The project is part of the first phase of the implementation of the Bulgaria National Water Management System in real time.
Sofia, 27 June 2019 – At a special press conference today the Water Management Directorate of the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) officially announced the launching of a project for “Development of a Water Management System in the Iskar River Basin as a First Phase of the National Real-Time Water Management System (NRTWMS)“. The project will be implemented by the Consortium “Bulgarian basins.”
The main objective of the project is to prevent and manage the risk of floods and adverse effects on human health and the environment through the centralized collection, processing, and analysis of information in real time. The system will use an integrated approach to day-to-day monitoring and management of water resources. It will monitor rapidly changing conditions such as precipitation, snow melting, and river flow. In addition, the system is expected to support the interconnected actions – both preventive and disaster-related, between all administrative structures involved in the water management process. This would greatly enhance the awareness and readiness of more than 1 300 000 people living in the 4 identified areas with significant flood risks part of the Iskar River basin.
The press conference was held with the increased interest of the municipalities and regional administrations on which territory the main activities will be carried out, the regional information centers in Sofia and Vratsa, as well as the associated partners from NEK EAD the National Institut of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH) and Irrigation Systems EAD. In front of more than 20 organizations, MOEW and “Bulgarian basins” consortium presented the project, including the main objectives and tasks, as well as the expected benefits for the stakeholders.
The project will be implemented using the world leading GIS platform provided by Esri Inc. the global pioneer and leader in the sphere of geographic information systems, which is also used by NATO, UN, EC, the European Environment Agency and thousands of other organizations. The GIS component of the project system will be developed by ESRI Bulgaria, a company with more than 20 years of experience in the field of Geographic Information Systems.
The following activities will be conducted during the implementation of the project: review, evaluation and proposal for optimization of the existing water monitoring systems in the Iskar river basin; development, presentation and coordination of a common concept for the centralized system for real-time water management across Bulgaria; development, performance and coordination of a project for implementation of a system for water management in the basin of the river Iskar based on the general concept of the centralized National System for Water Management in real time; development, promotion and coordination of technical project for the construction and implementation of the System for Water Management in the basin of the river Iskar, in accordance with the preliminary design for the System for Water Management in the basin of the river Iskar; as well as the development and implementation of the Water Management System in the Iskar River basin.
The project “Development of a Water Management System in the Iskar River Basin as a First Phase of the National Real-Time Water Management System (NRTWMS)“ is funded by the Operational Program “Environment 2014-2020″ of the priority axis “Prevention and management of flood and landslide risks, as well as with EU funds through the Cohesion Fund.
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