Sustainable urban water management, vision of the future for municipalities

Abstract

Since 2014, the Government has managed the water administration bodies, which are primarily responsible for water management in Hungary, through the Deputy Secretary of State for Public Employment and Water Management under the Minister of the Interior, in an unchanged organizational form. Since 2019, the topic of municipal water management has been prominently present in the activity portfolio of the General Directorate for Water Management. There is at least one common point in the activities of the nationwide competent organizations subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior, and that is to serve the security of citizens. Accordingly, the water service fulfils the tasks specified in the legislation and the professional goals named in other documents and strategies in order to increase the flood safety of the citizens and their social conditions. It remains important to note that water management is organized around river basins and not as administrative units. One of the most serious challenges of Hungarian water management is to improve the efficiency of municipal water management, to prepare it for the challenges and changes of our environment and climate, and to take sufficient account of water as a factor in settlement developments and settlement planning processes. In present settlement development systems, water appears fragmented, far below its level of importance. The aim of the integrated settlement water management plan is to integrate the elements of water management related tasks and obligations into the settlement development and its management tools, to regulate land use. The integrated municipal water management plan is the basic document of the municipal water management (policy), which serves both development and operation. The dissertation presents the content of the integrated municipal water management plan, the methodological aspects of its preparation and its possible future.