Land and water linkages - Workshop 3 - CP meeting Day 1

Land and water linkages: Making space for water GWP Consulting Partners M eeting Clarion Hotel , Stockholm, 18 August 2011 Dr. Richard Müller

Contents
Bodrog River
Making Space for Water project
Project objective
Results
Pilot project in Hungary and Slovakia
Lessons learned

What is this case about?
It is about a cooperation between water managers, nature protection guards and farmers to manage land and water in integrated way
It is about changing agriculture practices to achieve resilience to flood disasters
It is about a local case for better land and water management
It is not about food security

Bodrog River
Transboundary river shared by Slovakia and Hungary
Agriculture land (including Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region), many small settlements
Upper basin heavily drained for flood protection and agriculture production
First water cooperatives date back as far as year 1880
Complex water management measures started in 1958 comprising 4 retention reservoirs, 453 km of dikes, 28 pumping stations, and 522 km of drainage canals
Irrigation and drainage infrastructure is in poor condition

Bodrog River

Problems and challenges in Bodrog Basin
Intensive agriculture production in the past impacted the environmental ecosystem quality
Agriculture sector practices contribute to erosion and increased vulnerability of area to floods
Property rights changes (expropriation and restitution) made difficult to implement structural and non-structural measures
Harmful subsidies to farmers applied
Compensation (environmentally friendly) measures do not work properly
Economic and social conditions in this region are not favorable to “environmental concerns”

Making S pace for W ater
Supported by UNDP/GEF via International Commission for the protection of Danube River (ICPDR)
Component UNDP/GEF Tisza MSP Integrating multiple benefits of wetlands and floodplains into improved transboundary management for the Tisza River Basin
Project duration: April 2009 - April 2011
GWP Slovakia (team leader) together with GWP Hungary, GWP Ukraine facilitated its partners (VITUKI, EKOVIZIG (Hungary) and Zakarpattya Oblast branch of all Ukrainian Ecological League (Ukraine)

Objective
Mitigate consequences of floods through integrated management of flood risk in Bodrog River catchment countries (Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine) by creating partnerships at national and local levels
Partnerships is sectors:
Agriculture
Nature protection
Fishery
Tourism
Water management

Results
Improvement of original floodplains and wetlands conditions , affected by current land uses (agriculture) and environmentally inappropriate flood protection measures
Formulation of the “ Strategy for mitigation of floods for Bodrog River Basin countries ”
Dissemination of project results to achieve replication on the basin and national levels

Pilot project - Hungary
Objective : Improvement of conditions of protected plants and birds in Tokaj-Bodrog corner of Landscape Protection District
Activities : Renovation of the existing sluice at the Bodrog corner trunk conjunction and construction of a new sluice at the mouth of the oxbow
Results : water is retained in the Viss Oxbow after floods. Water supply of Tokaj-Bodrog Landscape P rotection District will be ensured in dry periods

Pilot project - Hungary

Pilot project - Slovakia
Location: Senné depression bisected by the Čierna Voda River, a tributary of the Laborec River
Objective: Restoration of intensively drained floodplains and establishment of measures to retain water during floods
Activities: Reconstruction of existing floodgate to bring clean water to fields and ponds (a q uaculture)
Results: Water supply to wetlands during dry period and flood protection during floods. Conditions of National Nature Reserve Sennianske P onds w ill be improved

Drainage canal system Location of reconstructed flood gates

Water gate before reconstruction

Water gate reconstruction

Lessons learned
Success of demonstration projects relies on long-term commitment and work with local stakeholders
Practical examples chang e mindsets of farmers
Early involvement of local stakeholders in the design process of technical measures help s to reach consensus and obtain necessary permits
Unsettled land ownership and subsidies discourage farmers from land use change
Low-cost and effective solutions for flood prevention are readily available

Lessons learned - con ’ t
Implementation was a great opportunity to involve agriculture sector into river basin management planning
Top down : introduction of approaches applied in the Tisza River Basin into the sub-river basin scale
Bottom up : stakeholder workshops and meetings made links with Tisza River Basin Management Plan
Implemented measures to improve habitats conditions - water regime and water quality, nutrient retention and/or removal can be replicated in other sub-river basins

Resources This project was conducted by GWP Slovakia in cooperation with GWP Hungary and GWP Ukraine and is documented in GWP ToolBox http://www.gwptoolbox.org/index.php?option=com_case&id=288 This project was financed by GEF/UNDP and is also documented in IW:LEARN database http://archive.iwlearn.net/www.icpdr.org/www.icpdr.org/icpdr-pages/bodrog_kick_off_meeting.htm

Thank you for your attention Photo and map credits: Bodrog P roject , Civertan

Land and water linkages - Workshop 3 - CP meeting Day 1

by Global Water Partnership on Sep 01, 2011

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Land and water linkages - Workshop 3 - CP meeting Day 1 — Presentation Transcript