Selmin Burak

Ship-Originated Pollution in the Istanbul Strait (Bosphorus) and Marmara Sea

Abstract The marine environment of the Istanbul Strait and Marmara Sea is confronted by severe environmental degradation as a result of ship-originated pollution generated mainly by tankers and cargo vessels. Difficult natural conditions such as the intricate geometry of the Istanbul Strait, sharp turns on the navigation route, harsh meteorological conditions, and transient changes in the flow regime coupled with increasingly dense maritime traffic create a serious risk of accident. Significant amounts of crude oil spill have been the major cause of ecological damage experienced so far as a consequence of maritime accidents. The ecological hazard generated by oil spill has resulted in the decrease and/or extinction of surface and subsurface fish species and crustaceans. Furthermore, bilge, ballast, and wastewater release by vessels contributes to a great extent to marine pollution aggravated by the introduction of exotic species in different accidental ways as a result of heavy maritime traffic through the Istanbul Strait connecting two adjacent basins, namely the Mediterranean and Black Seas. This review presents the ecological hazard experienced so far based on the results of the monitoring study carried out in the Istanbul Strait and Marmara Sea and highlights the need for the improvement of international regulations for specific waterways such as the Istanbul Strait.

Environmental and Hydrological Management of the Golden Horn Estuary, Istanbul

Abstract The Golden Horn estuary has been one of the worst-affected coastal areas of Istanbul (Turkey) as a result of heavy and unplanned commercial and industrial activities along the shoreline, in particular, since the early 1950s. The estuary is an internal port, heavily polluted by creek discharges conveying domestic and industrial loads. It has also been affected by the implementation of ill-adapted coastal structures and upstream activities. Increased sediment deposition coupled with weakened water circulation has hindered the self-purification capacity of the estuary owing to its particular oceanographic features. In view of the amount of work already undertaken and valuable information already available, and on the basis of our observations related to the water mass structure and circulation of the Golden Horn, it has been demonstrated that the estuarine waterbody is governed by the hydrodynamic conditions of the Strait of Istanbul that are dependent on atmospheric factors, water budget, and nonlinear transient variances such as temporary blocking of the lower or upper layers of flow. The primary objectives set forth are, as a first step, to understand what problems this estuary faces and to suggest a comprehensive management and research program in which scientists, relevant organizations, local communities, and individuals with diverse expertise could collaborate in a partnership approach to promote and ensure the rational and efficient management of the Golden Horn estuarine system as a whole.

Water Management in the Mediterranean Region: Concepts and Policies

The Mediterranean Region exhibits significant contrasts in its demographic and hydrologic features that have shaped the water management policies of the Mediterranean countries. Although awareness is raising with respect to sustainable water management, the extent to which it is applied in practice is debatable. Use conflicts and non-renewable water extraction in water scarce part of the region like the Southern and Eastern rim countries are exposed as overriding management issues. Furthermore climatic variations are superimposed on natural hydro-stress and water dependency on external resources in most of the cases. Decision-making process needs measurable, comparable and reliable tools in order to be able to make trade-offs when facing conflicting issues. Indicators are valuable tools for understanding the trends and challenges encountered in water resources management. The Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention adopted, in November 2005, the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD). Integrated water resources and demand management constitute the first priority among the range of actions of the adopted strategy. Increasing efficiency by reducing losses and wasteful use is expected to help stabilise water demand in the Southern and Eastern part of the Mediterranean countries. In this paper, an assessment of the existing water management concepts and policies in Mediterranean countries will be presented based on sustainable development indicators related to water management.

Decision Making, Policy And Financing

Abstract: The most critical situation facing the health of water resources and aquatic ecosystems is not the result of a single activity on or near a lake, river, or stream. Instead, it is the combined and cumulative result of many individual activities throughout a waterbody?s entire natural drainage area, catchment area or watershed. A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, U.S. scientist and geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is: ?that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community. World-wide watersheds supply drinking water, provide recreation and respite, and sustain life. Throughout the world, countries depend on clean water and healthy watersheds for food, fiber, manufactured goods, and tourism. This natural capital is the basis for social economic systems in developed and developing countries and the building block for the future in undeveloped countries. In the United States more than

Overview of Water Management in Turkey: Issues, Constraints, Achievements, Prospect

450 billion in food and fiber, manufactured goods, and tourism depends on clean water and healthy watersheds. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. No matter where you are, you are in a watershed! As we all live in a watershed, our individual actions can directly affect it. The cumulative effects of all the individual actions of everyone within a watershed may be, and often are devastating to the quality of water resources and affect the health of living things including humans. Management for sustained use of water and other ecosystem resources requires a watershed based approach.

Comparative Analysis of Water Management Practices in Mediterranean Countries

The major systematic aspect of water related activities in Turkey is central planning. At the national level, the objective of the Five-Year Development Plans’ (FYDP) is to ensure the optimum distribution of all kinds of resources among various sectors of the economy. The latest, 9th plan covers the period of 2007–2013 with the major goal related to environmental protection and public infrastructure development. This plan underlines the fact that rapid urbanization and industrialization process is a pressure on the sustainable use of water resources; that although progress has been made, uncertainty with regard to institutional plurality and fragmentation across sectors remains. This issue is a big challenge on the way to substantial reforms with regard to water resources management. Therefore better cooperation and coordination is needed between institutions. Water management is gradually improving towards a sustainable development policy by internalizing the concepts of water demand management in the municipal, industrial and agricultural sectors.

Impact of urbanization and tourism on coastal environment

Water resources potential exhibits an important discrepancy in Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries. The water availability and dependency of countries on external resources have shaped their water policies to a great extent. Although centralized and traditional in many instances, the Mediterranean countries are subject to mutation with regard to their legal framework and institutional structure since the adoption of regional binding documents by the contracting parties (e.g. the Barcelona Convention and its protocols) and regional actions like the Mediterranean Action Plan initiated by the UNEP. Sustainable development objectives enunciated at the Rio Conference have been a driving force for the Mediterranean countries to re-evaluate their environmental policies, of which water management is considered to be the most important component. The legal and institutional framework related to the management of continental freshwater has been analyzed in Mediterranean countries with regard to water rights, the role of the state, institutions, planning, allocation, investment and cost recovery issues. After this analysis, a synthesis highlighting the major shortfalls and the corresponding solutions that the countries envisage in practice is given. This study was initiated and supported by the UNEP/MAP Blue Plan in 2000 and updated in 2005.