The Case of the Gediz River in Turkey

1. SMARTSustainable Management of Scarce Resources in the Coastal Zone The Case of the Gediz Riverin Turkey 5–6 January 2003 Cairo,EGYPT

2. INTRODUCTION Current Issue: sustainable management of water short basins Case: Gediz River Basin in Turkey • hydrology • water use patterns • legal, institutional, environmental factors

3. Istanbul Population: 65M (65% Urban) Growth: 1.5% (rural – 0.7%) GDP: Agriculture 15% (45% employment) Industry 23% Services 62% Gediz Basin Izmir

4. GEDIZ BASIN:trend from a water rich basin to one that is closing due to: • Drought of 1989-1994 • Above average increase in urban and industrial demand (COMPETITION FOR WATER) • Issues of water quality and environmental protection (concerns for the wetland) • Slower institutional response in water allocation and management

5. IMPORTANT ISSUES: • The increasingly apparent need for a unified coordinating mechanism for allocating water among various uses to replace existing bilateral processes. • The continuing struggle between older long-established institutions dealing with water resource development and water allocation and emerging institutions concerned primarily with water quality and environmental issues.

6. IMPORTANT ISSUES: • The need to represent and protect the interests of certain water users, such as the Gediz Delta ecology and the Irrigation Associations. • The need for clear rules assigning responsibility for setting water quality and quantity standards and monitoring actual conditions and for sufficient political power and will to sanction violators of the standards.

7. Major Problems little new water available for allocation the institutional set-up is not yet fully developed both surface and groundwater use are largely unregulated groundwater extraction is growing rapidly in response to urban and, particularly, industrial demand The Current Status of the Basin

8. The Current Status of the Basin Major Problems • there is no functional system of allocating rights to either surface or ground water • deteriorating water quality in the Gediz and its tributaries resulting from urban and industrialwastewater discharges and, to a lesser extent, agricultural return flows.

9. Institutional Framework • two public agencies responsible for in-stream and wastewater quality monitoring, but with no enforcement powers • the provincial governor has the enforcement power

10. Institutional Framework • compartmentalized responsibilities for basin planning and monitoring • limited coordination among the responsible units is limited • severe imbalance in power among the various involved parties – industry, municipalities, agriculture, and the environment.

11. Solutions require: • systematizing water rights • developing coordinating mechanisms among managers, • involving the private sector in wastewater treatment, • and the emergence of an effective NGO-based advocacy for environmental concerns in the basin.

12. Water Resources Hydrology: • typically Mediterranean • after the irrigation season, flows only from the few larger tributaries plus residual return flows from irrigated areas and industrial and municipal wastewater discharges to the river • net annual surface water availability :1,900 million cubic meters per year (before drought) • after drought: 940 million cubic meters per year

13. Water Resources Hydrology: • current demand: 660 million cubic meters per year • 1991-1993: declining year-to-year water tables • safe annual yield for groundwater in the main part of the valley and Nif valley: 160 million cubic meters (less than 219 million cubic meters estimated as being extracted) • groundwater use exceeds, by the sustainable limit

14. NON-AGRICULTURAL DEMAND high increases higher than average growth rate: in-migration growth of domestic demand: 2-3% per year growth of industrial demand: 10% per year domestic and industrial demand met by groundwater growing concern for water quality CHANGING PATTERNS OF DEMAND

15. CHANGING PATTERNS OF DEMAND • IRRIGATION • drought effects on changing demand • rice replaced by cotton • increase in grapes and fruits (reduced demand for irrigation water) • total irrigation deliveries: 70% of the pre-drought situation

16. Basin Water Use largest user: irrigated agriculture total commandarea: 110 000 ha water use: 550 million m3/y 40 000 ha of irrigated land: pump-based

17. MUNICIPAL AND URBAN USE • towns and villages in the basin • diversions to Izmir (no return flow) • no accurate records on total water extractions • all municipal extractions: groundwater: 130 million cubic meters per year

18. MUNICIPAL AND URBAN USE • all industrial extractions: groundwater • no accurate records • bird sanctuary: RAMSAR site • since 1990, the reserve suffers from water shortages (summer months) • water required for waste conveyance from within Basin to the sea

19. Estimated Water Use by Sector

20. Review of Physical Conditions • total withdrawals: 660 MCM • 83% of that going to large-scale irrigation systems • inadequate allocation for wetlands • no hydroelectric power generation after the drought

21. Review of Physical Conditions • increasing water pollution (urban and municipal demand increasing 6-8% per year) • 16% of groundwater used for irrigation; majorly for domestic and industrial use • pressure on aquifers (quantity and quality) • additional allocations for waste load transport and dilution.

22. Key actors and essential basin management functions in the Gediz Basin

23. LEGAL, POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT • 11 essential functions • limited planning at basin level • no integrated plan to consider both surface and groundwater • water allocation by independently operating agencies (DSI, private surface and groundwater irrigators, industries) • no national legal framework for surface water rights

24. LEGAL, POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT • both surface and groundwater are open access resources • water quality monitoring exists but information is not available in useful forms • only the provincial governor has enforcement on wastewater discharges • no attention paid to agricultural return flows • agricultural drainage infrastructure inadequately maintained • NGOs have no role in performing essential functions

25. SUMMARY OF PROBLEMS Poor Surface Water Quality. • weak enforcement, • weak coordination among involved agencies, • limited availability of data, • haphazard monitoring of wastewater discharges, • inadequate funding for wastewater treatment plants, and • limited public awareness of the problem.

26. SUMMARY OF PROBLEMS Unknown Groundwater Quality. groundwater quality monitoring is not widespread Loosely-controlled Allocation Among Users. • inadequate representation of user interests, • inadequate specification of water needs, • ineffective reporting and record keeping.

27. SUMMARY OF PROBLEMS Long-Term Problems. • require more fundamental changes in laws, policies, institutions, and practices. • Rudimentary Water Rights System, • Lack of integrated planning.

28. presence of DSI water quality is serious but not yet catastrophic proportions recognition of different actors for solution of water quality problems STRENGTHS TO BUILD ON

29. STRENGTHS TO BUILD ON • recognition of multiple dimensions to water resource management problems – different disciplines, different interests, different uses, ground and surface water, quantity and quality, and so on. • a new water law under consideration

30. CHALLENGES • systematize water rights; • build representational presence and political muscle; • develop coordinating mechanisms such as a basin authority; and • involve the private sector.