On Danube Day, Ukrainian authorities assess progress on water management with the support of EU-funded programmes

To mark International Danube Day 2025, Ukrainian water authorities gathered in Odesa to take stock of their efforts in implementing River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs)—a key tool for improving water quality and climate resilience. The event, supported by the EU-funded EU4Green Recovery East programme, brought together river basin administrators, government representatives, and stakeholders from across Ukraine.  

Danube Day is celebrated annually on 29 June under the auspices of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). Festivities are organised in each of the 19 countries that lie within the Danube basin.  

In Odesa, various speakers presented a wide range of measures to be implemented with priority in Ukraine, focusing mainly on water supply and sanitation, as well as river restoration and citizens engagement. These measures will be implemented based on innovative approaches applied internationally , such as nature-based solutions, and with practical exchange of experiences among basin managers.  

Commitment to Basin Cooperation 

The heads of the river basin administrations and basin councils from the three Danube sub-basins, the Tisza, Prut-Siret and Lower Danube  jointly signed  a Declaration on Cooperation in Odesa and committed themselves to partner towards achieving or maintaining the "good" ecological and chemical status of surface and groundwater bodies.  

RBMPs, developed with EU support under the previous EU4Environment – Water and Environmental Data programme, are now being put into action. For the first quarter of 2025, Ukrainian basin authorities report that 6% of RBMP measures have already started (nearly 100 measures), with some 20% already included in planning documents. While much of the work remains ahead, the process of implementation is clearly underway. 

Improving water quality as a national priority 

More than 70% of the planned measures relate to wastewater treatment and sanitation, addressing one of the most pressing challenges for Ukrainian rivers. As part of this effort, a State Targeted Environmental Programme to support the modernisation of wastewater infrastructure was presented during the meeting. This national initiative aims to accelerate upgrades of outdated water infrastructure by aligning investment priorities with the RBMPs. 

"Despite the challenges of wartime, Ukraine is taking its first concrete steps towards implementing the basin management plans," said Igor Gopchak, the Head of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine. "We now need to maintain strong cooperation with local authorities and ensure financing for future phases." 

Transboundary cooperation, from the Danube to the Black Sea 

The event also highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation, notably with Moldova and Romania on the Prut River, an important tributary on the lower Danube. EU support under EU4Environment and now EU4Green Recovery East has helped formalise this cooperation, with a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2023 and a related Prut Working Group established under the ICPDR in 2024. 

Ukraine is home to four transboundary Danube tributaries: the Prut, the Tisza, the Siret and the Lower Danube. Consequently, Ukraine collaborates closely with Hungary and Slovakia on the Tisza sub-basin and with Romania on the Siret and Lower Danube. These partnerships are vital for addressing issues such as floods and cross-border pollution.This collaboration reinforces the goals of the new EU Black Sea Region Strategy, which aims to develop a stable and secure Black Sea region and reduce pollution flowing from rivers into the sea. 

The event conveyed how Ukraine is advancing shared environmental goals through regional dialogue, coordinated planning, and joint actions — demonstrating resilience and commitment to sustainable water management even in the face of the ongoing Russian war of aggression. The EU will continue supporting Ukraine’s efforts in this direction through targeted technical assistance and regional cooperation. 

We are pleased to inform that factsheets on the nine Ukrainian River Basin Management Plans are now available in both Ukrainian and English!

From this link, you can download the summary factsheets providing key data and illustrative figures on the state of surface water and groundwater in Ukraine, as well as the programmes of measures to improve them.

The RBMPs have been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine between 1 November and 31 December 2024.

Read our article to know more.

These factsheets, as well as the full RBMPs document, have been developed with the support of the European Union.

All RBMPs documents are available on the website of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine: https://mepr.gov.ua/diyalnist/napryamky/stale-upravlinnya-vodnymy-resursamy/plany-upravlinnya-richkovymy-basejnamy/

Ukraine has officially adopted eight River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs), marking an important milestone in its journey towards sustainable water management in line with European Union (EU) and international standards. Supported by the EU4Environment - Water Resources and Environmental Data programme, the plans outline strategies and actions to protect and manage the country’s river basins. 

Adoption of Eight River Basin Management Plans 

On November 1st 2024, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved eight RBMPs covering the Dniester, Dnipro, Don, Southern Bug, Black Sea, Azov Sea, Vistula, and Crimean river basins. With the Danube basin plan still to be adopted, the nine plans cover more than 600,000 km² (about the size of France) and will provide benefit some 40 million Ukrainians. The 9 plans include programmes of measures to reduce local pollution and improve deteriorated riverbeds with an estimated investment need of €7.7 billion* (€7.3 billion for the 8 adopted RBMPs), or €32 per inhabitant per year (over 6 years). 70% of these measures focus primarily on sanitation. 

