Educational workshop for the representatives of local self-governments within the project “Eco-friendly water management against extreme weather conditions in the cross-border area”

An educational workshop for the representatives of local self-governments within the “Eco-friendly water management against extreme weather conditions in the cross-border area – ECOWAM” project, which is co-financed by the European Union under the Interreg IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Hungary-Serbia, was held in Temerin on 12th December 2017.

The project, with the overall value of EUR 1,758,447.43, of which the amount of the EU contribution is EUR 1,499,227.805, is implemented by the Lower Tisza District Water Directorate–ATIVIZIG (Hungary), PWMC “Vode Vojvodine” Novi Sad (Serbia) and European Affairs Fund of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Serbia).

The meeting was opened by Mira Rodić, member of the Municipal Council of Temerin, and Gabriella Haas, Assistant Director for European Cooperation, European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina. The project was presented by Jasminka Gajer, PWMC “Vode Vojvodine” Novi Sad and Tijana Krstić Maravić, European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina, while prof. Ljiljana Nikolic PhD, Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Novi Sad held a lecture on constructed wetlands.

The aim of the educational workshop was to inform the representatives of the local self-governments of Temerin and Vrbas about the main project activities since most of the activities would be implemented on the territory of their municipalities.

The project aims at preventing negative effects on the quality of water bodies by establishing a joint system for water management improvement in the AP Vojvodina and the Csongrád County.

During the implementation of the project, the Jegrička River and Kurca main channel in Hungary will be revitalized; hydro-biological analysis of the quality of water and sludge of the Jegrička and the Kurca main channel will be done at selected sites before and after the dredging in accordance with Article 8 of the EU Water Framework Directive; experience between Serbian and Hungarian partners in the field of sustainable water management and nature protection will be exchanged; an appropriate path will be built along the river in the Jegrička Nature Park; a study on the Jegrička Nature Park about the impact of underground and surface waters will be made and a joint database will be developed as a basis for an exchange of experience and future cooperation.

In this way, the specific objectives of the project will be achieved, i.e. improvement of the water balance of the Jegrička River (44+015 km-46+673 km/29+588 km-37+892 km), and Kurca main channel (4+487 km-9+997 km) in the CBC region, the development of a common monitoring and analysis system for the preservation of water quality and biodiversity in the cross-border region, and the definition of long-term solutions to prevent the degradation of the quality of water bodies.

The implementation of the project started on 1^st October 2017 and will last until 30^th September 2019.