The 22nd meeting of the Tisza Group of the International Commission for the protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) was held on 12-13 May 2015. As an important result of the discussion, the JOINTISZA project based on the joint work of national and regional water directorates, ministries and international organizations (17 partners in total) from the five Tisza countries, was submitted to the European Union's two-round Danube Transnational Program (DTP) by 2 November.
The main objective of the tender was to review and harmonize the Integrated Tisza River Basin Management Plan with methods of flood risk management, taking into account the effects of climate change, as well as to compile a planning manual for measuring the long section of the Tisza, generating pilot projects (urban water resources management and treatment of water scarcity).
The detailed elaboration of the project concept was initiated by Hungary, and the leading partner tasks were undertaken by the General Directorate of Water Management (GDWM) with the involvement of the Tisza Office in Szolnok.
Contents of the project was structured as follows (WP - work package)
WP1 Project management: General Directorate of Water Management
WP2 Communication: Central and Eastern European Regional Environmental Center (REC)
WP3 River basin description - water quality: Water Research Institute –VUVH (Slovakia)
WP4 Quantity of surface water and groundwater: Jaroslav Cerni Institute (Serbia)
WP5 Integrate Flood Risk Management Elements into the River Basin Management Plan: National Administration „Romanian Waters” (Romania)
WP6 Summary (Global Water Partnreship CEE)
Duration of the implementation: January 2017– June 2019
Total budget: EUR 2.25 million
Project co-financed by the European Union (ERDF, ETE)
EU co-financing: EUR 1.92 million
The project was implemented from the Danube Transnational Program with the support of the European Regional Development Fund, co-financed by the European Union and Hungary.
There was a call for opion sharing before the project started:
ATTENTION!
We are looking forward to your opinion on the international water management issues of the Tisza River!
The JOINTISZA international project (http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/jointisza) will take place between 2017 and 2019 with the participation of the countries involved in the entire Tisza river basin (17 partners / institutes). One of the main goals of the project is the renewal of the Integrated River Basin Management Plan of Tisza, which was completed for the first time in 2011.
Involvement of stakeholders will be emphasized in the project, one of the first steps of which is prior consultation at a national level. This consultation is taking place in parallel in each of the 5 countries participating in the project (Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine).
The Hungarian partners have defined the most important stakeholders in Hungary and worked out the way of involvement. It is important to obtain opinions on relevant, comprehensive, cross-border issues at the level of the Tisza River Basin. We expect the opinions of experts during the process. In the first stage, we ask for your comments and experiences regarding the previously prepared Plan, as well as the internationally significant water management issues and measures defined in it.
Based on the above, I ask you to get in touch with the project managers at the contact details below or make some comments on the materials related to the topic (available at the link below) by 20.03.2018 at the latest.
The 1st Integrated Tisza River Basin Management Plan (English)
The opinions received will be forwarded to the contributers of the Integrated Plan, who will use them in the preparation of the new Plan.
Later, a two-level consultation on the completed elements of the new Plan will conclude the project with the leadership of the Regional Environment Center (REC) between 2018-2019, where once again ther be an opportunity to comment.
Please, refer to the contact e-mail address david.bogyo@wwf.hu, where we are more than happy to discuss your suggestions and questions.
Partners:
General Directorate of Water Management of Hungary – Lead Partner
National Administration „Romanian Waters” – Romania
Ministry of Water and Forest – Romania
National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management – Romania
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe – Hungary
International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River – Austria
Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe – Slovakia
World Wide Fund for Nature Hungary – Hungary
Public Water Management Company “Vode Vojvodine” - Serbia
Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (Associated partner) - Austria
Ministry of the Interior (Associated partner) - Hungary
Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Water (Associated partner) - Serbia
Tisza River Basin Water Resources Directorate (Associated partner) - Ukraine
State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine (Associated partner) - Ukraine
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade – Hungary
Water Research Institute - Slovakia
The Jaroslav Černi Institute for the Development of Water Resources - Serbia
Additional information (English) about the JOINTISZA project:
interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/jointisza
Translated by: Attila Kádár, International Department, General Directorate of Water Management of Hungary