There are a lot of people in the world who live in the river basins. But there are some few countries where the river is so important for the economic, social, genetic, and other aspects of the people’s life as the Dnipro and its water-system is. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Dnipro as the main river of Ukraine for the formation and development of the Ukrainian nation. But its dangerous environment situation gives trouble to the governmental authorities, public environment organizations, great masses of population.

The building-up of the anthropogenetic pressure on the environment, the development of industry, and the increase of material requirements create the vital necessity of protecting the Dnipro environment. The solution is in implementing the goal-oriented state policy that will use the resources without their draining and guarantee same and some higher potential for the next generation.

The economic depression of the 90 years has complicated the problem of the further development of the environment policy and the solution of the Dnipro basin questions. In spite of the difficult economic situation of Ukraine the President and The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine have directed to prepare the National Program of Environmental Rehabilitation of the Dnipro Basin and Improvement of Potable Water Quality.

The Program was worked out by Extraordinary Committee on the Problems of the Environmental State of the Dnipro Basin and Improvement of Potable Water Quality, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety, including the participation of 20 ministries, over 30 scientific and design institutions, local authorities of the basin, the International Dnipro Fund, non-governmental and public organizations. The results of the projects of the Environmental Management Development in Ukraine (Dnipro Basin) Program of Canadian Technical Assistance have been taken into consideration, too.

The first Ukrainian-Canadian expedition of the 1995 including the participation of specialists of Canada, Netherlands, Slovakia, and the Institute of Colloid Chemistry and Water Chemistry, the Institute of Hydrobiology, the Ukrainian Research Institute of Environmental Problems, the Ukrainian Research Institute for Water and Ecological Problems have researched the environment state of Dnipro Basin for a long time. Their facts and up-to-date material have formed the strategy and the solution of one of the most important problems of Ukraine today.

27 February 1997 the National Program was approved by the Supreme Council of Ukraine.

The Program is directed for realization of the Main Direction of the state policy of Ukraine in the environment, the using of natural resources and the ecological safety in the Dnipro Basin.

The general goal of the Program is the environmental rehabilitation of the Dnipro river system, improvement of potable water, ecological safety for the population, the protection of water resources from pollution and draining.

The Program has two stages. In the first one (until 2000) the plan calls for an annual reduction of pollution levels in the Dnipro basin, creation of legal, organizational, technical, and economic foundations for transition to environmentally sustainable development of water bodies.

One of the ways suggested to accomplish this goal in through the development of a list of pressing environmental protection measures whose implementation shall help prevent unexpected crisis situations like disasters at purification plants, emergency releases from waste lagoons, destruction of river banks, and other catastrophes. This list of measures was approved by state and local authorities.

The main goal of the Program is to make sure legal, organizational, financial conditions for realization planned measures. They are additions and modifications in the water legislation and application of basin principles of water bodies management.

For the solution of these problems it is necessary to extend the circle of the scientific, research, legal and systematic aspects of works, to create the basin information system of environment management, to improve the monitoring system. The Ministry of Environment Protection and Nuclear Safety and some other ministries, scientific centers and research institutes have created the Scientific and Technical Support of the Environment Renewal of the Dnipro Complex Program.

The Program calls for a concentration of considerable forces and resources on a grand scale due to the large territory of the Dnipro Basin. The Program emphasizes the necessity of including the participation of several regions of Ukraine, many branches of industry, the public, the neighbouring countries of Russia and Belarus and the international community.

Recognizing the significance of the Dnipro basin for Europe and indeed the whole world, the Program stresses development of international cooperation, environmental training, education, and public awareness.

The solution of the Program tasks must to be an important part of the formation and development of the Ukrainian policy in its way to integrating of the world.

This page was carried out by the support of the grant from the International Development Research Center, Ottawa, Canada.