Key messages

• Renewable freshwater resources are unevenly distributed throughout the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries due to natural conditions. In 2017, Georgia (12 000 m3/capita) and Belarus (6 000 m3/capita) were regarded as water-abundant countries, whereas Armenia (3 000 m3/capita) held sufficient renewable water resources. The Republic of Moldova (1 800 m3/capita) and Azerbaijan (1 730 m3/capita) are prone to water scarcity over the period 2000-2017.

• In 2017, Armenia and Azerbaijan overexploited renewable freshwater resources for agriculture and public water supply; the estimated water exploitation index was 61 % and 72 %, respectively. Due to ineffective water demand management, both countries have experienced water scarcity for a long time.

• Water pollution is not a new issue in the region, but will be exacerbated in future by intensified agriculture and industrialisation and urbanisation, particularly if these developments are not supported by improved wastewater treatment. The lack of financial resources or insufficient management of water resources will exacerbate the problem.

• The main problem in rivers related to high concentrations of ammonium (NH4) and phosphate caused by discharges of untreated or insufficiently treated wastewater and by agriculture. At two thirds of the river sites reported in the EaP countries the current concentration of ammonium is above the recommended levels for cyprinid fish in the European Union (EU) Fish Directive. Phosphate concentrations have increased since 2008. At present, almost half of the EaP river sites have phosphate concentrations which are high enough to cause eutrophication.

• The pollution of surface waters has direct impact on the volume of groundwater abstracted by increasing demand on groundwater resources, particularly in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Overall, between 2000-2017, the water abstraction from surface and groundwater increased by 32 % in Armenia and 10 % in Azerbaijan. Water abstraction in Georgia has also increased by 20 % since 2005. In other EaP countries, the water abstraction has relatively decreased due to decline of some economic sectors (e.g. agriculture in Moldova) or water-use efficiency (e.g. in Belarus).

• Aged water-conveyance systems cause high water losses and spillover effects on increasing water abstraction for public water supplies. In 2017, the water-conveyance system in Armenia caused 79 % water loss in the public water supply. Similarly, 63 % of water was lost in the Georgian water-conveyance system, 49 % in Moldova, and 48 % in Azerbaijan, whereas Belarus, with only 18 % of water losses, registers the highest conveyance efficiency among the EaP countries.

• The EaP countries have improved their economy by generating gross domestic products between two to four times higher since 2000. However, only Belarus achieved absolute decoupling between water use and increase in gross domestic product. In 2017, Belarus used 8 m3 of water to produce one unit of gross domestic product whereas Armenia used 79 m3, Azerbaijan 58 m3, Moldova 43 m3 and Georgia 39 m3 for the same unit of product.

• Knowledge-based policymaking still remains a key objective for the EaP countries, at least in the water sector, which should be supported by improving monitoring programmes and development of systematic capacity building in using available data and information for the national experts. This may also stimulate the effectiveness of cooperation and collaboration in the context of transboundary large river basins.

• Within the framework of the European Neighourhood Policy (ENP) , all partners have committed to achieve tangible benefits to the livelihood of the citizens across the region by focusing on achieving 20 deliverables for 2020, including in the field of the environment. Furthermore, the Association Agreements between the EU and Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, as well as the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and

Enhanced Partnership Agreement support, among others, the alignment of national water legislation with the EU and international standards. When achieved, significant progress will be registered in the protection and integrated management of water resources in the region.

• Countries are still facing several important institutional and managerial challenges. Specifically, attention should be paid to the establishment and functioning of river basin councils, the development of stakeholder models and practices and public involvement, the development of a sustainable funding mechanism for implementing the River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) and the production of robust and reliable data. At the regional level, bilateral and multilateral cooperation on transboundary basins should be strengthened both within the region and with EU Member States and other countries.