Vízügyi Közlemények, 1997 (79. évfolyam)

1. füzet - Rövidebb tanulmányok, közlemények, beszámolók

A vízgazdálkodás és a v

izi környezetvédelem 121 IRODALOM Környezet és fejlődés világbizottság: Közös jövőnk (Our Common Future). Mezőgazdasági Kiadó, Budapest, 1988. A víz és a környezet. Nemzetközi Konferencia (Dublin, 1992) Budapest, 1992. UN Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) Agenda 21. * * * The water management and the protection of aquatic environment Dr. YEVJEVICH, Vujica and Dr. Ödön STAROSOLSZKY, Civil Engineers The potential for controversies between water resources development and protection of aquatic environment was recognized as important social problems several decades ago. The close relationship between water and environment was emphasized by many professionals at a number of international meetings. Water being one of the most important factors in the environment, the conservation of its quantity and quality, its protection against the impacts of human activities have become the principal objective of environmental protection. Conservation of aquatic environment is important responsibility of water management. Although this common interest has won general recognition, conflicts may arise between particular water development projects, water uses and environmental protection in the narrower sense of these concepts. Differences between advocates of water resources development and advocates of the protection of environment, regardless of their type, size and impact are called controversies in this report. Controversies are therefore defines as any difference between the two communities which are occupied and interested in the two processes of development and protection, respectively. The participants of the Visegrád Workshop also agreed to classify controversies into three major groups, namely (low-level) issues, (middle-level) disputes and (high level) conflicts. It was suggested to use the following definitions: Issue is defined as the different views on one or more subjects by two or more interested parties (e.g. between water development and environment), which can be resolved by harmonization of interests, or by reconciling their opposite interests. Dispute is defined as the detected contradiction between the views of interested parties which may be resolved by the involvement of interested parties or to reduce the problem to an issue in the decision making process, and Conflict is defined as the clash of controversial views of interested parties related to the difference between the state of the water body and the demands on state, which need legal treatment, resolution or reduction into a dispute which may lead to a unilateral action. The Visegrád Workshop in the general discussion of controversies between water resources development and protection of the environment reviwed six aspects following their introductions by the key-note speakers: 1. Practical meaning of the term sustainability, with narrowing the differences in definitions between developers and protectionists; 2. Human impacts on groundwater and water supply; 3. Demands of water resources and aquatic environment; 4. New approaches to decision making towards sustainable development of water resources; 5. Experiences of the river basin management (the River Rhine); and 6. Planning international river basin management (the River Danube).