Construction of hydrodynamic model, environmental state and sustainable management of Hungarian-Slovakian transboundary groundwater bodies (ENWAT)

EU Water Framework Directive become operative in 22nd December 2000. The Directive urges the application of a uniform water conservation/preservation policy that helps to realize coordinated water management of transboundary water bodies. The neighbouring countries must cooperate in securing good groundwater quality and quantity in order to ensure the supplies for nature and society.

This regulation is particularly important for Hungary, where most of the water resources of the rivers come from other countries. Many of the groundwater bodies that provide drinking water are parted by frontiers.

In the case of groundwater bodies the base of the evaluations and action plans can be a regional hydrodynamic model. Completion of a transboundary regional model helps the experts to work in a uniform sense and professional conception.

Based on the above mentioned, SMARAGD-GSH Ltd. completed the numeric hydrogeological model of three regional watershed areas in 2006 on the behalf of Hungarian Geological Institute (MÁFI) in the framework of the European Regional Development Fund – INTERREG III Community Initiative Programme Hungary – Slovakia – Ukraine Neighbourhood Programme 2004-2006 HU-SK-UA/05/02/166. The title of the project was “Environmental state and sustainable management of Hungarian-Slovakian transboundary groundwater bodies (ENWAT)”.

The partner of Hungarian Geological Institute (MÁFI) was Štátny geologický ústav Dionýza Štúra (State Geological Institute of Dionýz Štúr – State Geological Survey of the Slovak Republic). Geological Survey of Finland participated in finishing the water management plans. The project started in 2006 and ended in 2007.

The three regional model pilot areas were Ipoly/Ipel’ Valley and watershed, Aggtelek and Slovakian karst area and the Bodrog Basin and watershed.