Rainwater Harvesting Systems and Flood Water Management in Rural Areas: A Systematic Review
Peer-reviewed article, which will be published in the June issue of VTEI – Belkaf_VTEI_3_2026_eng
drought
The impact of hydrological extremes on ponds and small water reservoirs
This paper presents the methodological approach and key results of the research project Design of ponds and small reservoirs in terms of the possibility to comply with MPF and flood safety (TA CR, no. SS03010230). The project focused on the assessment of ponds, pond systems and small reservoirs in relation to two hydrological extremes – draught and floods. During periods of drought, the issue of maintaining the minimum residual flow is addressed. The article describes the method of determining and maintaining the minimum residual flow at these hydraulic structures. Furthermore, the article deals with the assessment of the security of these structures in terms of the safe discharge of flood flows in accordance with ČSN 75 2935 – Assessment of the safety of hydraulic structures during floods.
Groundwater abstraction noticeably reduces the flow of some watercourses during the dry season
The paper highlights the fact that some significant watercourses dry up during periods of minimal flows due to groundwater abstraction. It provides a summary of the most affected significant watercourses in the Czech Republic. Large concentrated groundwater abstraction has a considerable impact on small and medium-sized watercourses. To select the most significant effects of abstraction on stream flows, we used the ratio of abstraction to 355-day flows from 1931–1960. Watercourses exceeding 30 % were selected. In half of the selected cases the following relationship was confirmed: the 355-day flow from 1931–1960, reduced by the abstraction rate, is approximately equal to the 355-day flow from 1991–2020. The cases where this relationship does not apply can be explained by changes in abstraction volumes, declining groundwater levels and flows in the wider area due to groundwater collection and the use of static groundwater reserves. The effect of climate change is unlikely to be present in the baseflow in the cases studied. Our analysis identified 13 cases where groundwater abstraction is severely affecting the flow of significant watercourses. In about half of these cases, there is an alternative source of water that should be used when the flow of the watercourse is at a minimum. Another option to protect water resources is to apply the minimum groundwater level or minimum residual flow under the Water Act.
Methodology for creating a Map of the Vulnerability of the Quantity of Natural Groundwater Resources to Drought for the Czech Republic
Groundwater drought affecting groundwater availability is still mostly understood as a subset of hydrological drought. The impact of hydrological drought on groundwater is manifested with a delay and depends on its duration. An expert interactive Map of the Vulnerability of the Quantity of Dynamic Groundwater Resources to Drought for the Czech Republic was created as part of the TA CR project SS01010208 – “Controlled Groundwater Recharge as a Tool to Reduce the Impacts of Drought in the Czech Republic”. The presented vulnerability map is created on the basis of the use of precipitation normal and regression relationships between precipitation and total runoff and groundwater discharge (base flow) using the Base Flow Index (BFI) and ratio of base flow in the driest year of 2010–2019 to the long-term average of base flow (M index), which guarantees uniform processing for the entire Czech Republic at a scale of 1 : 50,000 and an objective comparison of the vulnerability of dynamic groundwater resources to drought throughout the country. It is also based on recorded groundwater abstraction and in the case of municipalities with individual supply, the abstraction is calculated from the number of inhabitants and the national average consumption of drinking water per capita. The Map is compiled based on the balance of dynamic groundwater resources and groundwater abstraction. It contains six categories and shows which regions and areas will struggle to have sufficient groundwater resources during periods of prolonged drought. It synthesizes all available flow logs and other data until 2020 and is designed so that the layers with variable information can be updated in the future.
Drought warning system and local threshold limits
Droughts and floods are extreme hydrological phenomena that are currently increasing in frequency due to the growing impact of climate change, and can have significant effects on our lives. Within the “PERUN” research project, an assessment of drought conditions and their development in the Czech Republic is being developed, along with the innovation of the warning system by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI). Drought is a natural phenomenon characterized by a gradual onset, long duration, and low dynamics, which requires a specific approach. The amendment to the Water Act introduces the obligation of regular reporting on drought and the establishment of a predictive service to be conducted by CHMI. Tools are being developed for long-term prediction of water resource conditions and a methodology for drought and water scarcity management plans. These plans aim to ensure water supply, protect the environment, and minimize the economic impacts. The decision-making body for issuing measures based on the drought plans is the Drought Commission, which operates at the regional level. The warning information is available on the HAMR web portal, which also displays local threshold limits for individual water resources.
„Water Centre“
The research project of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic SS02030027 „Water systems and water management in the Czech Republic in conditions of climate change“, whose guarantor is the Ministry of the Environment, tries to answer the question of whether we will continue to have enough quality water. Climate change and the associated drought, as well as human behaviour and demands threaten water, and solutions must be sought for the immediate future.
Hydrological balance in selected watersheds of the Czech Republic with focus on drought period 2015–2019
The contribution is aimed to the determination and assessment of a hydrological balance at selected watersheds in Czech Republic during the dry period 2015–2019. Hydrological balance was processed in gauging stations of watershed Blatný stream, Lomnice, Skalice, Žehrovka, Javorka, Cidlina, Botič and upper Sázava river using data from Czech hydrometeorological institute. Monthly, long-term monthly and annual values were calculated for precipitation, runoff and evapotranspiration. Results were compared across the selected watersheds and with long-term period 1981–2010. Runoffs from watersheds were compared with gauging average discharge of an entire observation period.
