Of all the impacts of climate change, water management problems are currently the biggest problem for Czech municipalities and regions. These include extended periods of drought and torrential rains, which can cause significant flooding in some places.
This is evident from the findings of the national Adapterra Awards competition, which seeks projects that address water management problems, soil erosion, and climate change.
“About a third of the entries in the last edition were projected by municipalities and counties, and another 20 percent or so by other public institutions like universities. The rest were from the private sector, ” Martin Ander of the Partnership Foundation, which organizes the competition under the auspices of the environment ministry, said on Tuesday. He said projects related to water management were prevalent among all three types of participants.
According to the program declaration, water management is one of the current government’s priorities.
“We have nearly three billion crowns from the National Renewal Programme and nearly 35 billion crowns from the Operational Programme Environment for water retention in the landscape, biodiversity protection, access to water and measures against drought,” added Environment Minister Anna Hubáčková (for the KDU-ČSL). According to her, another 450 million will be spent on drinking water sources.