environmental law; natural resource law” / V. O. Dzhuhan. Kyiv, 2009. 19 p.
11. Serdyuk O.V. Legal principles of groundwater use [Text]: autoref. thesis for obtaining candidate degree in Law Sciences: specialty 12.00.06 “Land law; agrarian law; environmental law; natural resource law” / O. V. Serdyuk. Kharkiv, 2014. 20 p.
12. Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes done at Helsinki, on 17 March 1992 [Electronic resource]: URL: https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/water/pdf/watercon.pdf (date of application: 03.02.2023)
13. Donbas tailings storage facilities [Electronic resource]: URL: https://www.osce.org/uk/project-coordinator-in-ukraine/456847 (date of application: 03.02.2023)
14. UNESCO 2013-2015 GRGTA (Groundwater Resources Governance in Transboundary Aquifers) [Electronic resource]: URL: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000243003 (date of application: 03.02.2023)
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