Water is fragmented in current urban development instruments, with many overlaps and contradictions with sectoral strategies and programmes. Meanwhile, in 2/3 of municipalities, water scarcity or surplus is a problem. The need for an IMWMP (Integrated Municipal Water Management Plan), with smart coordination between urban development and water, is therefore not under dispute. The Hungarian Water Association (HWA), the General Directorate of Water Management in cooperation with the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers undertook to develop a joint recommendation on the content and format of the plans, as well as an overview of the tendering and legislative environment, resulting in a webinar on 8 December, which was a success and attracted numerous listeners. Nearly 150 online participants gave attention to the interesting and informative presentations. Questions were received continuously, most of which were answered orally or in writing by the speakers during the presentation.
Mr Zoltán Kivés, Deputy State Secretary for Local Government, welcomed the audience and highlighted in his speech that one of the biggest challenges of water management in Hungary is to improve the efficiency of municipal water management, and stressed the role of an integrated approach, sustainable and efficient planning in this field. He also spoke about the LIFE-MICACC project and the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project, which are examples of good practice in the country, focusing on integrated water management methods being applied with the coordination of municipalities. Among the partners of the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project, Dr. László Balatonyi, Head of the Municipal Water Management Department of the General Directorate of Water Management, gave a presentation on the role of water management administration and its assistance in the preparation of the plan, and also spoke about the process of adoption of the IMWMP. Also from the project consortium, Béla Jancsó, President of the Water Management and Water Engineering Section of the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers, gave a presentation on the steps and contents of the ITVT preparation.
