THE ARTERY OF EASTERN UKRAINE
CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION IN THE DON BASIN: CLOSED “WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITIES” The experience of cooperation between the Siverskyi Donets Basin Administration of Water Resources of Ukraine and the Don Basin Water Administration of Russia goes back to the 1980s. One of the initial stages of working out the interaction principles can be based on the experience gained at that time in passing floods and emptying wastewater reservoirs of chemical enterprises located in Ukraine, depending on the expected amount of floods needed for dilution and to comply with the MAC in the border sections. The 1992 Agreement between the governments of the two countries on the joint use and protection of transboundary water bodies, including in the Siverskyi Donets river basin, defined the basic principles of water sharing, maintenance of hydraulic and water protection structures, implementation of recovery and conservation measures, conservation and recovery of bioresources, arrangements for monitoring of the surface water status, regular exchange of information and projections on flood development, as well as the expected water content in the low-water period.
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Commissioners and their deputies were appointed to implement the Agreement. During Agreement implementation, the procedure for organizing water management in the Siverskyi Donets basin was agreed upon, a program of joint control over the hydrochemical condition of water bodies was implemented, and requirements for compliance with hydrological and hydrochemical parameters at the border stations were established. Issues which concerned the interests of the adjacent states, such as the determining of regimes for filling and operation of reservoirs during floods and summer-autumn lows, operation of wastewater storages, indicators of water balances, construction of water facilities, were addressed only after mutual agreement. Meetings at the Deputy Commissioner level were held at least twice a year, working meetings of experts were held on specific issues, and the Siverskyi Donets basin working group included specialists of state ecological services, centers for sanitary inspection, geology and subsoil use, hydrometeorology, fish inspection, scientific and design organizations. Quarterly information was exchanged on the results of water quality observations at 10 border stations on 3 basin rivers, including 8 stations on the Siverskyi Donets river. During floods, as well as in cases of declining water levels in Ukraine, hydrological data were transmitted weekly or daily.
