Our natural lakes are drying up in Turkey. Urgent Basin-Based Water Management Required
Our natural lakes and wetlands are rapidly disappearing due to climate change, populist policies, lack of planning, faulty water management approach and inadequate institutional structure. Our lakes are drying up, fish species are disappearing, birds no longer visit, ecological balance is being upset.
Basin Based Water Management
The process of transition to basin-based management in Turkey is based on hydrological basin boundaries. Water management, which is based on hydrological basin boundaries, is not only the most basic approach for the rational use of water resources, but also a form of water management that must be implemented in accordance with the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive.
In the basin management approach, management is gathered in a single institution with administrative institutional structures such as "basin authority", "basin commission" or "basin directorates". This institution allocates water according to the present and future needs of various sectors based on basin management plans. Generally, water quantity and allocation is made by a single institution.
The National Basin Management Strategy 2012-2023 prepared by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs prioritizes the protection, efficiency and conservation of water resources in the basins, as well as the provision of necessary water supply to water users and the planning of water-related investments with the basin-based management model. In this framework, basin action plans will be prepared for 25 river basins in Turkey and basin management committees will be established to represent all stakeholders in the basin.
The adoption of basin-based management model, which is one of the main approaches in solving water problems, is seen as an important step for the future of water in Turkey. The establishment of basin-based management units will also increase participation in the basin. One of the most concrete steps in the transition to basin management approach in Turkey is the Department of Basin Management Planning established under the General Directorate of Water Management. One of the main duties of the Department is the preparation and implementation of Basin Protection Plans and River Basin Management Plans.
In this direction, the Regulation on the Preparation of Watershed Protection and Management Plans entered into force in 2012. The purpose of this regulation is to protect the quantity, physical, chemical and ecological quality of surface waters and groundwater with a holistic approach and to regulate the procedures and principles regarding the preparation of water basin management plans. The Basin Protection Action Plans to be prepared in the first stage in accordance with the Regulation will form the basis for the Basin Management Plans to be prepared by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs.
In Turkey, the process of preparing Basin Protection Plans to form the basis for River Basin Management Plans is ongoing. Under the coordination of the former Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Basin Protection Plans have been completed for 11 basins and studies have been initiated for the remaining 14 basins. In addition, work on River Basin Management Plans for 4 basins (Susurluk Basin, Meric-Ergene Basin, Konya Closed Basin and Büyük Menderes Basin) for which Basin Protection Action Plans have been completed started in 2013 and is still ongoing.
Precautions to be taken
1. Our natural lakes and wetlands are rapidly disappearing due to climate change, populist policies, lack of planning, faulty water management approach and inadequate institutional structure. Our lakes are drying up, fish species are disappearing, birds no longer visit, ecological balance is being upset.
2. Identification and monitoring activities for 303 lakes and wetlands identified in the Lakes and Wetlands Action Plan (2017-2023) of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs have been completed, but the improvement step remains incomplete. This deficiency cannot be completed with the current water management approach and inadequate institutional infrastructure.
3. Protection and rescue of our lakes from all kinds of threats is possible with an integrated understanding of WATER MANAGEMENT (planning, implementation, supervision) at the River Basin scale and an effective Basin Management institutional infrastructure.
4. For the improvement and sustainable protection of the lakes, the Draft Water Law should be passed by the Parliament and water management at the Basin scale should be rapidly adopted.
5. In this context, a strong institutional structure should be established to protect our lakes at the river basin scale.
6. The water budget calculations of our lakes should be redone by this institution taking into account climate change, Basin Planning should be revised, water allocations should be redone by examining the water uses made from the surface waters flowing into the lakes and the groundwater that feeds the lakes.
7. In the basins where our lakes and wetlands are located, surface and groundwater withdrawals that feed the lakes should be taken under instant control with advanced technological systems.
8. Water allocations of irrigations without modern irrigation infrastructure and water allocations of people and businesses that overdraw water should be canceled in the basins where the water resources feeding the lake are located.
