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The Parties to this Protocol,
Mindful that water is essential to sustain life and that the availability of water in
quantities, and of a quality, sufficient to meet basic human needs is a prerequisite both
for improved health and for sustainable development,
Acknowledging the benefits to human health and well-being that accrue from
wholesome and clean water and a harmonious and properly functioning water environment,
Aware that surface waters and groundwater are renewable resources with a limited
capacity to recover from adverse impacts from human activities on their quantity and
quality, that any failure to respect those limits may result in adverse effects, in both
the short and long terms, on the health and well-being of those who rely on those
resources and their quality, and that in consequence sustainable management of the
hydrological cycle is essential for both meeting human needs and protecting the
environment,
Aware also of the consequences for public health of shortfalls of water in the
quantities, and of the quality, sufficient to meet basic human needs, and of the serious
effects of such shortfalls, in particular on the vulnerable, the disadvantaged and the
socially excluded,
Conscious that the prevention, control and reduction of water-related disease are
important and urgent tasks which can only be satisfactorily discharged by enhanced
cooperation at all levels and among all sectors, both within countries and between States,
Conscious also that surveillance of water-related disease and the establishment of
early-warning systems and response systems are important aspects of the prevention,
control and reduction of water-related disease,
Basing themselves upon the conclusions of the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), in particular the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development and Agenda 21, as well as upon the programme for the further
implementation of Agenda 21 (New York, 1997) and the consequent decision of the Commission
on Sustainable Development on the sustainable management of freshwater (New York, 1998),
Deriving inspiration from the relevant provisions of the 1992 Convention on the
Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and emphasizing
the need both to encourage more widespread application of those provisions and to
complement that Convention with further measures to strengthen the protection of public
health,
Taking note of the 1991 Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a
Transboundary Context, the 1992 Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial
Accidents, the 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of
International Watercourses and the 1998 Convention on Access to Information, Public
Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters,
Further taking note of the pertinent principles, targets and recommendations of the
1989 European Charter on Environment and Health, the 1994 Helsinki Declaration on
Environment and Health, and the Ministerial declarations, recommendations and resolutions
of the "Environment for Europe" process,
Recognizing the sound basis and relevance of other environmental initiatives,
instruments and processes in Europe, as well as the preparation and implementation of
National Environment and Health Action Plans and of National Environment Action Plans,
Commending the efforts already undertaken by the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe and the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization to
strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation for the prevention, control and
reduction of water-related disease,
Encouraged by the many examples of positive achievements by the States members of
the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the States members of the Regional
Committee for Europe of the World Health Organization in abating pollution and in
maintaining and restoring water environments capable of supporting human health and
well-being,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this Protocol is to promote at all appropriate levels, nationally as
well as in transboundary and international contexts, the protection of human health and
well-being, both individual and collective, within a framework of sustainable development,
through improving water management, including the protection of water ecosystems, and
through preventing, controlling and reducing water-related disease.
