Transboundary subparts of groundwater bodies (GWB) and transboundary monitoring network of the Republic of Belarus and the Ukraine - developed under the European Water Initiative Plus for Eastern Partnership Countries (EUWI+)

The EU-funded program European Water Initiative Plus for Eastern Partnership Countries (EUWI+), which is the biggest commitment of the EU to the water sector in the EaP countries, helps Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine to bring their legislation closer to EU policy in the field of water management, with a main focus on the management of transboundary river basins. It supports the development and implementation of pilot river basin management plans, building on the improved policy framework and ensuring a strong participation of local stakeholders.

In 2019, with the support of EUWI+, groundwater experts from Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus identified transboundary groundwater bodies (GWBs) in the Dnipro River Basin of Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus. In total eight (3 unconfined and 5 confined) transboundary GWBs in Ukraine were identified as transboundary linked with six GWBs in Belarus. As some of these GWBs are significantly large, follow-up studies in 2020 aimed at identifying those sub parts of the GWBs which are subject to transboundary groundwater interaction. Finally, on both sides of the border, transboundary corridors at a distance of 50 km from the state border were identified as sub-zones of the existing large GWBs. This distance was chosen to capture the recharge areas of the zone of active water exchange (watersheds) and the areas of groundwater discharge (river valleys).

The investigated transboundary territory is located in Polissia, a zone of excessive moisture, where the GWBs are mainly recharged by precipitation - the unconfined GWBs all over the whole territory, the confined GWBs at places where shallow water-bearing rocks occur. In the transboundary zone, the regional recharge area is located in the Ukrainian Shield; most of the aquifers are recharged on its slopes. The direction of groundwater flow is from the Ukrainian Shield towards the artesian basins in Belarus. 

The Ukrainian part of the territory, where the confined aquifers are recharged, is characterised by minor anthropogenic pressures - very low population density and no large industrial enterprises. Therefore, impacts from the Ukrainian side on the GWBs in Belarus are limited. In contrast, the border area in the Republic of Belarus is one of its most developed industrial regions.

The analysis showed that the groundwater monitoring network in the Ukrainian 50-km transboundary zone has practically been destroyed due to long-term underfunding and it requires substantial restoration. In Belarus, the monitoring network is quite representative and requires some improvements; in some GWBs  the monitoring network is unevenly distributed and in some GWBs, the number of monitoring wells is insufficient

Within this study a comprehensive set of analytical material on geological-hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical, hydrodynamic aspects of the study area was collected, a number of open issues were identified, which will substantially contribute to the development and harmonization of not only the groundwater monitoring system of the transboundary territory of the Pripyat and Dnieper river basins in Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus, but also the groundwater monitoring system of the countries as a whole.