WEPA NewsThe 42nd issue
1 March, 2024
The Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA) is an initiative proposed by the Japanese Ministry of theEnvironment. It aims to strengthen water environmental governance and capacity building in Asia. For further
information, please visit the WEPA website (https://wepa-db.net/).

TopicsWEPA Topics
1.

The 19th WEPA Annual Meeting and International Workshop in Hayama, Japan

2.

Completion of the WEPA Action Program in Lao PDR

3.

Site visit to wastewater treatment facilities in Japan

4.

Protection & management of river water quality in Sri Lanka

5.

10th World Water Forum

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1. The 19th WEPA Annual Meeting and International Workshop
The 19th WEPA Annual Meeting and International Workshop were held in Hayama, Kanagawa,Japan, on 30 and 31 January, 2024, jointly hosted by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan(MOEJ). At the annual meeting on the first day, WEPA partner countries made presentations on
the status of the water environment and latest policies to address issues in their respectivecountries.
WEPA started its activities in 2004, and this year marks the 20th year of WEPA. Over a total of fourphases, the partner countries have worked on water environmental governance and improved
water quality in public waterbodies. The objective of WEPA’s fourth phase is "compliance with thelaw”, and the WEPA annual meetings and the international workshops have been organized every
year, focusing on domestic wastewater management and industrial wastewater management. To
see how past efforts have paid off, this year's annual meeting focused on the water environment
itself.
Of the 13 countries scheduled to participate in the meeting and workshop, representatives from 12
countries were in attendance in Hayama. At the annual meeting on 30 January, participating
countries presented their goals for the water environment, introduced existing policies to address
water-related issues, and explained their current challenges and future direction. Following this,the workshop was held on 31 January, and experts from the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, andJapan presented various policy developments and revisions in the morning session, and then in
the afternoon, representatives from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (onbehalf of AWaP), the City of Yokohama, MOEJ, and three private companies presented initiatives
and technologies to conserve the water environment. Prof. Motoyuki Suzuki, Special Advisor tothe WEPA Advisory Board, closed the workshop by looking back at 20 years of WEPA and set out
where WEPA is heading going forward.
In March, the Secretariat plans to publish the Fourth Phase Final Report, which includes reviewsof WEPA activities from the first to the fourth phases.
Meeting report, including program and presentation materials, is now available on the WEPA
website: https://wepa-db.net/meeting

2. Completion of the WEPA Action Program in Lao PDR
The WEPA Action Program in Lao PDR, funded by MOEJ, aims to provide technical support to theDepartment of Natural Resources and Environmental Inspection (DNREI) of the Lao Ministry ofNational Resources and Environment (MONRE). This support focuses on capacity building for both
relevant central and local governmental agencies regarding proper operation and management(O&M) of decentralized wastewater treatment systems in Lao PDR.
In November 2023, a Consultation Workshop was organized in Luang Prabang to gather feedbackon the training material that was developed as part of the outputs from the Action Program. During
this Consultation Workshop, Prof. Thammarat from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), on
behalf of the drafting team, delivered lectures based on the training material and facilitated an
opening discussion to gather comments and feedback from participants on the draft contents ofthe training material. Subsequently, participants' feedback was incorporated into the final version
to improve the practicality and clarity of the training material, which was developed in collaboration
with various stakeholders including AIT, MONRE, and the National University of Laos. After theConsultation Workshop, a field visit was arranged for all participants to assess the status andperformance of a decentralized wastewater treatment system installed at Luang Prabang's nightmarket.
In January 2024, a Final Workshop was held to share the final draft of the training material andfacilitate group discussions to identify the scope, target audience, and draft outline for theTechnical Guidelines on Proper Operation and Maintenance of Decentralized Wastewater
Treatment Systems in Lao PDR. Based on insights gathered during this workshop, MONRE will
start preparing the 1st draft of the Technical Guidelines in the upcoming months.

