The Ministry of Economy is continuing to work on the legislative framework for the conservation and restoration of water resources. In particular, there are plans to grant peatlands protected legal status and simplify the procedure for dismantling hydraulic structures that are harmful to rivers. In addition, a number of European decisions are already in force in Ukraine, from the introduction of the basin management principle to the launch of the e-Monitoring system.
This was reported by the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.
Features of peatland use
One of the regulatory instruments for the protection of wetlands is to be a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers "On the features of the legal regime for the use of land under peatlands and possible types of their intended use." The document was created with the support of UNDP and the Global Environment Facility.
The draft aims to introduce a special legal regime for land plots under peatlands, as well as to establish uniform rules for their use. These rules are developed based on environmental restrictions.
Among the norms proposed in the resolution are the following:
- the lands will have such possible designated uses as: nature reserve or water reserve, forestry, health and wellness, and historic-cultural purposes;
- a separate information layer "Peatlands with special regime" will be added to the State Land Cadastre;
- the status of peatlands must be considered when making decisions regarding land use and changes in their designated purpose.
The provisions of the resolution will apply only to future decisions and therefore will not affect the current designated use of lands under peatlands. Thus, economic activities that are already being conducted there will not be restricted.
Preservation of river water content
Another way to protect water resources, as noted by the Ministry of Economy, is the draft Law "On Amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine and Certain Other Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Preservation of River Water Content and Their Protection from Pollution."
Most Ukrainian rivers have lost their water abundance and natural flow due to the regulation by hydraulic structures and the straightening of riverbeds. At the same time, many such structures lack proper supervision, and their demolition requires going through a lengthy and complicated procedure.
Therefore, the document primarily concerns the management of hydraulic structures. It proposes to inspect them, register them, identify objects harmful to river water content, and simplify the procedure for dismantling ownerless structures.
European integration solutions
Ukraine is progressively implementing European practices in the water sector. Among those already realized are the following:
- legislation in the water policy sector has been updated;
- the basin management principle for water resources has been introduced;
- identification of surface and groundwater bodies has been carried out;
- river basin districts and their boundaries have been defined;
- water management balances have been approved and basin councils established;
- new approaches to water monitoring and assessment of their condition based on ecological quality standards have been implemented.
Another solution is to implement e-Monitoring starting in 2026. According to a unified methodology, water samples for analysis will be collected at 553 locations on Ukrainian rivers, reservoirs, and lakes, as well as at 587 wells and other groundwater sources.
“With this program, it will be possible to view the complete data history for the entire research period at each monitoring point. You will be able to see these dynamics yourself. At the same time, what is innovative about this program is that research results are transmitted directly and immediately from laboratories. Also, this year the e-Monitoring program is resuming groundwater monitoring,” stated Iryna Ovcharenko, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine.
EcoPolitic previously reported that over the past half-century, the global area of wetlands has decreased by more than 400 million hectares. This is one of the factors contributing to the global water bankruptcy declared by the United Nations.
