In Kurzeme region air quality is impacted both by local pollution sources, as well as cross-border pollution transfer from Lithuania and Western European countries. In general, over the past ten years the amount of emissions from local pollution sources has decreased and air quality improved. However, there provision of air quality is still problematic in the region’s largest cities - Liepāja and Ventspils. During the time period from 1998 to 2001 in Liepāja the average annual values of the nitric dioxide exceed the lower pollution valuation limit (19.5 μg/m³) for protection of vegetation. It is connected to the amount of cars in the city in the mornings and evenings when people go to or from work. In Liepāja there have also been recurrent cases (16 days) when the amount of hard particles in the air recurrently exceed the upper pollution valuation limit for protection of human health. In Liepāja and Ventspils the average daily concentration of ozone some days exceeds the daily limit for protection of vegetation. In Ventspils the hottest issue is reduction of sulphur dioxide emission created by the existing heat supply companies. Compared to previous years, in 2001 the hydrocarbon and volatile organic matter pollution has increased in Ventspils. It is connected with handling of oil products in the Port of Ventspils. As the total volumes of handled oil products decreases, so does the atmospheric pollution with hydrocarbon and volatile organic matters. Over the past years, along with the increasing volumes of handled coal in the Port of Ventspils, the amount of dust in the atmosphere has also gone up.

Saldus district is impacted by the transfer of pollution from Mazeikiai Oil Refinery. In Nīgrande district the concentration of sulphur dioxide on many occasions is higher than other cities of Latvia. Area close to the border of Latvia is generally one of the air pollution problem areas of the country (Monitoring of heavy metal sediments, 2001).

Due to cross-border pollution transfer in the Western part of Kurzeme region nitrogen and sulphate sediments are largest in Latvia. The region often gets acid rains, which acidify the soil and cause additional expenses on increasing soil fertility.

Eutrophication of water reserves and prevention of degradation of water ecosystems along with promotion of rationalising water usage and ensuring drinking water quality are considered as priority issues of environmental protection as acknowledged in the Plan of Environmental Protection Policy in Latvia. Kurzeme region homes confluence basins of River Venta, rivers of Baltic Sea Kurzeme coast and Riga Bay Kurzeme coast. Over the past ten years the amount of unpurified sewage leakage into the region’s watercourses and reserves has decreased owing to reconstruction of the largest purification plans for sewerage wastewater (Liepāja, Ventspils, Roja, Skrunda, Kuldīga and other). Despite a decrease in the leakage of unpurified wastewater, since 1997 the amount nitrogen emissions in the confluence basins of Venta, Saka, Irbe and Bārta rivers have been sharply increasing (Review of environmental indicators in Latvia, 2001). As to now the reasons for increasing emission volumes are unknown.

In Venta river confluence basin 69% of the small rivers are weakly polluted and 8% are of average pollution, whereby the afflux of polluting matters to the River Venta from other regions of Latvia is considerably small. One of the key environmental issues in the region is afflux of nitrogen and phosphorus from Lithuania. The total nitrogen afflux from Lithuania in 2000 accounted for 90% of nitrogen afflux in the sea (Review of environmental indicators in Latvia, 2001).

The quality of Baltic Sea and Riga Bay coastal waters is of great significance in the development of tourism and fisheries and is impacted by the quality of the water in the rivers falling into the sea, accidents in the coastal territory and the sea, pollution transfer from Lithuania. Due to the reconstruction or building of new purification plants in Liepāja, Ventspils and other populated areas, in the recent years the quality of coastal waters has significantly improved. In 2002 Ventspils and Liepāja beaches and Ventspils Yacht Port have been assigned the Blue Flag. It is an eco-certificate, which certifies the compliance of the beaches and the Yacht Port with high environmental standards. The key Baltic Sea coast environmental issue is the pollution of coastal waters and beach with oil products. It is caused by accidents during oil product loading at the Butinge terminal, oil product transfusion in the ports of Latvia and oil product leakage from tankers. In approximately 90% of the cases oil products are drained into the sea deliberately, hoping to save money and time that would be necessary for delivering them at the ports (Review of environmental indicators in Latvia, 2001).

An important precondition for improvement of the life quality of the region’s inhabitants is provision of a qualitative drinking water. For the centralised water supply cities and towns of the region use underground waters. Due to the geological conditions there are places in the region (Liepāja and Liepāja district. Kolka rural district) with limited freshwater resources for the needs of centralised water supply. Intensive water utilisation over the past 30 years in Liepāja has caused underground water depression and a consequent saltwater intrusion. As the water consumption has been dropping since 1990 there has been a gradual filling of the depression funnel. However, the intrusion of saltwater has not decreased, on the contrary - it continues to grow. This threatens the Liepāja “Otaņķi” water source, which could all in all lead to a rapid deterioration of drinking water quality. For individual water supply on farms and rural areas people use wells and boring wells.