Consultation meeting and site visits in Luang Prabang in November 2024

Final workshop in Vientiane in January 2024

3. Site visit to wastewater treatment facilities in JapanWEPA has been focusing on domestic wastewater management throughout its fourth phase, andoperation and maintenance (O&M) play key parts in such management. Therefore, using theopportunity of the annual meeting in Japan, the Secretariat decided to compare the managementof decentralized and centralized wastewater treatment facilities in Japan. To this end, participants
visited wastewater treatment facilities in Kanagawa on 1 February, 2024. In cooperation with thedomestic water conservation association of the Kanagawa Prefecture (Kanagawaken-SeikatsusuiHozen-Kyokai) and the City of Yokohama, there was a site visit to a large-scale Johkasou*(capacity: 11,000 people) in the Shonan International Village and a small-scale Johkasou*(capacity: 7 people) in Yokosuka city in the morning, followed by a site visit to sewerage
wastewater and sludge treatment facilities in Yokohama city in the afternoon. The managers andoperators at each facility(Top left)
Large Johkasouexplained how they
manage and maintain(Top right)
the facilities, as well as
Small Johkasou
touching on the cost and(Bottom left)
technical
aspects.
Sewerage
Participants directed atreatment facility
range of questions to thefacility managers and(Bottom right)
operators and gained a
Sludge treatment
facility
deeper understanding of
how the facilities are run.
*Johkasou: Japanese
decentralized wastewater
treatment system

4. Protection and management of river water quality in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is an island with 103 rivers. Over 90% of these rivers radiate from the central highlandsinto the western, eastern, and southern coasts. There are 28 rivers with a basin area exceeding
500 km2. Unfortunately, river pollution is a serious problem caused by industrial activities, domesticactivities, agricultural activities, dumping of garbage, land clearing / soil erosion, construction
activities, and natural disasters. The Central Environmental Authority has overall responsibility forprotecting the water environment, and there are several other institutions in Sri Lanka that havesome kind of sectorial responsibility for certain specific subject areas, such as irrigation, watersupply and drainage, water resources management and protection, land development andmanagement etc.
The National Environment Act No 47 of 1980 serves to protect all aspects of environment wherewater protection is a main component, and it enforces several tools such as the Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental Protection License (EPL) & Scheduled Waste
Management License (SWML). The Central Environmental Authority has developed acomprehensive water quality monitoring framework, which includes major rivers, reservoirs, andurban water bodies such as lakes. Most of the urban water bodies are polluted with domestic
wastewater discharge which cannot be controlled due to poor law enforcement by local
government authorities. The water bodies are used for various human activities including
recreational activities.
Surveillance monitoring programs for identified water bodies, random monitoring according tourgent requirements such as pollution incidents or special monitoring programs including industrial
monitoring are carried out to maintain the compliance for standards and criteria. To conduct islandwide monitoring of water bodies the Central Environmental Authority has one Central laboratory,nine provincial laboratories and one real-time water quality monitoring station. Currently,
surveillance monitoring programs are carried out for 12 water bodies including urban lakes. Whenconsidering the average COD concentration levels(mg/l) compared to ambient water quality
standards No 2148/20 dated 5 November, 2019, most of the flowing water bodies are well below
the average levels, while the water quality in urban lakes exceeds the standards.
The discharge of industrial wastewater into water bodies is controlled through enforcement ofstandards and criteria through the Environmental Protection License scheme. According to theCEA database as of 31 January 2024, about 46067 Environment Protection Licences (EPL) havebeen granted for high, medium, and low polluting industries after complying with standards andcriteria, covering 95% of the total number of high polluting industries.
The data gathered through surveillance monitoring have been analysed, and this has identified
trends of pollution incidents enabling a review of existing policies for effective implementation ofenvironmental standards and norms. In particular, the CEA developed and established newstandards for discharge of treated wastewater onto land for agriculture purposes, considering theground water recharge. Discharge into the sea has also been identified and reported, byintroducing a wider range of disposal methods. The CEA is currently amending the National
Environmental Act (NEA) to make provisions to establish the polluter pays principal, especially forwastewater dischargers. This is expected to reduce the discharge of waste into water bodies.

