River basin management plan are drawn up every six years in order to have an up-to-date overview of the status of Estonian surface water and groundwater and the factors influencing them. Thus, activities are planned every six years, i.e. measures to improve the status of water bodies. River basin management plans are prepared by the Ministry of the Environment.
Interested parties are involved in the preparation of river basin management plans and an action plan has been drawn up for this purpose (in Estonian):
RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS AND PROGRAMME OF MEASURES FOR THE RIVER BASINS OF WEST ESTONIA, EAST ESTONIA AND KOIVA FOR THE PERIOD OF 2021-2027 HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT on 7 october 2022.
The Environmental Board prepares an action plan for each river basin for the implementation of the river basin management plan. This is a plan that describes the actions or measures necessary for achieving a good status. The action plan is approved by the Minister of the Environment on the proposal of the Water Management Committee.
Read how the status of water bodies is assessed:
Eesti vete seisund | 3.92 MB | pdf (Status of the water bodies in Estonia)
Every year, the Environmental Board prepares an overview of the activities, which are submitted to the Water Management Committee for approval by 1 May of the following year. The review is made public after it has been approved by the Water Management Committee.
LIFE IP CleanEST
The financing agreement LIFE17 IPE/EE/00007 of Life IP CleanEST project was signed between the Ministry of the Environment and the European Commission on 14 December 2018. The project will last for 10 years and has a total cost of EUR 16.7 million.
Goal
The aim of the project is the application of the measures intended for the Viru sub-basin, foreseen within the Eastern Estonia water management plan and programme of measures, as well as the development of a new water management plan for the period 2021-2027. The integration of the project consists in involving different areas for the implementation of the activities planned in the project. The project includes 38 bodies of watercourses, 2 coastal water bodies and 8 groundwater bodies.
Partners
The project is led by the Ministry of the Environment. The partners of the project include: the Environmental Board, Estonian Environmental Research Centre, the Ministry of the Environment, the Information Technology Centre of the Ministry of the Environment, the Geological Survey of Estonia, the Ministry of Rural Affairs, Tallinn University of Technology, the Estonian University of Life Sciences, the Science Centre AHHAA, Estonian Public Broadcasting, the State Forest Management Centre, the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce, the cities of Rakvere and Narva, the rural municipalities of Alutaguse, Lüganuse, Viru-Nigula, Vinni, Kadrina, Rakvere, the Ida-Viru County Association of Municipal Governments and the NGO Rivers Trust as a partner from abroad.
Main activities
The main fields of activity are the transformation of residual pollution, the liquidation of migration barriers, reestablishment of salmon into the Purtse River, measures to reduce pressures from agriculture on the environment, reduction of point and diffuse source pressures, and the increasing of environmental awareness.
More information about the project can be found on the project's website Lifecleanest or on the Facebook account Virumaa veed puhtaks (Let’s clean water bodies in Virumaa).
The Environmental Board is engaged in the implementation of measures to reduce the point source pressure on surface water and groundwater.
The measures related to wastewater treatment plants in industries and settlements in the Viru sub-basin are filtered out from the measures programme of surface water and groundwater of the water management plan. Before waste water from industries and settlements is discharged into a water body, it must be cleaned in such a way that the waste water complies with the limit values for wastewater pollution indicators required in the environmental permit. Compliance with the requirements and conditions related to the permit is supervised by the Environmental Board. The pollution load of effluent from industries and settlements to water bodies is reduced by means of these activities.
The focus is also on reducing the diffuse load of surface and groundwater. For this purpose, the wastewater treatment systems of properties in the Viru sub-basin outside the wastewater collection areas and, in the long term, outside the areas covered by collective sewerage, their condition, the functioning of the systems and the need for investment will be mapped. The aim is to ensure proper local management and thereby prevent the risk to the environment and human health.
The Environmental Board carries out various events and activities that increase environmental awareness.
A total of 20 nature evenings will be organised during the project, where the activities and achievements of the project will be presented. There will be a drawing competition for 5-13 year olds and three photo competitions for youths aged 14-19 and three online quizzes for schoolchildren. A total of five 2-day nature camps will also be organised for young people aged 14-19. Within the framework of the project, a Soolikakoja virtual discovery trail has been completed in Rakvere, which is available to everyone in the web application avastusrada.ee. Information about events that increase environmental awareness can be found on the Facebook page of both the Environmental Board and Virumaa.
Spawning and habitats suitable for fish and destroyed or damaged by human activity will be restored. By improving the condition of water bodies, we are also helping to achieve nature conservation objectives.
A total of 10 km of water habitats will be restored, while water bodies remaining in Natura sites are preferred.
The Environmental Board is involved in the restoration of river habitats by means of organizing communal work. The Board will involve volunteers in the restoration of river habitats and provide the necessary materials and tools for the work. In addition, the Environmental Board leads the working group on water habitat restoration.
Last updated: 16.12.2022