*The EUR/UAH rate is from June 2024 and the calculations of the cost of measures were carried out during 2016-2023.

Credit: Blue Rivers Ukraine. 

The preparation of these complex and extensive RBMP documents, each of which runs to several hundred pages and contains thousands of facts and figures, is all the more remarkable when one considers the very scattered sources of information in Ukraine and the particularly difficult working conditions during the Russian war of aggression.  

Credit: Blue Rivers Ukraine. 

The RBMPs are designed to address key water management issues such as wastewater from cities and industries, water abstraction from agriculture, and water ecosystem health, putting Ukraine on a path to align with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). In particular, the Dnipro basin — the largest river basin in Ukraine and one of the largest in Europe — serves as a model for the implementation of sustainable water management practices throughout the country. 

EU Support for RBMPs Development 

The plans were developed by Ukrainian experts with guidance and financial support from the European Union through the EU Water Initiative + (2016-2020) and the EU4Environment - Water and Environmental Data programme (2021-2024). They reflect a basin-wide approach, focusing on all surface and groundwater systems rather than on individual water user sectors. The plans promote better protection of water resources, equitable  distribution of water and sustainable management practices. Public consultations from December 2023 to June 2024 ensured that local voices and stakeholder input were included in the final drafts. 

While the data currently available on the status of water bodies are not comprehensive for the whole country, but only available for a few localised areas, future monitoring programmes must provide much needed knowledge. Such limitations also existed in some river basins of EU Member States, when their first RBMPs were drafted 20 years ago. Improving Ukraine’s capacity in water data sampling and analysis is another task of the ongoing EU support. It is expected that  future RBMP updates will benefit from improved water monitoring, which will allow for testing and verification of improvements or deteriorations in environmental and chemical status, and consequently the design of even more targeted measures. 

Background on Ukraine’s Water Challenges and EU Integration 

As the largest country in Europe, Ukraine faces various water challenges in its different regions.  While the Carpathian region is rich in water, freshwater resources are limited, especially in the dry steppe landscapes of the south and east.  

Aligning its water management policies with EU standards has been a priority for Ukraine since signing the EU Association Agreement in 2017. In 2022, Ukraine’s EU candidate status further reinforced the need for environmental reforms, and in December 2023, the European Council decided to open EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, recognising the progress made. 

This achievement underlines Ukraine’s resilience and commitment to environmental sustainability, even in challenging times, in the face of Russia’s war of aggression and its severe impact on water resources and water infrastructure, such as the destruction of the Kakhovka reservoir. Currently, two River Basin Districts are fully occupied (Crimean rivers and Azov Sea rivers) and three are partially occupied (Don, Dnipro and Black Sea rivers).  

The adoption of these RBMPs brings Ukraine one step closer to meeting EU standards for water management, ensuring a greener and more sustainable future.

*The EUR/UAH rate is from June 2024 and the calculations of the cost of measures were carried out during 2016-2023.

Ivano-Frankivsk hosts key talks on Dniester River management 

The Commission on the Sustainable Use and Protection of the Dniester River Basin convened its working groups in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, on September 5-6, 2024, to discuss strategies for sustainable river basin management, water monitoring, and information exchange between Moldova and Ukraine. 

The two-day meetings gathered experts from both countries to review and plan key initiatives for the Dniester River Basin. The first day featured the 8th meeting of the Working Group on River Basin Planning and Management. Key topics included presentations on the National River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) for Moldova and Ukraine, covering the period up to 2030, alongside discussions on flood risk management and the hydrological regime of the Dniester River. 

On the second day, the focus shifted to the Working Group on Monitoring and Information Exchange, which evaluated the state of water quality monitoring in the transboundary basin. Presentations highlighted the assessment of chemical and ecological statuses of water bodies, and joint efforts in water sampling were undertaken to ensure data consistency across borders. Participants also discussed the alignment of their activities with EU water monitoring regulations, setting the stage for coordinated water management efforts in the coming years. 

These meetings reflect ongoing efforts by both countries to ensure the sustainable use and protection of the Dniester River Basin, an essential water resource shared by Moldova and Ukraine. 

Article on the website of the Ministry of Environment of Moldova: https://www.mediu.gov.md/ro/content/5052 

These efforts are part of a broader regional initiative supported by the EU, aiming to improve water management in Eastern Partnership countries. For more details on Ukraine’s progress in the water sector with EU support, read this article. 

