Implementing the water framework directive in Bulgaria: Integrated river basin management on the Black Sea coast.

EC member states and candidate countries are in the process of implementing the requirements of the EC Water Framework Directive 2000/60, which came into force on 22 December 2000. At the core of the Directive is an integrated approach for sustainable water management in river basin districts. The overall objective is to reach good water status for all waters by the year 2015. The challenges for countries implementing the Directive are substantial not least for the River Basin Management Authorities who will be the implementing unit at the regional level. The Black Sea River Basin Directorate in Varna is one of four Directorates established in Bulgaria in 2002 in accordance with the Bulgarian Water Act and is the regional operational unit under the Ministry of Environment and Water for the Black Sea Basin catchment area. The catchment area covers 20% of Bulgaria and 100% of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Current implementation activities in the Black Sea Basin Directorate and also at the national level are supported by the Danish EPA through its DANCEE programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Water. This paper highlights the main activities and outputs of the technical and institutional undertakings in the Black Sea Basin Directorate focusing on the preparation of the River Basin Overview by Dec. 2004.

Setting-up a cost recovery system for the largest wastewater treatment plant in South-East Asia.

A tariff system has been set up for the largest wastewater treatment plant in South-East Asia, the Samut Prakarn Wastewater Treatment Plant south of Bangkok, which is currently under completion. Fully functional the plant will have a design capacity for 500,000 m3 per day and will service a combined residential and industrial area with approximately 600,000 residents and 2,300 factories. The tariff system, which includes a tariff model, is based on water consumption and BOD load. As background for setting the tariffs a comprehensive monitoring system including an industrial permitting system has been developed. The paper presents the background and rationale for setting up the system as well as the objective, scope and content of the tariff system and the industrial permit system. Further, the feasibility of introducing cost recovery systems, which is widely accepted in developing economies on the conceptual level and to some extent implemented at the legal and regulatory level, but has yet to be implemented at large, is discussed.