Draft of Watershed Management Plans introduced
Wednesday, August 7
A nationwide presentation of the draft version of the Watershed Management Plans developed by the INRMW-Georgia Program was held at the Old Tbilisi Hotel on July 30.
The presentation and discussion of watershed studies and watershed management plans is organized by the GLOWS consortium member Representative Office of Florida International University in Georgia (ROFIU-GE). The meeting aimed at receiving feedback and reaching a common understanding among broad strata of nationwide stakeholders on detailed watershed studies and draft watershed plans developed under the INRMW program.
The general findings of detailed watershed studies and integrated natural resources management planed by the INRMW Program incorporate:
1) Integrated management of natural resources
2) Water safety studies and water safety plans for pilot cities
2) Energy analysis and energy passports
3) Disaster risk reduction vulnerability and climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.
In his opening speech, Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Protection, Shalva Amirejibi, said the establishment of integrated management principles and approaches to natural resources in the frames of watershed management are important for the environment.
He said unstable usage of any of the resources within the river basin may damage the entire system and negatively affect the ecosystem and population, even reaching trans-boarder scales.
Jill Kelley, Director of the USAID Environment and Energy Office; Maria Donoso, Director of the GLOWS Consortium, at Florida International University; Ryan Stoa, GLOWS ‘ Consortium Program Executive Officer, Florida International University, and Mariam Shotadze, Country Program Director for the INRMW-Georgia Program, also shared their opinions on the issue and provided recommendations.
The Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Ministry of Agriculture, the donor community and donor-funded environmental projects, Independent experts and NGOs were also present.
