The current reform and remaining challenges in Georgia's water sector were the focus of the 7th steering committee meeting of the National Policy Dialogue on Integrated Water Resource Management on 5 March.
Delegates from national authorities, local stakeholders, non-governmental organisations and international experts from EU Member States shared practical experiences of the water reform journey and discussed the next steps in ensuring environmentally-sound management of water resources.
The EU Water Directives provided a framework to set up policy objectives for Georgia's water sector. The National Policy Dialogue supports water reform by strengthening water governance and enhancing stakeholder involvement in the decision-making process.
The meeting discussed the progress made on legal and regulatory reforms, the development of pilot river basin management plans for the Alazani-Lori and Khrami-Debeda basins and emerging needs associated with implementing the EU Association Agreement.
The meeting was facilitated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia with support from the European Union through the 'European Union Water Initiative plus for the Eastern Partnership Countries' (EUWI+) programme.