News
CATEGORY: Environment, Water Resources Management
LOCATION: Cyprus
START/END: 2015 - 2016
CONSULTANCY BUDGET: 277,400
CLIENT: Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Water Development Department (WDD)
ORIGIN OF FUNDING: Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Water Development Department (WDD)
PARTNERS: ECOS Consultants SA
LDK’s BUDGET SHARE: 50%
STAFF PROVIDED: 6
Type of Services
The consultant is going to be involved in the following activities:
PREPARATION OF THE 2ND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN
- Critical review of 1st WRMP, the Program of Measures and the Drought Management Plan and suggestions for improvement;
- Hydrologic analyses on rainfall and runoff timeseries, for the computation for the indices that describe drought and water scarcity;
- Hydrologic analyses of mean daily river discharges for the determination of the environmental flows in rivers downstream of dams or sites with major water abstractions.
- Analyses of data and measurements regarding the physico-chemical and biological status of different water bodies (rivers, lakes, estuaries) and categorization of the associated water bodies;
- Economic analysis of water production, transfer, use, treatment and reuse;
- Development of a Drought and Water Scarcity Strategy to confront serious deficits due to prolong droughts and development of Drought Vulnerability Maps for Cyprus;
- Classification of different water bodies regarding their hydromorphological conditions and the level of human pressures both quantitatively and qualitatively;
- Estimation of pollutant loads to various water bodies originating from point and diffuse sources of pollution;
- Estimation of water abstractions for various uses (water supply, irrigation, environment, industry) from surface and groundwater ;
- Set-up and delivery of organizational support regarding Public Participation and Consultation;
- Development of the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment, regarding all issues of the WRMP and the associated PoMs.
- Computation of drought and water scarcity indices as a tool for quantifying drought as well as a tool which facilitates early detection of the phenomenon of drought and assists in effectively managing and mitigating a drought’s adverse impacts. As such a tool, this set of drought indices forms an integral part of Drought Management Plans which map different values of drought indices to actions and measures to be taken for the effects of drought to be addressed and minimized. The analysis and assessment of drought indices provide information:
- for early warning as well as information about the onset and the end of droughts
- the intensity, duration and geographic extent of the drought
- the impact on the wider natural environment
- the impact on rivers, lakes and groundwater bodies
- the pressures on water supply and irrigation systems
- the pressures on non-irrigated agriculture
- Set up of the Geographical Information System (GIS) containing all aspects of water relevant issues of Cyprus for WISE reporting organized in geodatabases;
- Development of the Water Strategy of the Republic of Cyprus for the efficient management of its water resources;
- Technical Aid regarding institutional issues on water resources exploitation and management.
PREPARATION OF THE 1ND FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
- Hydrological analyses regarding uncertainty in all aspects of hydrologic modelling (idf curves, rainfall loss, runoff routing) that will influence the extent and severity of flooding;
- Hydrological analyses of historical floods and understanding of the natural or man-made mechanisms that generate flooding;
- Detailed 2-D hydraulic modelling of flooding using a sophisticated 2D model such as MIKEFLOOD and comparison to a simple 1-D model such as HEC-RAS;
- Set up of the Geographical Information System (GIS) containing all aspects of flood relevant issues of Cyprus for WISE reporting organized in geodatabases;
- Proposal of measures that prevent flooding or mitigate the aftermath of flooding;
- Development of the principles of an early warning system regarding floods;
- Set-up and delivery of organizational support regarding Public Participation and Consultation;
- Development of the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment regarding all issues of the Flood Risk Management Plan and the associated PoMs.
Description
The Republic of Cyprus suffers from water resources scarcity and deficits are experienced towards the water demands from various scopes of the social and economic activity (water supply, environment, agriculture, etc). On the other hand flood hazard is substantial during intense storms that may cause excessive damage on infrastructure or even loss of human lives. The European Union has launched two Directives, (a) the Water Framework Directive (EU2000/60) that ensure the Good Ecologic Status for all water bodies in the EU Member States, and (b) the Directive on the Assessment and Management of Flood Risks (EU2007/60). Member States have to follow closely the implementation of both directives and this is the main objective of the Project.
Cyprus has an intense Mediterranean climate with the typical seasonal variation strongly marked with respect to temperature, precipitation and weather in general. Hot dry summers from mid-May to mid-September and rainy, rather changeable, winters from November to mid-March are separated by short autumn and spring seasons of rapid change in weather conditions. The annual average precipitation is about 500 mm but it was as low as 182 mm in 1972/73 and as high as 759 mm in 1968/69. The seasonal distribution of surface runoff follows the seasonal distribution of precipitation, with minimum values during the summer months and maximum values during the winter months. As a result of the Eastern Mediterranean climate with long hot summers and a low mean annual precipitation, there are no rivers with perennial flow along their entire length. Most rivers flow 3 to 4 months a year and are dry during the rest of the year. Only parts of some rivers upstream in the Troodos areas have a continuous flow.
The implementation of the WFD requires the preparation of the 2nd Water Resources Management Plan for the Republic of Cyprus following the implementation of the 1st Plan in 2011.
The main objectives of the Preparation of the 2nd WRMP are:
- The Preparation of the 2nd Water Resources Management Plan for the Republic of Cyprus in which all details that described in the Article 11 and the Annex VI of the WFD.
- The Preparation of the unified Program of Measures (PoM) that will contain both basic and complementary measures in order to reach the environmental objectives.
- Review and completion of the reports for the update of the Article 5(2) of the WFD.
- The definition of the Heavily Modified and Artificial Water Bodies and the definition of the exemptions of the water bodies that will fail to reach the environmental objectives.
- The updated Drought Management Plan for the whole of Cyprus that will take advantage between a collection of drought indices aims to summarize the results of complex analyses of a large number of data in a few, easy to understand values which communicate essential information to water resources managers on what actions to take so as to timely and effectively address the impact of a drought of given severity, duration and areal extent.
- The Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) upon the implementation of the 2nd WRMP and the associated PoM.
- The organization of the Public Participation and Consultation Procedure and the incorporation of the consultation results in the final WRMP.
- Reporting under the WFD procedures via the electronic Platform of the EU Water Information System for Europe (WISE) under the requirements of the European Environment Agency (EEA)
According to the Implementation of the Directive on the Assessment and Management of Flood Risks (2007/60/EC) the main objectives are:
- Initial Actions for the Preparation of the FRMP regarding the evaluation of uncertainty of the results regarding the level of flood hazard and flood risk, the determination of the appropriate targets for the flood risk management plans and the organization of the cataloque of all Public Authorities that are involved in the management of flood risks.
- The Preparation of the 1st Flood Risk Management Plan in accordance with the 2nd WRMP.
- The Preparation of the PoM of the 1st FRMP.
- The Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) upon the implementation of the 2nd WRMP and the associated PoM.
- Public Participation and Consultation with the same structure as the one for the 2nd WRMP.
- Reporting under the WISE system.
