Water Quality Program Assessment and Abatement in the Dnipro Estuary

Water Quality Program Assessment and Abatement in the Dnipro Estuary Project - Phase 2" is an international technical assistance project of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), registered with the Department of International Technical Assistance Coordination of the Ministry of Economy and European Integration Issues. ULRMC is the implementer of this project and the Ministry for Environmental Protection of Ukraine (MEPU) is a Beneficiary.

The principal aim of the EPA-sponsored project "Water Quality Program Assessment and Abatement Dnipro Estuary Project - Phase 2" is to improve water resources management and Dnipro Estuary monitoring through the implementation of new methods, technologies and models, using the results of the earlier work performed in the EPA-supported Kaniv Reservoir project and Phase I of this Dnipro Estuary initiative.

According to the project's scope of work, there are two major purposes:

• To examine the status of water quality in the Dnipro Estuary using analyses and management techniques that have been successfully employed in the U.S.; and
• To teach Ukrainian specialists and managers throughout MEPU how to make sound environmental decisions based on good science and knowledge of the environment.

Within the framework of the project, ULRMC collaborates closely with the State Environmental Inspectorate under MENRU, the Kherson and Mykolayiv State Departments of the Environment and Natural Resources, and the Dnipro Basin Water Resources Department under the State Water Management Committee of Ukraine.

In August 2003, ULRMC conducted its third expedition to collect in-situ data on water quality in the Dnipro Estuary. As a result of this expedition, hydrogen sulphide was identified in 16 locations of the Dnipro Estuary as compared to 12 locations registered during the July 2003 expedition. An increase in chlorophyll-a was identified in the upper part of the estuary (up to 7 - 60.8 µg/l as compared to 6.05 - 41.01 µg/l during the July 2003 expedition, and 33.6 - 135.7 µg/l in the lower part of the estuary). Below normal oxygen concentrations were identified in the natural water layers at 14 locations, as compared to five locations at which such reduction was identified in the previous expedition. Excessive organic matter content was registered in the natural water layer at several locations. At several points (within fishery industry areas), the maximal permissible concentration (MPC) of saline ammonium was identified in the near bottom layers. As a result of this expedition, it became evident that the water quality in the Dnipro Estuary became worse by almost all indicators at the end of the summer period.

As of to date, ULRMC succeeded in the following tasks: 1) improved and modified the technical capabilities of MEPU's laboratories; 2) conducted three expeditions to get in-situ data for water quality in the Dnipro Estuary; 3) adapted mathematical models for water resources management: the Dnipro Estuary water quality models (TRITOKS/WASP model), model to calculate the water quality in the Ingulets River, sub-models to calculate the trajectory of ship-discharged oil patches in the Dnipro Estuary, models to calculate nitrogen and phosphorus inflow into the Dnipro Estuary and underflooding dynamics which depends on the work schedule of the Chervonozoryanska irrigation system (underground water model); 4) prepared proposals on clarifying the program for water resources protection in Kherson and Mykolaiv Oblasts; 5) conducted training on the use of the above-mentioned models for the specialists of MEPU; and 6) provided administrations of MEPU with developed models for their further use.

Moreover, ULRMC specialists found original approaches to the development of an automated database. The proposed model of project data, based on the conceptual GIS data model, will allow not only the integration of input data and water quality model calculations, but also the use of the acquired data for addressing water resource issues by appropriate institutions involved in the Project.

In September 2003, the Project was monitored by EPA Region IV experts, Dr. Jim Greenfield and Dr. John Marlar. The ULRMC Project Manager, Dr. Valery Serenko, overviewed the project accomplishments to date. The EPA experts provided their recommendations on the improvement of the project performance, and made remarks on the shortcomings to be eliminated. In general, EPA gave a good evaluation of the project performance.