The municipality of Rezekne is planning to engage in the maintenance of significant melioration systems in the municipality

The Arrangement Act, which is in force from 1 January 2010, provides that the melioration system is a set of specialised structures and devices for regulating ground water treatment. According to the law, the State (State SIA “Immovable property of the Ministry of Agriculture” in the person) has taken and maintains the national melioration systems and the state-of-the-art melioration systems in his or her care. The most technically sophisticated and responsible melioration structures - polder pump stations and polder protection dams, as well as the Luban Lake Hydrotechnical Construction Complex - are located in the state estate and state the status of the national melioration system. The status of the national melioration system shall be determined for rivers with regulated stages or specially designed beds, as well as for hydrotechnical structures and devices which, in the event of an emergency, would endanger an area of at least 100 hectares or a populated area. On the other hand, sharing (drainage ditches or large diameter drain collectors, which regulate the treatment of water in two or more properties) and the maintenance of one property melioration system, in accordance with legislative provisions, shall be handled by the relevant land owners or land managers.
Competence, Actions and Planned Measures of State SIA “Ministry of Agriculture Immovable Property” in Rēzekne District
The head of the Latgale Region melioration division, Stanislavs Šķesters, informs that in the Rezekne sector, the capital company, State SIA “Ministry of Agriculture's real estate”, operates and maintains water gutters of national and national significance with a total length of 638 km, polymer protective dams - 28,9 km and one polder pump station (Krodrossland polder Gaigalavas parish). During the previous programming period 2007-2013, EUR 506 000.00 from the European Union's European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for the renovation of polymer protection dams and national water drainages was carried out in Rezekne. In the 2014-2020 period of the rural development programme, much more EAFRD funding is planned for the Rēzekne municipality, as 3 large projects (Geiķina stream, lic and Tarasiena) have been submitted and approved at the rural support service with a total funding of EUR 764 000.00. Last year VSIA “Real estate of the Ministry of Agriculture” in the Rēzekne sector, within the framework of THE EAFRD projects, carried out the restoration of four water gutters (Chervonka, Līpupeite, Brockditch and N-3 ditches), as well as the restoration of the Crossland protection dam and the repair of the driveway to the sorting of pump stations. The company also intends to submit new projects in the future. A contract has been concluded with VSIA '“Meliorproject” for the preparation of the technical opinion for the “Rēzeknamte”, Vecminta water drain and the Īdeņa Canal. Upon receipt of the opinion, the necessary solutions and mobilisation of funds for resolving the current problem for the benefit of the people and entrepreneurs OF Nagļu will be assessed.
The State and State sia “Real estate of the Ministry of Agriculture” planned to invest 6 885.00 EUR for the harvesting of fertility and 9 400,00 EUR for local damage in the Rēzekne municipality in 2016. The sites for renewal and reconstruction will continue to be surveyed and selected according to a number of criteria, including the existence of complaints from citizens and landlords. The residents are therefore invited to report on the problems identified and the defects of the state-of-the-art melioration system in State SIA “Real estate of the Ministry of Agriculture” in Latgale region melioration division (Church Street 22, Rezekne, telephone: 64605562, e-mail: latgale@zmni.lv), or to refer to the submission in any parish administration which will direct the examination of the matter to the relevant institution.
In addition to the maintenance and restoration of State and State-of-the-art melioration systems, the State SIA “Ministry of Agriculture's real estate” also has competence to issue technical regulations to natural or legal persons who intend to carry out construction, renovation and conversion of the structure or afforestation of agricultural land and the establishment of plantation areas. All these activities in the land used in the melted agricultural area shall not be performed without the receipt of the co-ordination of the State SIA “Ministry of Agriculture”.
Information on melioration systems is publicly available
VSIA “Real estate of the Ministry of Agriculture” maintains and restores the database in the digital cadastre of the melioration, which is publicly available on the website www.melioracija.lv. The website initially shows the entire territory of Latvia, but by approximating a particular municipality, parish and further land property (for more precise and faster identification of space, coordinates can be entered), it is possible to find and determine what water drainage, melioration ditches or cannula systems are bordering or located on your property. It should be noted that the digital cadastre of the melioration is not connected to the boundaries of the cadastre of the land property and it shows only the boundaries of the administrative territory of the municipality and parish. All digital information available on the website can also be viewed and used on mobile devices using the ArcGIS card “melioration mobile version”. This program allows you to identify your location and display all the melioration systems on the plot, following the direction of your movement.