Article 2
DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Protocol,
1. "Water-related disease" means any significant adverse effects on human
health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders, caused directly or indirectly by
the condition, or changes in the quantity or quality, of any waters;
2. "Drinking water" means water which is used, or intended to be available
for use, by humans for drinking, cooking, food preparation, personal hygiene or similar
purposes;
3. "Groundwater" means all water which is below the surface of the ground in
the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil;
4. "Enclosed waters" means artificially created water bodies separated from
surface freshwater or coastal water, whether within or outside a building;
5. "Transboundary waters" means any surface or ground waters which mark,
cross or are located on boundaries between two or more States; wherever transboundary
waters flow directly into the sea, these transboundary waters end at a straight line
across their respective mouths between points on the low-water line of their banks;
6. "Transboundary effects of water-related disease" means any significant
adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders, in an
area under the jurisdiction of one Party, caused directly or indirectly by the condition,
or changes in the quantity or quality, of waters in an area under the jurisdiction of
another Party, whether or not such effects constitute a transboundary impact;
7. "Transboundary impact" means any significant adverse effect on the
environment resulting from a change in the conditions of transboundary waters caused by a
human activity, the physical origin of which is situated wholly or in part within an area
under the jurisdiction of a Party to the Convention, within an area under the jurisdiction
of another Party to the Convention. Such effects on the environment include effects on
human health and safety, flora, fauna, soil, air, water, climate, landscape, and
historical monuments or other physical structures or the interaction among these factors;
they also include effects on the cultural heritage or socio-economic conditions resulting
from alterations to those factors;
8. "Sanitation" means the collection, transport, treatment and disposal or
reuse of human excreta or domestic waste water, whether through collective systems or by
installations serving a single household or undertaking;
9. "Collective system" means:
(a) A system for the supply of drinking water to a number of households or
undertakings; and/or
(b) A system for the provision of sanitation which serves a number of households or
undertakings and, where appropriate, also provides for the collection, transport,
treatment and disposal or reuse of industrial waste water,
whether provided by a body in the public sector, an undertaking in the private sector
or by a partnership between the two sectors;
10. "Water-management plan" means a plan for the development, management,
protection and/or use of the water within a territorial area or groundwater aquifer,
including the protection of the associated ecosystems;
11. "The public" means one or more natural or legal persons, and, in
accordance with national legislation or practice, their associations, organizations or
groups;
12. "Public authority" means:
(a) Government at national, regional and other levels;
(b) Natural or legal persons performing public administrative functions under national
law, including specific duties, activities or services in relation to the environment,
public health, sanitation, water management or water supply;
(c) Any other natural or legal persons having public responsibilities or functions, or
providing public services, under the control of a body or person falling within
subparagraphs (a) or (b) above;
(d) The institutions of any regional economic integration organization referred to in
article 21 which is a Party.
This definition does not include bodies or institutions acting in a judicial or
legislative capacity;
13. "Local" refers to all relevant levels of territorial unit below the level
of the State;
14. "Convention" means the Convention on the Protection and Use of
Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, done at Helsinki on 17 March
1992;
15. "Meeting of the Parties to the Convention" means the body established by
the Parties to the Convention in accordance with its article 17;
16. "Party" means, unless the text otherwise indicates, a State or a regional
economic integration organization referred to in article 21 which has consented to be
bound by this Protocol and for which this Protocol is in force;
17. "Meeting of the Parties" means the body established by the Parties in
accordance with article 16.
Article 3
SCOPE
The provisions of this Protocol shall apply to:
(a) Surface freshwater;
(b) Groundwater;
(c) Estuaries;
(d) Coastal waters which are used for recreation or for the production of fish by
aquaculture or for the production or harvesting of shellfish;
(e) Enclosed waters generally available for bathing;
(f) Water in the course of abstraction, transport, treatment or supply;
(g) Waste water throughout the course of collection, transport, treatment and discharge
or reuse.
Article 4
GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The Parties shall take all appropriate measures to prevent, control and reduce
water-related disease within a framework of integrated water-management systems aimed at
sustainable use of water resources, ambient water quality which does not endanger human
health, and protection of water ecosystems.
2. The Parties shall, in particular, take all appropriate measures for the purpose of
ensuring:
(a) Adequate supplies of wholesome drinking water which is free from any
micro-organisms, parasites and substances which, owing to their numbers or concentration,
constitute a potential danger to human health. This shall include the protection of water
resources which are used as sources of drinking water, treatment of water and the
establishment, improvement and maintenance of collective systems;
(b) Adequate sanitation of a standard which sufficiently protects human health and the
environment. This shall in particular be done through the establishment, improvement and
maintenance of collective systems;
(c) Effective protection of water resources used as sources of drinking water, and
their related water ecosystems, from pollution from other causes, including agriculture,
industry and other discharges and emissions of hazardous substances. This shall aim at the
effective reduction and elimination of discharges and emissions of substances judged to be
hazardous to human health and water ecosystems;
(d) Sufficient safeguards for human health against water-related disease arising from
the use of water for recreational purposes, from the use of water for aquaculture, from
the water in which shellfish are produced or from which they are harvested, from the use
of waste water for irrigation or from the use of sewage sludge in agriculture or
aquaculture;
(e) Effective systems for monitoring situations likely to result in outbreaks or
incidents of water-related disease and for responding to such outbreaks and incidents and
to the risk of them.
