| July 26, 2002

More than 30 journalists gathered in Budapest between July 11-13 to discuss water issues in the Danube River Basin. According to Joszef Gayer, regional head of the Global Water Partnership for Central and Eastern Europe, the water crisis in the region is one of management.

He said that the hydrological conditions vary between the countries of central and eastern Europe, but that there are shared institutional and historical causes. \"We must learn how to get the public more involved in the decision making process,\" he said.

Top of the agenda is preparing the region for the EU Water Framework Directive. This wide-ranging legislation must be seen to be in place before any of the countries can join the European Union. However, it requires an estimated annual spending of between 2%-5% of gross domestic product, the likelihood is that much of the work will not get finished.

Accession to the European Union is one of the key drivers for change in the region. But before it can happen, there are still a number of important decisions to be made. For example, Hungary has around six million hectares of farm land. To comply with the terms of EU accession, it must set aside one million of these hectares. \"Who will decide that?\" asked Gayer. \"What will be done with the land?\"

Ursula Schmedtje, who works at the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, admitted that the directive makes tedious reading. For Hugh Goldsmith, projects directorate at the European Investment Bank, the Urban Wastewater Directive is even more important for the countries of the Danube region. \"This directive is the driving force for higher water rates throughout Europe,\" he said. \"It demands the construction of sewers and sewage treatment plants. The deadline for western European states is 2005, but many countries will miss it. For example, Brussels does not have a sewage treatment plant yet.\"

Goldsmith said that he thought there would be a number of grants available for countries and that this was the cheapest source of borrowing available. But Danka Thalmeinerova, head of Environmental Policy Program at the Academia Istropolitana Nova in Slovakia, insisted that there many obstacles to getting hold of EU financing.

\"Financial flows are murky,\" she said. \"Nobody can work out what will be the cost of meeting all the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive. Don\'t believe any of the figures you may hear. But the command and control approach of the EU does not help. It does not let individual countries do the most effective thing.\"

She says that there is a low absorption rate of foreign assistance. Foreign lenders often like to see the involvement of private companies because that increases the transparency and efficiency of the deal. However, privatisation is not a panacea, particularly if regulatory and legal frameworks are not in place. \"If you privatise with a weak legal structure there is a great risk that certain bad things will happen,\" said Professor Janusz Kindler, chairman of Global Water Partnership central and eastern Europe.

Ondeo, one of the largest water companies in the world, which is running the water supply in Budapest, reacted to criticism that they are charging for a product that is naturally available in nature. \"We do not trade in water,\" said Zoltan Csorba, managing director of Ondeo Services Hungary. \"We do not sell a product. We provide a service. In addition, we have invested heavily in the infrastructure of the Budapest water utility.\"

For Charlie Avis, a policy officer at the Worldwide Fund for Nature, with a responsibility for the Danube-Carpathian programme, the big issue is that while the European Union talks a lot about environmental responsibility, it is trying to turn the Danube into Transport Corridor Seven. \"The plans for the Danube with national, international and EU nature protection regulations and contradict recent commitments in the region,\" he said.

But what did the journalists think of the water problems and the quality of reporting in their countries. For Eugeniusz Pudlis, a senior reporter at Echa Lesne, the main problem in Poland is a lack of water. It has the third lowest amount of water in Europe after Malta and Belgium. There are also problems with flooding and droughts. In addition, journalists are not particularly interested in water or the environment. \"People want cars and fridges and a higher standard of living first,\" he says. \"I think we are destined to make the same environmental mistakes as western countries.\"

Jana Olivova, a reporter for Czech Radio, noted that the water quality had improved since the water companies had been privatised. For her, one of the big issues is coverage of the environment. \"There is still much scepticism of the work of environmental agencies such as Greenpeace,\" she said. \"In particular, people do not like their aggressive manner.\"

Richard Stahel, a journalist for Hospodarske Noviny, an economic magazine, pointed out that the key issues in Slovakia are the quality of drinking water and the need for sewage treatment. He said that there are problems for people paying for water, but that money is needed to help clean up many areas, particularly in those areas where there have been mines for centuries. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Environment have just resolved a 10-year dispute over a new water law, which was passed in July 2002. \"The Ministry of the Environment has a long list of programmes that it want so do, but there is simply not enough money.\"

Alexandru Savulescu, who writes for the Romanian Journal Perspective, said privatisation in his country was a controversial issue. \"Any project that involves a large amount of money is bound to be controversial,\" he said. Other important issues in Romania include the water supply, especially in rural areas, many cities lack proper sewerage, and alternate floods and droughts hit the country. \"For journalists wanting to report on the sector it is very difficult to get information,\" he said. \"Organisations with the information do not want to give it to you: they either want to use it themselves or sell it!\"

Slovenian journalist Danica Petrovic who writes for Jana, a magazine, said that there is very little reporting on the water sector in her country, because everybody believes that there will be clean water forever. She said that at the moment there are few problems with water supply, except in long, dry summers when every village uses volunteer firemen to supply freshwater from tankers. \"The water supply problems are in the east of the country where the bulk of the agriculture takes place,\" she said. \"This is also where there is the greatest pollution.\"

In Ukraine the three biggest problems are the quality of water, dirty rivers and the pollution in the Black Sea and Azov Sea. In Lviv, the hometown of journalist Zoya Skoropadenko when she is not travelling round the world, water is available only three hours per day. \"All the politicians promise us more water,\" she says. \"But nothing changes. There is a plan on the table for a $40 million loan from the World Bank. If the Ukrainians receive this money they will steal half of it.\"

She says that it is not hard to get information on the water sector, but it can take a lot of time, sometimes up to a month. \"Reporting on the quality of water is not very popular,\" she said. \"Even when we have outbreaks of cholera every year.\"

For Bulgaria\'s Ivan Bedrov, a newcomer to water issues but one of the country\'s leading television news political reporters, the conflict between the environment and development issues is the most critical. \"I think the environment does not stand a chance,\" he said. \"I think everybody will vote for jobs.\"

Reporting on the Water Sector:
Reporting on the water sector is more exciting than it sounds. It covers every aspect of life and involves everyone. It is economic, political and social. It can be both dangerous and difficult. So where to start?

\"Europe has the highest tariffs for water in the world,\" said Hugh Goldsmith. \"Higher water prices are coming. Journalists should check for increases in efficiency.\" As well as focusing on the efficiency of their local utilities, journalists should also look at cost and prices; the impact on people; the quality of water; whether people have access to it; whether politicians keep their promises; water and agriculture; the effect that economic development might have on the environment; and ensure their reports are well researched, lively and balanced.