ICIWaRM continues work with OSCE and UNECE on Transboundary Dniester River Basin

Beginning in July 2013, ICIWaRM subject matter experts have developed a Multi-Reservoir Model using HEC ResSim for the Dniester River Basin (DRB), located in Ukraine and Moldova. The model is one of twelve components of the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy developed through the UNECE and OSCE project, “Climate Change and Security in the Dniester River Basin,” which aims to improve transboundary water management and build the capacity to adapt to climate change within the DRB.

Kristin Gilroy, Rolf Olsen, and Fauwaz Hanbali were in Kiev, Ukraine from 20-24 April 2015 to present their work at the Tenth Meeting of the Working Group on Flood Management and Climate Change Adaptation. This group is led by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The ICIWaRM team demonstrated both long-term planning and real-time applications of the model to aid water managers in collaboratively developing a water management plan that accounts for energy, environmental, agricultural, municipal water supply, and flood risk management needs.

In October 2015, the team held a capacity building workshop for reservoir modeling to support long-term planning and real-time decision making. The Ukrainian and Moldovan participants are considering the reservoir model for a real-time forecasting system. The ICIWaRM team was able to discuss the technical requirements for such a system with the Hydro-meteorological Center participants. They are currently collaborating with OSCE and UNECE to develop a proposal for future work integrating the model into the Dniester River Basin water management strategy for 2017-2018.

The work is also a case study for the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), to which ICIWaRM is an important partner.