More information about transboundary cooperation: https://www.eu4waterdata.eu/en/blog-news/54-eap-region/140-world-environment-day-cooperation-on-shared-waters-in-the-eastern-partner-countries.html 

Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has caused extensive damage to irrigation, water supply, sanitation and water ecosystems. Here are some findings of The World Bank for the water sector from the third Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA3), February 2022 - December 2023.

The full report is available here: https://documents.banquemondiale.org/fr/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099021324115085807/p1801741bea12c012189ca16d95d8c2556a

Irrigation and Agriculture

Before the war, agriculture accounted for a significant share of Ukraine's GDP (10%) and exports (41%). Although irrigation is used on only 1% of all agricultural land, it is vital for crops such as potatoes, tomatoes and rice. Drainage systems, which provide usable pasture and forage land, covered 10% of agricultural land and significantly increase the country's production capacity for cereals and beef.

The war resulted in the destruction of water infrastructure vital to the agricultural sector, such as irrigation canals, pumps and reservoirs, with damage estimated at $740.2 million and total reconstruction needs of $10.7 billion over the next decade.  Damage to the irrigation and water sector in Ukraine increased dramatically, rising by 95%, mainly due to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on 6 June 2023.

Priority must be given to modernising drainage and irrigation systems not only to secure the country's vital economic sector, but also to reduce the impact of agriculture on ecosystems. This means reducing the amount of pesticides discharged into rivers, and making Ukrainian landscapes more resilient to floods and droughts in the face of the effects of climate change.

Water Supply and Sanitation

Access to centralised piped water supply and wastewater collection and treatment services in Ukraine was already limited before the war: 70% and 50% of the population respectively, with significant inequalities between urban and rural areas. The level of water supply and sanitation services was relatively low for a country seeking to align its sector requirements with those of the European Union's water directives.

The war exacerbated the situation, leaving millions of Ukrainians with intermittent or inadequate water services. Destruction of networks and infrastructure, as well as power cuts, are severely affecting service delivery across the country. The WASH Cluster (a network of actors working in the Water Sanitation and Health (WASH) sector and led by UNICEF) estimated that there are 9.6 million people in need for essential water supply and sanitation services for 2024 alone. In particular, up to 1 million people have lost access to drinking water following the breach of the Kakhovka dam. The report estimates the damage to the water and sanitation sector at nearly $4 billion and the total reconstruction and recovery needs at $11.1 billion for 2024-2033.

Short-term needs focus on maintaining and restoring service delivery by rebuilding damaged infrastructure and strengthening local technical and operational capacity to complete previously planned WSS development schemes. The report emphasises the need to decentralise water supply and sanitation facilities, to favour low-cost and easy-to-maintain infrastructure relevant to Ukraine, and to reform water tariffs to enable the sector to be adequately financed.

Natural resources and ecosystems

The war has led to extensive pollution of air, water, soil and biota, exacerbated by the breach of the Kakhovka Dam, with long-term health and environmental risks. In a country with pre-war environmental problems (including poor urban air quality, poor waste management and ineffective environmental controls), the long-term effects of damage could be even more destructive than the immediate effects.

The disastrous flooding following the breach of the Kakhovka dam poses additional long-term health risks due to the discharge of hazardous chemicals from downstream manufacturing facilities. The floodwaters were also contaminated with biological hazards, such as untreated sewage and dead wildlife, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and others.

While Ukraine's current environmental legislation is relatively good, including from an EU perspective, implementation and enforcement remain weak.

According to The World Bank report, an estimated US$ 665 million will be needed for capacity building activities to strengthen environmental governance, mainly for emergency containment and clean-up of pollution.

Natural ecosystems such as rivers, groundwater, forests, etc. will take much longer than a few months to recover their capacity to provide ecosystem services. For example, the minimum recovery period for the provision of services in the fire-damaged forest areas will be 20 years or more (longer for ecological services).

In the future, restoring ecosystem service values for the Ukrainian context could avoid the need to use global or regional averages.

Despite the war, professionals in the Ukrainian water sector are doing their utmost to continue providing the many services needed by the population and to understand the damage to ecosystems as best they can. This video, produced by the Ukrainian Water Agency with EU support, shows the courage and dedication of Ukraine's water professionals.

Read more:

Our article about the impact of the Kakhovka dam destruction (July 2023)

CEOBS and Zoï Environment Network article about the impact of the Russia's war on water resources (December 2022), with maps and detailed case study of the Irpine river.