Managing transboundary waters

Water bodies do not respect national borders. Rivers flow from one country to another, and a state border may also run across a lake. Finland has numerous transboundary waters of this kind.

Most of Finland’s transboundary waters are shared with Russia. The vast majority of these 19 transboundary river basins flow from Finland to Russia and discharge either into the Arctic Ocean, the White Sea, Lake Ladoga or Vyborg Bay. Only the river basins of Kemijoki and Oulujoki, whose headwaters extend slightly across the border into Russia, flow westwards.

The largest of the transboundary waters between Finland and Norway is the river basin of the Tana, which discharges into the Arctic Ocean. Finland and Sweden share a considerable length of rivers, as the border between the two countries runs almost all the way along the Torne river and its tributary, the Muonio.

Managing transboundary waters together with our neighbours across the border makes sense. Both parties benefit when shared water bodies are managed systematically and over a long time span on both sides of the border.

Finland has signed separate treaties on transboundary river basin management with Sweden, Norway and Russia. The objectives of these treaties include promoting the good status of waters, managing fish stocks and preventing floods. The treaties are executed by bilateral transboundary river basin commissions and water commissions.