3. Subsequent references in this Protocol to "drinking water" and
"sanitation" are to drinking water and sanitation that are required to meet the
requirements of paragraph 2 of this article.
4. The Parties shall base all such measures upon an assessment of any proposed measure
in respect of all its implications, including the benefits, disadvantages and costs, for:
(a) Human health;
(b) Water resources; and
(c) Sustainable development,
which takes account of the differing new impacts of any proposed measure on the
different environmental mediums.
5. The Parties shall take all appropriate action to create legal, administrative and
economic frameworks which are stable and enabling and within which the public, private and
voluntary sectors can each make its contribution to improving water management for the
purpose of preventing, controlling and reducing water-related disease.
6. The Parties shall require public authorities which are considering taking action, or
approving the taking by others of action, that may have a significant impact on the
environment of any waters within the scope of this Protocol to take due account of any
potential impact of that action on public health.
7. Where a Party is a Party to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a
Transboundary Context, compliance by public authorities of that Party with the
requirements of that Convention in relation to a proposed action shall satisfy the
requirement under paragraph 6 of this article in respect of that action.
8. The provisions of this Protocol shall not affect the rights of Parties to maintain,
adopt or implement more stringent measures than those set down in this Protocol.
9. The provisions of this Protocol shall not affect the rights and obligations of any
Party to this Protocol deriving from the Convention or any other existing international
agreement, except where the requirements under this Protocol are more stringent than the
corresponding requirements under the Convention or that other existing international
agreement.
Article 5
PRINCIPLES AND APPROACHES
In taking measures to implement this Protocol, the Parties shall be guided in
particular by the following principles and approaches:
(a) The precautionary principle, by virtue of which action to prevent, control or
reduce water-related disease shall not be postponed on the ground that scientific research
has not fully proved a causal link between the factor at which such action is aimed, on
the one hand, and the potential contribution of that factor to the prevalence of
water-related disease and/or transboundary impacts, on the other hand;
(b) The polluter-pays principle, by virtue of which costs of pollution prevention,
control and reduction shall be borne by the polluter;
(c) States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the
principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources
pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to
ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the
environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction;
(d) Water resources shall be managed so that the needs of the present generation are
met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs;
(e) Preventive action should be taken to avoid outbreaks and incidents of water-related
disease and to protect water resources used as sources of drinking water because such
action addresses the harm more efficiently and can be more cost-effective than remedial
action;
(f) Action to manage water resources should be taken at the lowest appropriate
administrative level;
(g) Water has social, economic and environmental values and should therefore be managed
so as to realize the most acceptable and sustainable combination of those values;
(h) Efficient use of water should be promoted through economic instruments and
awareness-building;
(i) Access to information and public participation in decision-making concerning water
and health are needed, inter alia, in order to enhance the quality and the
implementation of the decisions, to build public awareness of issues, to give the public
the opportunity to express its concerns and to enable public authorities to take due
account of such concerns. Such access and participation should be supplemented by
appropriate access to judicial and administrative review of relevant decisions;
(j) Water resources should, as far as possible, be managed in an integrated manner on
the basis of catchment areas, with the aims of linking social and economic development to
the protection of natural ecosystems and of relating water-resource management to
regulatory measures concerning other environmental mediums. Such an integrated approach
should apply across the whole of a catchment area, whether transboundary or not, including
its associated coastal waters, the whole of a groundwater aquifer or the relevant parts of
such a catchment area or groundwater aquifer;
(k) Special consideration should be given to the protection of people who are
particularly vulnerable to water-related disease;
(l) Equitable access to water, adequate in terms both of quantity and of quality,
should be provided for all members of the population, especially those who suffer a
disadvantage or social exclusion;
(m) As a counterpart to their rights and entitlements to water under private law and
public law, natural and legal persons and institutions, whether in the public sector or
the private sector, should contribute to the protection of the water environment and the
conservation of water resources; and
(n) In implementing this Protocol, due account should be given to local problems, needs
and knowledge.
