The Plan of Main River Basins of the Czech Republic.

The Plan of Main River Basins of the Czech Republic is a national cross-sectoral strategic document reflecting planning in the field of water which is based on Directive No 2000/60/EC, other relevant European legislation and international agreements, conventions and obligations of the Czech Republic in the field of water. This document sets general objectives of the national policy for harmonizing the following public interests: a) protection of water as a component of the environment, b) flood protection and protection against other detrimental effects of water, c) sustainable use of water resources and water management to cover the requirements for water services especially for the purpose of drinking water supply. The specific aim is to provide a trouble-free supply of safe and high quality water to the population and other water consumers and an efficient waste water disposal without adverse impacts on the environment at socially acceptable prices.
To make environment more sustainable through water protection measures the government will work on the following: construction and refurbishment of wastewater treatment plants and sewerage systems; technical measures regarding industrial polluters (removal of especially dangerous harmful substances); revitalization of watercourses and inappropriate drainage, improvement of watercourse passability; implementation of land consolidation measures and comprehensive land consolidation measures (erosion reduction, improvement of the ecological stability of landscape); grassing of arable land, in particular along watercourses; improvement of tree species and spatial composition of forests in especially protected areas; afforestation of farmland; technical and biological measures to reduce euthropication of surface water; complex monitoring, identification and assessment of the status of water quality and quantity; and environmental educational programmes and environmental consulting;
To increase the efficiency of water services activities will focus on construction and rehabilitation of water treatment plants and drinking water resources; construction and rehabilitation of water conduits and water distribution networks in municipalities with more than 2,000 inhabitants and in conurbations with up to 2 000 inhabitants in areas requiring special protection; prospecting for and exploiting new groundwater resources to supply water to the population; geological and hydrogeological works for the purpose of re-evaluating the groundwater resources for water supply to the population; and prospecting for, survey and assessment of the possibilities of controlled groundwater recharge by surface water (artificial groundwater recharge) from watercourses or reservoirs.
To improve the capacity for disaster and crisis risk management the policy includes several measures for flood protection and protection against other detrimental effects of water. These measures include erosion protection and reduction of adverse impacts of surface water runoff; flood protection measures with retention and as a part of land consolidation; improvement of safety of hydraulic structures; studies on rainfall-runoff conditions and specification of flood plain areas; fish ponds rehabilitation, refurbishment, and sludge removal, and construction of water reservoirs; development and modernization of information systems of the flood forecasting and warning service; and support of processing the mapping data about flood hazard and flood risk.
In accordance with Section 24 of the Water Act, the Plan of Main River Basins of the Czech Republic has been prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, as the main government agency charged with implementation, in co-operation with the Ministry of the Environment, the relevant central administration authorities (Ministry of Health and Ministry of Transport as central authorities in the field of water policy), Ministry for Regional Development, and Ministry of the Interior. Members of the Government and heads of other central administration authorities should take the Plan into account in policy documents falling within the competencies of the Ministries headed by them. The Minister of the Environment is responsible for preparing plans of the national parts of the international basins of the Elbe, The River Odra and the Danube.