Transboundary watercourses and international lakes, 1992 Convention: protocol on water and health

PURPOSE : to conclude the Protocol on Water and Health to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. CONTENT : the Protocol on Water and Health to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes has been prepared jointly by the Parties to the Convention and States members of the regional committee for Europe of the World Health Organisation in co-operation with the UN-ECE and WHO-Europe secretariats and the European Commission. The Protocol aims at preventing, controlling and reducing the incidence of water-related disease through appropriate measures for the purpose of achieving: - adequate supplies of wholesome drinking water, including the protection of water resources used for drinking; - adequate sanitation at a level which protects human health and the environment; - effective protection of water resources as sources of drinking water and their related ecosystems, from pollution, including agriculture, industry and other discharges and emission of hazardous substances; - adequate safeguards for human health against water-related disease arising from the use of water for recreational purposes, production of fish in aqua culture, production and harvesting of shellfish, use of waste water for irrigation or use of sewerage sludge in agriculture or aqua culture; - effective systems for monitoring situations likely to result in out breaks or incidents of water-related diseases and for responding to such outbreaks and incidents and the risk of them. The Protocol does not create new legal obligations for the Community in the field of water policy. Its scope in relation to water is identical to that iof the Parent Convention, ratified by the Community in 1995, and fully compatible with the existing Community legislation. A few elements of the parent Convention not already covered by Community legislation have been addressed through the directive establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (2000/60/EC).