Article 6
TARGETS AND TARGET DATES
1. In order to achieve the objective of this Protocol, the Parties shall pursue the
aims of:
(a) Access to drinking water for everyone;
(b) Provision of sanitation for everyone
within a framework of integrated water-management systems aimed at sustainable use of
water resources, ambient water quality which does not endanger human health, and
protection of water ecosystems.
2. For these purposes, the Parties shall each establish and publish national and/or
local targets for the standards and levels of performance that need to be achieved or
maintained for a high level of protection against water-related disease. These targets
shall be periodically revised. In doing all this, they shall make appropriate practical
and/or other provisions for public participation, within a transparent and fair framework,
and shall ensure that due account is taken of the outcome of the public participation.
Except where national or local circumstances make them irrelevant for preventing,
controlling and reducing water-related disease, the targets shall cover, inter alia:
(a) The quality of the drinking water supplied, taking into account the Guidelines for
drinking-water quality of the World Health Organization;
(b) The reduction of the scale of outbreaks and incidents of water-related disease;
(c) The area of territory, or the population sizes or proportions, which should be
served by collective systems for the supply of drinking water or where the supply of
drinking water by other means should be improved;
(d) The area of territory, or the population sizes or proportions, which should be
served by collective systems of sanitation or where sanitation by other means should be
improved;
(e) The levels of performance to be achieved by such collective systems and by such
other means of water supply and sanitation respectively;
(f) The application of recognized good practice to the management of water supply and
sanitation, including the protection of waters used as sources for drinking water;
(g) The occurrence of discharges of:
(i) Untreated waste water; and
(ii) Untreated storm water overflows
from waste-water collection systems to waters within the scope of this Protocol;
(h) The quality of discharges of waste water from waste-water treatment installations
to waters within the scope of this Protocol;
(i) The disposal or reuse of sewage sludge from collective systems of sanitation or
other sanitation installations and the quality of waste water used for irrigation
purposes, taking into account the Guidelines for the safe use of waste water and excreta
in agriculture and aquaculture of the World Health Organization and the United Nations
Environment Programme;
(j) The quality of waters which are used as sources for drinking water, which are
generally used for bathing or which are used for aquaculture or for the production or
harvesting of shellfish;
(k) The application of recognized good practice to the management of enclosed waters
generally available for bathing;
(l) The identification and remediation of particularly contaminated sites which
adversely affect waters within the scope of this Protocol or are likely to do so and which
thus threaten to give rise to water-related disease;
(m) The effectiveness of systems for the management, development, protection and use of
water resources, including the application of recognized good practice to the control of
pollution from sources of all kinds;
(n) The frequency of the publication of information on the quality of the drinking
water supplied and of other waters relevant to the targets in this paragraph in the
intervals between the publication of information under article 7, paragraph 2.
3. Within two years of becoming a Party, each Party shall establish and publish targets
referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, and target dates for achieving them.
4. Where a long process of implementation is foreseen for the achievement of a target,
intermediate or phased targets shall be set.
5. In order to promote the achievement of the targets referred to in paragraph 2 of
this article, the Parties shall each:
(a) Establish national or local arrangements for coordination between their competent
authorities;
(b) Develop water-management plans in transboundary, national and/or local contexts,
preferably on the basis of catchment areas or groundwater aquifers. In doing so, they
shall make appropriate practical and/or other provisions for public participation, within
a transparent and fair framework, and shall ensure that due account is taken of the
outcome of the public participation. Such plans may be incorporated in other relevant
plans, programmes or documents which are being drawn up for other purposes, provided that
they enable the public to see clearly the proposals for achieving the targets referred to
in this article and the respective target dates;
(c) Establish and maintain a legal and institutional framework for monitoring and
enforcing standards for the quality of drinking water;
(d) Establish and maintain arrangements, including, where appropriate, legal and
institutional arrangements, for monitoring, promoting the achievement of and, where
necessary, enforcing the other standards and levels of performance for which targets
referred to in paragraph 2 of this article are set.
