Hidrológiai Közlöny, 2016 (96. évfolyam)

2016 / 3. szám - HISTORICAL SNAPSHOT - Ijjas István: Good Practices for Integrated Water Resources Management in EU and Hungary

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István Ijjas: Good Practices for Integrated Water Resources Management in EU and in Hungary

The first Hungarian River Basin Management Plan has been published in 2010 (VKKI 2010), and the second RBMP has been approved in 2016 (OVF 2016a). They have been prepared in line with EU and Hungarian guidance, fulfil the requirements of the WFD and contribute to the objectives of other EU directives.

Since Hungary is situated within the heart of the Danube Basin, the country is involved only in one river basin district. Danube-basin-wide issues are coordinated by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). It has been agreed among the Danube-countries that the river basin management plan would be structured so that the plan can be studied on the basin, national and sub-unit level. Therefore, part A of the plan deals with issues of basin wide importance (so called roof level) and is coordinated by ICPDR, while part B is the national plans of the countries of the basin with the responsibility of the competent authorities. More detailed plans (part C) can be integral part of national plans.

The Hungarian national RBM plans are prepared at three areal levels: - country (93,030 km2) - 4 sub-basins (River Danube- 34.730 km2, River Tisza - 46.380 km2. River Dráva-6.145 km2 and Lake Balaton - 5.775 km2) - and 42 planning sub-units. The smallest planning units are the water bodies. In the second Hungarian RBM Plan 1078 surface water bodies (889 river and 189 lake water bodies) and 185 groundwater bodies have been identified (OVF 2016a). The information increases in detail from Part A to Part B and C, and from national to sub-basin, sub-units and planning sub-units. The national RBM Plan represents Part B and assesses water management issues at a more detailed scale than the Danube RBM Plan.

The RBMPs contains all available and relevant information on the water bodies, the results of status assessment, the significant water management issues and their causes, the environmental objectives and the programme of measures (PoM) with the required financial support to reach them. The time horizon of the PoM extends till 2027 (the end of the third planning cycle according to WFD) and has been based on a multi-level public participation process. The basin-wide measures of the sub basin and sub-unit level PoMs are firmly based on and were coordinated with the national programmes of measures and with Danube Basin-wide measures. Regarding the PoMs, special attention has been paid to the identified measures, their basin-wide importance, to the identification and implementation of priority measures and to measures that lack adequate funding.

Cooperation with neighbouring countries is a significant priority in Hungary. Existing agreements on transboundary waters is harmonized to certain extent with the relevant provisions of international agreements and EU regulations. Hungary actively participates in the collaboration under the various international treaties and in the international organizations, which deal with the problems of freshwater resources. The WFD is one of the most significant legislative instrument in the water field that was introduced on an international basis.

Hungary has a long tradition in flood management, however the first Flood Risk Management Plan based on the EU Flood Risk Management Directive, is a new milestone in flood-management in Hungary towards sustainable flood risk management (OVF 2016b). It addresses all aspects of flood risk management focusing on prevention, protection and preparedness, includes measures for achieving the established flood risk management objectives.

The fully integrated water management will be based in Hungary on the ‘Jenő Kvassay Plan - National Water Strategy’. The draft Plan (OVF 2016c) is currently introduced and consulted.

IWRM VERSUS RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT UNDER THE EU WFD

The WFD is sometimes called the “IWRM of the North” and is considered as Europe’s way of implementing IWRM. They are synonymous in many ways, but equally there are differences between the two. WFD is a core policy element for IWRM and, as such, it is a key tool for water policy integration, which specifies water protection targets in balance with economic interests, but WFD alone is not sufficiently balanced with socio-economic development goals. IWRM has a much broader focus on sustainable social and economic development and not just on the environment and River Basin Management under the WFD, however there are very good parts of the WFD (basin approach, public participation, precautionary principle, transparency) that fall within IWRM. The EU WFD stipulates the planning of action plans necessary for meeting the environmental objectives and do not deal with programmes related to social and economic objectives. WFD might be then considered as IWRM in the North European countries, mainly for countries where water is abundant and water infrastructure in place (INBO 2006).

The form of implementation of the WFD and IWRM is influenced by the highly diverse hydrological and economic conditions, geographical circumstances, sociocultural factors, government structures, traditions and the national cultures of EU countries.

For an effective IRBM it is necessary to develop the management and planning practices and the practices of integration, and linking social and economic development with the protection of natural ecosystems (EC 2012b). National and international guidelines should be developed to achieve the environmental, social and economic objectives (GWP 2015).

EU Member States are expected to take an integrated approach, particularly bringing together the water interests of agriculture, rural development, municipalities, energy, transport, tourism, climate adaptation, and nature conservation, and to identify the most cost-effective combinations of measures to achieve environmental, social, and economic objectives. Table 1 summarises the two approaches to IWRM - to meet both the WFD objectives of good environmental status and the broader social and economic objectives implicit in IWRM.