Groundwater a strategic resource when dealing with the climate change in the Czech Republic

From 1960 until 1990 the Czech Republic conducted systematic regional hydrogeological surveys. These surveys established natural groundwater resources for about 35% of the hydrogeological structures. The results of these studies provided information on which to base water management decisions. Natural resources of groundwater are dynamic, and over time need to be reviewed and reassessed, especially since there appears to be more climate extremes in anthropological interventions in the landscape. This problem turns out to be very topical in the context of the preparation of the new use of the river basin management plans, which take into account the changes in the intensity of infiltration.

With the accession of the Czech Republic into the EU and the implementation of EU legislation in the field of water management, in particular the Framework Directive on Water Policy 200/60/EC, the Czech Republic has undertaken the assessment of the quantitative status of hydrogeological units. Thus, in 2005 there was made a new version of the hydrogeological zoning of the Czech Republic, where they have been defined territorial units with identical natural conditions. Hydrogeological zones are conceived as the basic unit for the water balance and evidences of groundwater.

For the above reasons, the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, with financial support from the EU, initiated a project which is focused on a new assessment of the natural resources of groundwater in 56 major water resources units. Its aim is to provide the sources of strategic planning to national authorities. Similarly, as in the case of energy resources, the project will provide data on the degree of self-sufficiency of the Czech Republic on water resources and develop different scenarios for the future development of water management policy.