Article 7
REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS
1. The Parties shall each collect and evaluate data on:
(a) Their progress towards the achievement of the targets referred to in article 6,
paragraph 2;
(b) Indicators that are designed to show how far that progress has contributed towards
preventing, controlling or reducing water-related disease.
2. The Parties shall each publish periodically the results of this collection and
evaluation of data. The frequency of such publication shall be established by the Meeting
of the Parties.
3. The Parties shall each ensure that the results of water and effluent sampling
carried out for the purpose of this collection of data are available to the public.
4. On the basis of this collection and evaluation of data, each Party shall review
periodically the progress made in achieving the targets referred to in article 6,
paragraph 2, and publish an assessment of that progress. The frequency of such reviews
shall be established by the Meeting of the Parties. Without prejudice to the possibility
of more frequent reviews under article 6, paragraph 2, reviews under this paragraph shall
include a review of the targets referred to in article 6, paragraph 2, with a view to
improving the targets in the light of scientific and technical knowledge.
5. Each Party shall provide to the secretariat referred to in article 17, for
circulation to the other Parties, a summary report of the data collected and evaluated and
the assessment of the progress achieved. Such reports shall be in accordance with
guidelines established by the Meeting of the Parties. These guidelines shall provide that
the Parties can use for this purpose reports covering the relevant information produced
for other international forums.
6. The Meeting of the Parties shall evaluate progress in implementing this Protocol on
the basis of such summary reports.
Article 8
RESPONSE SYSTEMS
1. The Parties shall each, as appropriate, ensure that:
(a) Comprehensive national and/or local surveillance and early-warning systems are
established, improved or maintained which will:
(i) Identify outbreaks or incidents of water-related disease or significant threats of such outbreaks or incidents, including those resulting from water-pollution incidents or extreme weather events;
(ii) Give prompt and clear notification to the relevant public authorities about such outbreaks, incidents or threats;
(iii) In the event of any imminent threat to public health from water-related disease, disseminate to members of the public who may be affected all information that is held by a public authority and that could help the public to prevent or mitigate harm;
(iv) Make recommendations to the relevant public authorities and, where appropriate, to the public about preventive and remedial actions;
(b) Comprehensive national and local contingency plans for responses to such outbreaks,
incidents and risks are properly prepared in due time;
(c) The relevant public authorities have the necessary capacity to respond to such
outbreaks, incidents or risks in accordance with the relevant contingency plan.
2. Surveillance and early-warning systems, contingency plans and response capacities in
relation to water-related disease may be combined with those in relation to other matters.
3. Within three years of becoming a Party, each Party shall have established the
surveillance and early-warning systems, contingency plans and response capacities referred
to in paragraph 1 of this article.
Article 9
PUBLIC AWARENESS, EDUCATION, TRAINING, RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT AND INFORMATION
1. The Parties shall take steps designed to enhance the awareness of all sectors of the
public regarding:
(a) The importance of, and the relationship between, water management and public
health;
(b) The rights and entitlements to water and corresponding obligations under private
and public law of natural and legal persons and institutions, whether in the public sector
or the private sector, as well as their moral obligations to contribute to the protection
of the water environment and the conservation of water resources.
2. The Parties shall promote:
(a) Understanding of the public-health aspects of their work by those responsible for
water management, water supply and sanitation; and
(b) Understanding of the basic principles of water management, water supply and
sanitation by those responsible for public health.
3. The Parties shall encourage the education and training of the professional and
technical staff who are needed for managing water resources and for operating systems of
water supply and sanitation, and encourage the updating and improvement of their knowledge
and skills. This education and training shall include relevant aspects of public health.
4. The Parties shall encourage:
(a) Research into, and development of, cost-effective means and techniques for the
prevention, control and reduction of water-related disease;
(b) Development of integrated information systems to handle information about long-term
trends, current concerns and past problems and successful solutions to them in the field
of water and health, and provision of such information to competent authorities.
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