Amendments to the Law provide for the possibility of self-government co-operation
In accordance with 07.07.2010. Cabinet Regulation No. 714 “regulations for the operation and maintenance of the melioration system”, the owners of the land owners are obliged to collect both ditches owned by their owners and those who pass through several parcels and affect the water regime in large areas (shared ditches). The inability of owners to mutually agree on the co-operation of shared ditches often leads to a result where both agricultural land and forest land areas are flooded due to uncleaned ditches, as well as local government roads and other strategic infrastructure objects. In order for the local government to have the right to participate more specifically in the procedures for the maintenance of melioration ditches, amendments to the Law on melioration have entered into force as from 1 January 2015, which determine a new term – a system for the melioration of the share of local government significance. According to the definition of the law, it is a system of shared melioration which has a significant impact on the water regime in the building territories, agricultural and forest areas, infrastructure sites (streets, roads, water-holding sites, municipal poles) laid down in the spatial plan of the local government.
The amendments to the Law allow local governments to choose which shared management ditches, in accordance with their decision, are determined as a system of recalculation of municipal significance. The status of a local government may be granted not only to ditches or ditches of ditches which bend the land owned by a local government, but also to those who are located on land owned by natural or legal persons. The procedures by which the local government and all other landowners participate in the construction and maintenance of the shared melioration system, as well as the procedures by which the local government participates in the costs of the costs shall be determined by Cabinet Regulation No. 378 “Procedures for the calculation, distribution and settlement of the costs of construction, operation and maintenance of the melioration system, and the procedures by which the local government participates in the construction, operation and maintenance of the district of local government significance, as well as the covering of these costs”, which entered into force on 07.07.2015. These Regulations prescribe strictly the cases where a local government may participate in the construction, operation and maintenance of a district of local government in the construction, operation and maintenance of a building and costs. In particular, the local government has the right to cover the costs related to the cleaning, restoration or reconstruction of the ditches in full only when the ditch does not function and is unable to absorb the waters under the influence of the pals, the wind flooding is affected by the flooding of the river or a sudden defect due to floods. In cases where one of the land owners intentionally or unintentionally, the ditch is not a copy, causing obstruction and damage to the common system to the extent that they cause an emergency threat, the local government is entitled to act and prevent damage by his or her own means, but then, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law, all expenses shall be recovered from the perpetrator.
Measures taken by the municipality of Rezekne
In view of the fact that the granting of status, in accordance with legislative provisions, provides for the possibility of investing in local government funds in private property, the municipality carefully assesses the usefulness of its (as public-private) financial resources before taking a decision. The status of the State-owned melioration system shall be allocated to such melioration systems which are important to the local government, affect the management of local government infrastructure objects and the performance of autonomous functions of the local government. The Rēzekne municipality has established criteria which are taken into account when assessing the appropriateness of granting status for a particular ditch and are:
• Shopping melioration system affects the management of significant municipal infrastructure objects (roads, streets, sewage treatment facilities, water-holding facilities, etc.) where, in the event of a possible accident, a significant threat to the environment and human health may be caused;
• Shopping melioration system affects the protection of a densely populated area against flooding;
• There may be a threat to significant public and cultural-historical sites in the event of a possible accident of the shared melioration system.
The status of the local government's melioration system, based on the initiative of THE Silmalas parish administration, is assigned to the parish council of the municipality of Rēzekne in THE parish OF Silmalas, who goes along the border of Vecružin village and connects to the Tiskad Lake. Prior to the adoption of the decision to grant status, the support and consent of the owner-occupied land owners was received. Silmalas parish administration intends to carry out extensive ditching measures with the aim of preventing an emergency risk associated with flooding of sewage treatment plants in the vicinity of the palace.
