Mohammad A. Latif, P.E. Bureau Environmental Officer USAID Europe and Eurasia Bureau Presented at the Black Sea – Danube Regional Conference on Nutrient Pollution Control in Chisinau, Moldova – October 2006

1. $ and Sense of Non-point Source
Water Pollution in Eastern
Europe and USAID/ Moldova
Case Study
Chisinau, Moldova, October 2006
Mohammad A. Latif, P.E.
Bureau Environmental Officer
USAID Europe and Eurasia Bureau

2. 2
Danube River Catchment & Hot Spots
01/6380
Bodrog/Upper
Tisza Basins
AUSTRIA
CZECH REPUBLIC
ROMANIA
CROATIA
BOSNIA AND
HERZEGOVINA
SLOVAKIA
POLAND
GERMANY
MOLDOLVA
BULGARIA
UKRAINE
YUGOSLAVIA
SWITZERLAND
SLOVENIA
ITALY
MACEDONIA
GREECE
TURKEY
BELARUS
HUNGARY
Hornad/Hernad
Basin
Cris/Koros
Basin
Project Overview

3. 3
Water Quality Monitoring Stations along the Romania /
Hungary border
R.
ple
ér
Suplacu
Oradea
Debrecen
Barza Brad
02/6380ref02/5780
H U N G A R Y
MS-2
MS-5
MS-6
MS-4
R O M A N I A
MS-7
Stei
Pocsaj
´
Sebes-Koros¨ ¨
Mako´
Korosszakal
Sarkad
Bekes´ ´
Bekescaba´ ´
MS-6
H-7
R-5
R-9
R-10
R-11
R-12
R-13
R-2
Watershed
River
Country Boundary
Monitoring Station
LEGEND
Activities & Results: Hungary

4. 4
Point & Non-point Source water pollution
challenges in Romania
• Industrial Sites
– Petroleum, phenols, suspended solids, zinc, chromium,
heavy metals, copper, cyanide, hexavalent chromium
• Incompletely Treated Wastewater From Oradea
Municipal Plant Discharged to Rapid Cris
• Institutional Issues, Inadequate Infrastructure
• Agriculture and mining
Activities & Results: Romania

5. 5
USAID/CNFA-Moldova
Agribusiness Development Project
2001-2004 Environmental Programs
Water Quality Monitoring

6. 6
Site Specific Mitigation and Monitoring, and Point
Source Water quality monitoring
Environmental Review Documents (ERD) were prepared for each Farm
Store and Farm Service Center By USAID Implementers.
Each ERD contained:
A. ER Checklist (of Environmental Consequences)
B. Impacts (Explanation of)
C. Recommended Environmental Threshold Determination
D. Mitigation Measures
E. Monitoring Procedures
F. Approvals
Over 100 site specific M&M documents were
prepared during the CNFA and project and
maintained in a central database

7. 7

8. 8
List of CNFA Water Quality Monitoring Stations
1) Sireuti station, Prut River near Sireuti village
2) Cahul station, The lower part of the Prut stream near Cahul town
3) Mereseuca station, Dniester River near Mereseuca village
4) Rascaieti station,Lower part of Dniester River near Rascaieti
village
5) Balti station, Raut River near Balti town
6) Orhei station, Raut River near Orhei town
7) Straseni station, Bic River near Straseni town
8) Bulboaca station, Bic River near its confluence with the Dniester
River, near Bulboaca village
9) Causeni station, Lower part of Botna River near Causeni town
10)Cimislia station, Cogilnic River near Cimislia town

9. 9
List of CNFA Water Quality Monitoring Stations
11) Aluat station, Downstream of Yalpug River near Aluat
village
12) Cahul (Vulcanesti), The Cahul River South of Vulcanesti
town, New added stations
13) Egorovca borehole, Soroca town
14) Mitoc borehole, Mitoc village
15) Costesti water body, Costesti village
16) Ghidighici water body, Vatra village
17) Dubasari water body, Dubasari town
18) Taraclia water body, Taraclia town
19) Cuciurgan water body, Dnestrovsc town
20) Comrat water body, Comrat town

10. 10
Non-point Source Water Pollution sampling and testing
• Samples were taken in the fall and in the spring
• Samples were taken under normal weather conditions (after a non-
rain period of at least 2-3 days)
• Samples were tested for 27 ingredients at the Monitoring Center on
Environmental Quality (MCEQ) of the State Hydrometeorological
Service in Moldova.

11. 11
1
C
2
V
4
G
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I
5
R
E
6
U
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B
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S
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O
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R
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S
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M
1
5
C
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E
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M
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G
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D
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C2
0
C18
T

12. 12
INSERT GRAPHIC
TO ADD PHOTO
Water quality in the Prut River

13. 13
Water quality in the Upper Dniester

14. 14
Major pollutant values in the Bic River a) before it enters
industrial and municipal areas and b) near its confluence with
the Dniester

15. 15
Water quality in the Lower Dniester

16. 16
Concentrations of major pollutants of the Cogilnic River

17. 17
Persistent Organic Pollutants

18. 18
Observations and Conclusions
• There seems to be no growing tendency in water
pollution levels; in majority of stations, concentrations
of most ingredients is decreasing compared when
compared with soviet times.
• Increased ammonia concentrations, while exceeds
Moldova MAC in some cases are still lower than
European MAC standard.
• In cases of increased concentrations of Zn where
registered, it could be explained by the presence of
widely spread Vendian Age rocks rich in zinc.
• There is still a cumulative, prolonged effect of soviet
time agricultural practices characterized by over
usage of copper containing pesticides and ammonia
containing fertilizers.
Summary and Results

19. 19
References
1) Mohammad A. Latif: USAID'S Transboundary Pollution Reduction
Program in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania for Global Environmental
Facility (GEF), Danube River Project; First International Conference on
Management of Transboundary Waters in Europe, Mrzezyno, Poland,
September 1997.
2) Mohammad A. Latif : Environmental Impacts, USAID'S Global
Environmental Facility (GEF)/ Danube River Pollution Reduction Program
in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania; XIXth Conference of the Danube
Countries on Hydrological Forecasting and Hydrological Bases of Water
Management, Osijek, Croatia, June 1998.
3) Mohammad A. Latif: USAID Water Projects in Europe and Eurasia Region-
Case Studies in Environmental and Water Management Technology
Applications in Romania and Poland; Second Annual Environmental
Conference on water and Mining in Romania, Bucharest, Romania,
September 2005.
4) Constantin Mihailescu (Moldova Minister of Environment), Aureliu
Overcenco (CNFA) and Mohammad A. Latif: USAID/CNFA-Moldova-2001-
2004 Environmental Programs, Water Quality Monitoring, December 2005
5) USAID/Bureau Environmental Officer’s office Compliance Records at
USAID/Washington, DC

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Ensure that the environmental consequences of USAID
financed activities are identified and considered by USAID and
the host country prior to a final decision to proceed and
ensure to adapt appropriate environmental safeguards.
If you want to save money ($), it makes sense to do
timely water quality monitoring to attract
investment for economic growth and infrastructure
upgrade
Thank You