Hungary/Romania: Transboundary River Basin Management of the Körös/Crisuri River Project

Romania and Hungary with the support of French ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, FFEM and IOWater developed a pilot integrated water management tool for the Körös/Crisuri transboundary River Basin within the Tisza/Tisa sub-basin. The project, which started in 2005, brought together Hungarian, Romanian and French experts to coordinate and provide technical assistance in the implementation of the WFD. The project was designed to strengthen cooperation between Hungarian and Romanian organizations responsible for environment and water management. It also aimed at encouraging public participation in the process of developing River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) in line with WFD requirements and a Watershed Contingency Plan (WCP) to prepare a response to future accidental water pollution. The main purpose of the project activities was to bring support to structure stakeholder involvement in the river management planning process. In addition, training on public debate techniques was provided to prepare a public consultation pilot test on the main water issues in several municipalities in both national sectors of the basin. For the public consultation pilot test, a common questionnaire has been drafted in English and adapted to each country. The main objective of the questionnaire was to ascertain:

• The public’s level of knowledge on water issues
• The public’s expectations regarding the main water problems to be solved
• The local water issues identified by inhabitants
• The actions that they consider as essential to protect or restore the aquatic environment.

As well as initiating an assessement of the monitoring system used by the two countries in line with Water Framework Directive requirements, a particular effort was made to organise seminars and training sessions for harmonising practices. A common technical platform to facilitate the production and the dissemination of harmonised information was swiftly set up. Thanks to the cooperation between Hungarian and Romanian groundwater experts, the common characterisation of the aquifers within the study area was initiated. This characterisation process led to several products:

• 6 geological cross-sections
• A piezometric map for the Holocene aquifer
• Common guidelines for the implementation of WFD monitoring networks (quantitative and qualitative aspects)
• A preliminary assessment of groundwater bodies’ chemical and quantitative status.

The project provided support to structure stakeholder involvement in the river management planning process which is expected to enhance active public participation in the Körös /Crisuri basin. In particular the project laid a firm foundation for local and national data base and information management procedures in addition to those promoted by the ICPDR portal and through the Danube River Basin GIS project.

A key tool in the form of a catalogue of metadata and data sources available on internet was set up to enable easy sharing of metadata between international partners involved in the basin management. This has acted as a powerful incitement for data structure harmonization between different administrative bodies in both countries.

The project greatly contributed to the development of a harmonized River Basin Management Plan and Watershed Contingency Plan. The project activities were designed according to the steps necessary for preparing an RBMP which led to the elaboration of one of the very first RBMPs of the Danube basin.

In addition, training on public debate techniques was provided to prepare a public consultation pilot test on the main water issues in several municipalities in both countries water sectors.