Large water losses have been observed in the water supply networks of all towns and villages of the region caused by the recurring accidents and generally poor technical condition of the network. In Liepāja, for example, it is impossible to precisely estimate the total water losses because the networks are not supplied with water flow metres.

Implementation of the State Investment Programme 800+ and various investment projects have contributed largely to the improvement of the quality of drinking water in the region.

Building of water de-ironing stations and reconstruction of drinking water supply network has significantly improved drinking water quality in towns. In the following towns of the region drinking water preparation equipment and the quality of the prepared water complies with the requirements of EU Directives: Liepāja, Kuldīga, Talsi and Saldus (Environmental Investment Strategy for 2003 - 2006, 2002).

It is a common goal of the region to create an effective waste management system. Today municipal waste is mostly deposited in landfills that do not comply with the requirements of environmental protection. The largest landfills are: “Šķēde” in Liepāja (1 000 thousand tons od deposited waste), “Platene” in Ventspils district (800 thousand tons), “Zīles” in Kuldīga district (460 thousand tons), “Māla karjers” in Saldus district (319 thousand tons) and “Vibsteri” in Saldus district (213 thousand tons) (Waste Management State Plan for 2003 - 2012).

Waste is also deposited in smaller landfills. To improve the waste management system, within the “Municipal Waste Management Strategy” (1998) it is anticipated to establish several municipal waste management regions: Ventspils region (including Ventspils City, district and part of Kuldīga district - 60 745 inhabitants), Liepāja region (Liepāja City and district - 146 446 inhabitants), Coastal region (Talsi and Tukums districts and Jūrmala City - 163 776 inhabitants) and possibly also Viduskurzeme region (Kuldīga and Saldus districts with 77 454 inhabitants). Currently the borders of the waste management regions are not strictly defined, it should be done municipalities through negotiations and considering the market economy development trends in the sphere of waste management. According to the “Waste Management State Plan for 2003 - 2012” (developed in 2002), borders of the planning region do not play the key role in identifying the borders of the waste management regions.

In Kurzeme region currently there is only one landfill of municipal waste in Talsi district that corresponds to sanitary requirements. The waste deposit area does not foresee taking any measures for decreasing the amount of biologically decomposable waste and collecting and processing of landfill gasses. Thereby, becoming the municipal waste deposit area of the Coastal waste management region, its waste deposit technology will have to be improved.

Currently Kurzeme region is planning to build landfills in Ventspils and Liepāja districts. The Ventspils district project is expected to be finished in 2004, while that of the landfill in Liepāja district - in 2006. A topical issue in the development of an effective waste management system in Kurzeme region is the choice of the location of landfills in Kuldīga and Saldus districts. According to the “Waste Management State Plan for 2003 - 2012”, in these districts it is planned to create one waste deposit area. Which municipality will manage it will have to be negotiated between the municipalities. Currently both Kuldīga and Saldus district authorities are willing to build a landfill in their territories.

A topical issue for improving the waste management system in the region is efficient organisation of the waste management, which includes waste collection, sorting, processing and depositing. Liepāja municipal waste management region established SIA “Liepājas RAS”, which deals with waste collection in a small part of the region. The management area of SIA “Liepājas RAS” may increase and it is also planning to undertake waste sorting and depositing functions. Currently, besides SIA “Liepājas RAS” waste in Liepāja district is collected by other local companies. SIA “Viesturi” ensure full waste management cycle in Talsi district, providing its services to Talsi City and most of Talsu district municipalities. “Labiekārtošanas kombināts” provides waste management services in the Ventspils City and district municipalities. In Kuldīga and Saldus districts waste management is implemented by the municipalities, in some case subcontracting waste management companies from neighbouring districts.

In Kurzeme region, like in the other regions and country in general, the issue of hazardous waste collection, processing and storage had not been fully resolved. Companies in Liepāja and Ventspils cities are among the largest hazardous waste “producers” in Latvia. Currently part of the hazardous waste is stored in the territory of the companies, part of it is transported to temporary state hazardous waste deposit in Gardene and another part of it is processed in the existing hazardous waste processing plants of the region. In Kurzeme region there are several hazardous waste processing companies, which process not only the locally produced hazardous waste but also imported waste from other regions. It is in the interests of the planning region to decrease the amount of hazardous waste and facilitate as much of waste processing in the region as possible.