Mapping barriers in the Prut & Siret river basins, Ukraine

Introduction

The Prut and Siret rivers, integral components of the Danube River basin, encompass a vast and diverse landscape of over 8,000 rivers within a 75,140 square km basin in the Ukrainian Carpathians. This region is home to approximately a million people and faces anthropogenic pressures from various industries. Despite its ecological significance, the basin’s obsolete barriers have not been comprehensively assessed in the last two decades. The Prut and Siret rivers serve as crucial habitats for diverse terrestrial and aquatic species, including migratory and endangered ones, contributing to numerous biodiversity hotspots within the catchments.

Project context and opportunity

The lack of updated information on barriers within the basin over the past two decades presents a unique opportunity for a comprehensive field investigation. This project aims to conduct thorough fieldwork, identifying and documenting all types of barriers to prioritise them for removal, enhance ecological water states, and develop targeted protection measures. The project’s potential as a regional showcase is significant, especially for Carpathian countries sharing similar environments and economies. Engaging local communities will further facilitate identifying their needs for sustainable development, healthy rivers, and ecosystem services.

Project aims

The project seeks to achieve its objectives through a multi-faceted approach. The initial phases involve a desktop study to assess river issues and identify obsolete barriers. Subsequently, comprehensive fieldwork within the Prut and Siret River basins will be conducted to systematically identify, document, and create a GIS-based barrier database. The project will culminate in the design of an interactive map showcasing identified barriers earmarked for removal. Engaging local communities and authorities throughout these processes will foster collaboration and ensure the project aligns with the needs and aspirations of the region’s inhabitants, contributing to sustainable development and the restoration of these vital river ecosystems.

Project achievements

The project focused on studying the Prut and Siret river basins to identify structures impeding the free flow of rivers, mapping these barriers, collecting relevant data, and establishing criteria for prioritising barrier removal. The work was conducted in several stages, including:

• Collection of data field and a desktop study for preliminary assessment of river issues and obsolete barriers allowed the identification of 59 artificial obstacles across the Prut and Siret River Basins (52 in the Prut River Basin and 7 in the Siret River Basin). An interactive ArcGIS-based map was developed to display the locations of these barriers with detailed information, simplifying further analysis and visualisation of the data.
• Study of two communities through a socio-economic survey: a key outcome was the engagement with local communities along both rivers to understand their needs for ecosystem services, healthy rivers, and sustainable development.
• Workshops, educational video, and a large-scale communications campaign.
• Detailed analysis of Ukrainian legislation on barrier removals: through the organisation’s facilitation, critical measures for identifying and prioritising barriers to river flow and their removal were incorporated into the Program of Measures for the Prut and Siret River Basin Management Plan (RBMP). These measures were agreed upon by the Prut and Siret River Basin Council and subsequently approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in December 2024. Furthermore, proposals and recommendations developed by the organisation for river restoration, drought management, and barrier inventories were approved for inclusion in the Program of Measures for other river basins in Ukraine by their respective Basin Councils.
• Two sites were identified for barrier removals, with work set to begin in 2025.

The project was completed in January 2025. The final report is available here (in Ukrainian).