35

5000

30

NO. of Industries

6000

25

4000

20

3000

15

2000

10Year

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

02017

0
2016

52015

1000

COD Value

COD Value and No. Industries VariationKelani River Basin From 2015 to 2023

The establishment of industries in theKelani river basin from 2015 - 2023
shows a gradual increase, and theimposing standards and criteria under
National Environmental Act has madea clear impact on river water, bymaintaining water quality at a levelthat can be used for drinking purposes
after general treatment.

Industry
COD
Standard: General
Treatment for Drinking
線形 (Industry)
線形 (COD)

The most popular urban water body is Lake Diyawanna, which is used for various activities. Studies
have revealed that water quality in this lake is deteriorating due to domestic and industrial
discharges. In order to protect the water body and enable the general public to continue to benefit
from using the lake, more stringent wastewater discharge standards were imposed. Kelani Riveris a major river which provides water for 80% of the population of the Colombo metropolitan area.
Therefore, the CEA restricted the establishment of high polluting industries in areas close to theriver and controlled direct discharges in order to protect and maintain the quality of the river water.
However, as the main regulatory authority, the CEA is facing difficulties regarding the protection
and management of the water quality of the water resources in Sri Lanka. Most of the government
institutions which provide a public service, such as hospitals, prisons, schools, hostels etc. are notcomplying with the standards and criteria for protection of water resources due to their limited
funding for environment-related rectification work.
Legal action is taken by the CEA for violation of the standards and norms established under theNEA. Cases against governmental institutions are solved by giving instructions to rectify thesituation through meetings and discussions.
Considering the current overall status of water environment governance, the CEA is managing andcontrolling pollution sources from industries in a positive manner compared to the level of pollution.
In this way, Sri Lanka is able to maintain its supply of good-quality drinking water using simple
water treatment.
R. M. S. K. RATNAYAKE (Deputy Director General, Environment Protection, Central
Environmental Authority, 14 February, 2024)

5. 10th World Water ForumThe 10th World Water Forum (WWF10) will take place in Bali,Indonesia from 18 to 22 May 2024, under the main theme of Water for
Shared Prosperity. It consists of three processes — Political Process,
Thematic Process, and Regional Process. The Thematic Processprovides in-depth information regarding six prioritized topics: 1. Water
for Humans and Nature, 2. Water Security and Prosperity, 3. DisasterRisk Reduction and Management, 4. Governance, Cooperation and Hydro Diplomacy, 5.
Sustainable Water Finance, and 6. Knowledge and Innovation. The WEPA Secretariat will
participate in two thematic sessions, 2A: Water Quality Improvement and 4A: Governance,Cooperation and Hydro-diplomacy.
Session 2A aims to provide a comprehensive exploration of the challenges, advancements, andholistic strategies in safeguarding water resources through effective water quality monitoring andassessment. Under “water quality monitoring and assessment”, monitoring for known andpollutants of emerging concern, including PFAS, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, PCPs, AMR,AMG and pathogens in freshwater, groundwater, and marine ecosystems, will be addressed anddiscussed in relation with the natural state, anthropogenic effects and future uses of water. Session
4A focuses on (1) water management issues in bilateral and multilateral cooperation, including at
basin/aquifers, sub-regional, regional and international levels, (2) basin organizations efforts forinclusive, sustainable and integrated water resource management, (4) cross-border cooperation in
the context of ecosystem protection and restoration to ensure sustainable climate resilient resourcemanagement, (5) joint infrastructure management and sharing benefits to consolidate cooperation,and (6) cooperation and sharing knowledge. Under the guidance of session coordinators, membersof the Topic Coordination Group will meet online to discuss preparations for the session. We arelooking forward to having productive sessions at WWF10 in May.
More information at https://worldwaterforum.org/

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