International Cooperation for Emergency Warning and Prevention of Catastrophes in Kura River Basin

This paper is devoted to the activities of the regional project on "Development of Cross-National Cooperation for Incident Planning in the Kura River Basin Watershed" implemented in 2003-2006. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Safety. South Caucasus countries Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan participated in the project. The main goal of the project was the development of international cooperation and exchange of international experience aimed at protection of water basins against industrial pollution and increasing industrial safety in the Kura river basin. Prior to the implementation of this project in South Caucasus, similar projects have been implemented for 3 international major transboundary rivers - the rivers Rhine, Danube and Elba, for which International Commissions for protection have been established. With the help of the checklists developed by them (covering organizational and technical measures related to industrial safety) pilot investigations were carried out in the industrial enterprises with high potential hazards to water bodies and corresponding recommendations were provided. As a result of the project an international warning and alarm plan was developed in the Kura River Basin Watershed, the purpose of which was providing information exchange among the countries if needed. Based upon the information and warning systems existing in the countries at the national level, the corresponding departments in the participant countries were charged with the responsibilities of the International main warning centres, based on the justifications represented on the allocation of warning and international communication centres in the Kura basin