Despite Georgia's overall abundance of water, access to safe drinking water is still a problem almost in all regions. Virtually all water supply systems suffer severe anthropogenic pressure, being contaminated by industrial, communal, and agricultural wastewater. These problems in many terms interlace to the legislative and institutional inconsistencies. Improvements in the water policy sector have been planned for several years. Shifting to more sustainable Integrated River Basin Management has been a priority of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia since 2007. However, actual improvements have not been achieved so far.
In the framework of the ECBSea project, in agreement with the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia, was developed a Concept for New Water Law of Georgia addressing issues of integrated water resources management to be covered by the new water law of Georgia. Another output of the project is Water Sector Convergence Plan for Georgia, which provides list of actions and implementation timetables for approximation of Georgian Water Related Legislation to the related EU Directives.
Both outputs of the project will be presented and discussed at the Public Outreach Event planned on September 15th in the Hotel Ambassador. Among the participants are broad specter from the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources, National Environment Agency, other state Ministries and Institutions, International Organizations and Projects and Civil Society Representatives.