On September 18, the Energy and Environment Center of the ISET Policy Institute participated in a Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) on a draft law regarding water resource management. The Business and Economics Center (BEC) organized the PPD with the Environment and Natural Resource Committee at the Parliament of Georgia with the involvement of major stakeholders of the water sector. The Chairman of the Environment and Natural Resource Committee, Kakha Kuchava, MP, moderated the meeting. The Draft Law on Water Resource Management and its Regulatory Impact Assessment were presented during the meeting, followed by the assessment of the law from major stakeholders of the sector.

The draft law on Water Resource Management was presented by the Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture, Nino Tandilashvili. The Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of the draft law was presented by the Deputy Head of the Energy and Environment Policy Research Center at ISET-PI, Levan Pavlenishvili. Afterward, major stakeholders from the private sector and non-governmental organizations gave their comments and questions on the law and the RIA. The PPD was finalized with a discussion and a question and answer session among the stakeholders and presenters.

Most of the meeting’s discussed topics were related to the permits for water abstraction and discharge, as well as the possible impacts of charges that might apply to those activities. Some of the questions were also related to the timelines of the renewal of permits for different hydro structures for irrigation, power generation, and water supply.