Vízügyi Közlemények, 1973 (55. évfolyam)

4. füzet - Rövidebb közlemények és beszámolók

(38) HYDROECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC ROLE OF WATER MANAGEMENT By Dégen, Imre Head of the National Water Authority (For the Hungarian text see pp. 135) Water is in continuous movement not only in nature but also in the social environment. The relationship between water and society becomes apparent in three forms, namely — as water use, i.e., the exploitation of the economically desirable properties of water, embodied in its forms of appearance, as well as in its biological and chemical characteristics, — as damage aversion, i.e., protection against the destructive powers, unwanted volumes and detrimental quality of water, and — as the reaction to human activities of the natural environment, i.e., to the modification of the original water regime. The use value and suitability of water to meet human needs are derived from its forms of appearance, as well as from its biological, physical and chemical properties. In the economic sense this use value reflects the actual value of water, which is controlled by the work expended for its production and by the demand arising for it. The process of reproduction in the hydrological cycle and the social "turnover" the role of water in the social process of reproduction are closely interrelated, yet form an organic unit. This unity is, howerer, charged with dialectic conflicts. The main conflict stems from the fact that the demands for water increase at a rapid rate, whereas the water resources within a major area and a longer time span are essentially constant. At the same time the growing demands are made even more difficult to meel owing to the differences in natural regime fluctuations and in the variations of the growing social demand. Water demands tend to become increasingly concentrated, and in general do not coincide geographically with the available resources. A further essential conflict arises out of the fact that growing water demands must be met from increasingly polluted natural sources. An additional group of conflicts is reflected by the disproportionalities between the material-engineering requirements and available means involved in overcoming the the differences between the natural fluctuation of supplies and the social demand for water. Deliberate water management, i.e., the control of the interrelations between water and society has the main objective of evening out these conflicts. The difference between the natural waterhousehold and the demands of society can be eliminated first of all by establishing harmony between the spatial and temporal distribution of supplies, on the one hand, and the demand, on the other. Coordination can be achieved, on the one hand, by modifying the areal and temporal distribution of supplies, on the other, by changing the material properties of water, as well as by deliberately influencing the demands of the water users. The establishment of an extended balance between natural conditions and social water demands has called for the creation of comprehensive water management systems extending to large areas. These constitute the national, comprehensive technical-economic, administrative and institutional organization responsible for complex water management in Hungary. In this context, the planned scientific, technical-economical and administrative activity aimed at the optimal coordination of natural supplies and social demands is —with the terminology adopted in Hungarian practice —understood as water management. The decisions aimed at the coordination of natural factors and social demands are founded on hydrological data and on the relations explored by hydrology, so that their quality is controlled by the level and technical standard of hydrotechnical devices and processes. The realization of the necessary projects, the assessment of their social desirability, on the other hand, calls for a scientifically founded economic justification.