There is currently a work on the clearance of the views of the owners of the landowners on the allocation of status to the share ditch IN THE village OF Vērēmu parish in Sondora-Schkeenev village, Ilzeskalna parish in Letku-Stogorschen village and Griškānu parish in the village of Sprudzs. These ditches have been clogged and unable to absorb rain water, resulting in a significant infrastructure for the local government, such as IN Ilzeskalna parish every year in the spring palace and during large rays the parish path is flooded and the transport movement is blocked. At the meeting of the Standing Committee on Development, Planning, Economy, Environment and Infrastructure of Rēzekne District Council on 28 January 2016, it was decided not to give further consideration to the question of the usefulness of granting status IN the territory of the municipality of Jurčenki-Ladez, located in THE territory OF the parish OF Griškānu parish. Such a ditch shall be applied mainly to the land of one owner, it does not conform to the assessed criteria for the granting of the status, as well as the estimated amount of the contribution of the local government funds shall not be equal to other equivalent melting systems in the municipality.
In order to determine responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the land-sharing systems of local government, the local government shall draw up binding regulations, which will determine the rights and obligations of land owners adjacent to both the local government and systems in the maintenance of melioration systems, as well as responsibility for non-compliance with the regulations.
Allocation of status to the landowner is not additional burden
It is important to understand that the granting of status to landowners does not impose additional burdens or restrictions – land under ditches will not be disposed of, no changes will be made to the Land Register and the owners of the land will retain the right to deal with immovable property in the same way as so far. The obligation of the owners of the land to copy and maintain the ditches on their property is also constant, whether or not the ditch has been granted the status of a local government-owned ditch. The term “municipal significance” is mainly an instrument with which a local government is able to operate with important melioration systems located on a private land and, in cooperation with the landowners, successfully address the issues of sorting and management of ditches, planning and implementing measures for the development of the melioration system, as well as compelling owners to be co-responsible.
Opportunity to absorb EU funds money
The local government can implement melioration projects in order to address the issues of melioration systems of the local government, infrastructure and building. There is currently an open field support service project competition within the framework of Latvia's rural development programme 2014-2020 (financier – European Union Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)). The municipality may take part in the measure “aid for investments in the development of agricultural and forestry infrastructure”. For the period 2014-2020, one municipality, irrespective of the size of the municipality, has been allocated a quota of EUR 300 000 in respect of the reconstruction and renewal of the land-based melioration systems. By participating in this programme, the municipality has the possibility to receive aid up to 90 % of the total costs and the share of the municipal co-payment is 10 % respectively.
On 4 February 2016, the Rēzekne municipality council adopted a decision to support THE submission of THE Silmalas parish management project “reconstruction of the municipal monelioration systems IN Silmalas parish” IN THE LAD project competition and the provision of co-financing. The Rural Support Service is currently evaluating the project application. The total estimated amount of the project is EUR 41 757.10.
We want to draw the attention of the landowners to the fact that, under the same programme of the programme, “aid for investments in the development of agricultural and forestry infrastructure” may be prepared and submitted by any agricultural holding and their groups, if there is a need to rebuild or rebuild the land ditches in their possession. From project funds, aid amounting to 60 % per farm or aid of 70% to a number of agricultural holdings producing joint projects can only be received for melioration networks that fall under agricultural and forest land. In addition to the restoration of ditches, areas, roads, etc. can be built, including new farmers receiving funding up to 40% of total project costs. For more detailed information, we are invited to turn to the Office of the East Latgale Rural Support Service in Rezekne on Skrindu street 11, or call the telephone and rural development part 64624478.
The municipality of Rezekne calls on all interested parties to submit their proposals for sharing ditches by 4 April of that year, to which it would be appropriate to grant the status of the local government's share-sharing system. The deadline for submission is due to the fact that the local government, in order to grant the status of the ditch and prepare the necessary documentation for participation in the project competition, is required to carry out a variety of activities and measures which may take several months, while the rural support service is scheduled for the next round of projects in September of that year. Given that the available EU funds are strictly limited to the municipality, only ditches of ditches that are relevant to the local government and fulfil the above assessment criteria for determining status will be directed to the project.
Proposals shall be sent by post to the address of the municipality of Rēzekne for release alley 95A, Rezekne, LV 4601 or electronically to the e-mail address in info@rezeknesnovads.lv. Information may also be submitted in any parish administration.
The information was prepared by:
League Romanchuk,
Rezekne Municipality Development Planning Division Territorial Planner