Hidrológiai Közlöny, 2017 (97. évfolyam)
2017 / 3. szám - MANAGING WATER QUALITY (ONGOING PROJECTS AND FUTURE CHALLENGES) - Siegel, Hubert: CAMARO-D - a Danube basin approach to land use management
46 Hidrológiai Közlöny (Hungarian Journal of Hydrology) 2017. 97. évf. 3. sz. CAMARO-D - a Danube basin approach to land use management Hubert Siegel Director at Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management Abstract The paper gives a short overview of the cooperation of 23 partners relating to the Danube river basin within an Interreg project CAMARO-D - the sustainable protection of water resources and improved flood risk prevention through enhanced land use management in river catchment areas by means of coordinated and harmonized land use activities Keywords Danube Transnational Program, water management, flood risk prevention, fresh water protection, Land Use Development Plan, transnational guidance SETTING THE SCENE - THE PROJECT IDEA OF CAMARO-D AND ITS BACKGROUND The lack of integrated river basin management, both in terms of water resources and flood-risk, is currently one of the most crucial challenges, further intensified by climate change. In order to engage in concerted action - particularly as the impacts of land use and vegetation cover on water regime within the Danube basin area are quite similar - the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management established a project-consortium consisting of 14 partners in 9 countries and submitted the CAMARO-D project idea at the first call of the Danube Transnational Programme in May 2016. The primary goal of the project idea was to create a strategic policy for the implementation of an innovative transnational catchment-based “Land Use Development Plan” (LUDP) for the Danube river basin. It will guarantee both the sustainable protection of water resources and improved flood risk prevention. The project initiates an advanced trans-sector and transnational cooperation of key stakeholders and aims at maintaining it beyond project-end by creating an institutionalized transnational Danube Region Platform. The idea to achieve this challenging objective is to start various pilot actions within the project — a total of 18 actions in 8 different countries, in order to test and document the newly developed best practices in function-oriented sustainable land use management. The pilot actions are divided into three clusters, according to their interdependences of land use and vegetation cover, respectively dealing with three different types of water resources (ground- water, torrents and rivers). What are the main outputs of the project? For stakeholders and decision-makers, an innovative transnational guide (GUIDR) is developed, complemented by a tailored, application-oriented tool kit for utilisation in their respective working spheres. This is supported by intensive stakeholder workshops and trainings; the initiation of the practical GUIDR implementation is conducted within the pilot areas in order to mitigate of interest and to develop prospects for essential actions. The land-use development plan will demonstrate procedures for a sound water management on a transnational basis and give important inputs for the further development of EUSDR and other relevant policies. The cooperation of various stakeholders within CAMARO-D should serve as a blueprint for policy development and can be a model for similar cooperation processes in other thematic fields in the EU. MAIN OBJECTIVES AND STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT CAMARO-D project was submitted in the programme- priority “Environment and culture responsible Danube region” with the specific objective to “Strengthen transnational water management and flood risk prevention”. This objective is clearly substantiated by one of the main project outputs, the transnational guide for functional land use management (GUIDR) and furthermore lined out in a best practice catalogue, also regarding climate change. By this means, the aims of the River Basin Management Plans for the transnational Danube basin are supported. The project aims at improving land use practices for the protection of water resources and flood risk prevention in the transnational Danube River Basin, encompassing • jointly developed methods towards an integrated and efficient approach to water management and proposed measures to adapt existing practices • improved status of ecosystem services regarding water resources in the Danube region through sustainable and integrated land use management practices and measures demonstrated through pilot actions • improved effectiveness & sustainable use of capacities as well as efficient organisational structures for land use management. LINK WITH THE EUSDR ACTIONS FOCUSING ON WATER MANAGEMENT RELEVANCE, EXPECTED PROJECT RESULTS In the EUSDR, the importance of the availability and quality of freshwater resources as well as the proper functioning of ecosystems to maintain and restore biodiversity is highlighted. Water management as a central issue for the Danube region requires strong coordination and cooperation across different countries and sectors. Additionally, floods and water scarcity are future challenges and should be tackled in an integrated way.