Adaptation of towns and municipalities to floods and drought
This article is available in Czech only. For translation or more information on this topic, please contact author. Souhrn Realizace komplexních adaptačních opatření je v posledních letech významným trendem ve všech velkých městech a obcích Evropy. Potřeba přizpůsobení se změně klimatu, vyznačující se střídáním krátkých a intenzivních povodňových epizod [1] a dlouhých období sucha,… Read more »
HAMR: online drought management system – web presentation to the public
Drought and water shortages are concepts that need to be spaced properly differentiate. Drought is a temporary decrease in water availability and is considered a natural phenomenon. Drought is characterized by its gradual onset, considerable area and long duration.
Interview with Ing. Tomáš Urban, Director of TGM WRI, p.r.i.
Interview with Ing. Tomáš Urban, Director of the TGM Water Research Institute, p.r.i., on his position as Director of the Water Research Institute, the National Drought Coalition and much more.
Interview with prominent Czech hydrotechnician prof. Ing. Vojtěch Brož, DrSc.
Interview with prominent Czech hydrotechnician prof. Ing. Vojtěch Brož, DrSc., about his career in the field of water management, his view on contemporary water works and their creation, etc.
HAMR: Online drought management system – operational management during a dry episode
Increasing occurrence of drought periods in the Czech Republic has highlighted a necessity of legislation modification. At the same time, a need has emerged for tools supporting decision making and water resources management at various levels during the drought periods.
Catalogue of green water retention measures in the landscape and its application in the web map application
A catalogue of green water retention measures in landscape represents one of the results of long term project financed by the Ministry of Environment. The main goal of the catalogue was to summarize a set of measures with positive effects on water retention of landscape, with low impact on ecological status of water bodies.
Draft content of the drought and water scarcity plan in the Czech Republic
The paper presents the draft of the plan for drought and water scarcity in the Czech Republic. The plan is a basic document of drought protection. It serves to coordinate activities in a given area during drought and water shortages.
What is the current state of drought in the Czech Republic and is a reason to worry?
These and other questions were answered by experts who come into contact with drought and water shortages daily.
Seminar Dry Period 2014–2017: Evaluation, impacts and measures
On the 30th of May, the Dry Period 2014–2017 seminar took place at the Novotného lávka in Prague: evaluations, impacts and measures organized by the Czech Scientific and Technical Water Management Company in cooperation with the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and the TGM Water Research Institute.
Water Balance – expression of the amount of water in landscape
Course of the weather in the last years shows that variability of the weather increases and this also leads to a higher frequency of floods, as well as drought. Drought, regardless of its type, means that there is a lack of water in landscape.
Hydrological balance and available water resource in the czech republic during hydrological drought
The article deals with the assessment of the hydrological balance in a monthly time step in the territory of the Czech Republic, which was divided into 133 sub-basins for the period 1981–2015.
Regionalization of deficit runoff volumes in the Czech Republic
The aim of the study is the regionalization of the Czech Republic with respect to drought characteristics in individual catchments.
Impact of drought and water scarcity on water use assessment
Exist tools for water balance, time series of water abstractions and their season variability, difference between permitted and real abstractions and impact of drought in 2015 were analysed and assessed in subtask Impact of Drought on Water Use Assessment.
Potential of the nature-friendly measures application for water retention in the landscape and improvement of the ecological status of water bodies
An analysis and assessment of the nature-friendly measures potential for water retention in the landscape were carried out as a part of the work on the concept of protection against drought impacts in the Czech Republic.
Policy of Protection from impacts of drought and water scarcity in the Czech Republic – consultation and processing
In the context of a severe drought period, which has started in 2014, an inter-ministerial commission WATER-DROUGHT was established to prepare a strategic policy document on protection from impacts of drought and water scarcity in the Czech Republic.
Evaluation of the impacts of drought on aquatic and water-bound organisms in surface water bodies
Within the framework of the sub-task “Evaluation of the impacts of drought on aquatic and water-bound organisms in surface water bodies“ a project involving activities to support the state administration in the drought issue in 2016 was prepared mainly a review of the potential impacts of drought on individual elements and indicators of water status assessment.
Water transfers as a measure for dealing with drought and water scarcity
Currently, new projects of water transfers are discussed as a potential measure for dealing with drought and water scarcity. However, there are some issues related with this measure, which require to be considered.
The drought management plan in the Czech Republic
The paper presents the preparatory phase of the draft of the drought management plan in the Czech Republic in the commenting process. The plan is a basic document of drought protection.
No wonder that is drought
Historic civilizations have dried up, archaeologists find them under sand deposits. The oldest great civilization was in Mesopotamia on the territory of present-day Syria between the Euphrates and Tygris.
Interview with Ing. Daniel Pokorný Director of the Department of State Administration of Water Management and River Basin Management at the Ministry of Agriculture
Interview with Ing. Daniel Pokorný Director of the State Administration of Water Management and River Basin Management at the Ministry of Agriculture on the topic of surface water and flood protection hydraulic structures.
Interview with a head of the Department of Irrigation and Landscape Engineering at the Faculty of Civil Engineering doc. Dr. Ing. Tomáš Dostál
Interview with a head of the Department of Irrigation and Landscape Engineering at the Faculty of Civil Engineering doc. Dr. Ing. By Tomáš Dostál on the topic of universities and recruitment of students, floods and droughts.
Actual problems of small water reservoirs
The workshop on the issue of small reservoirs was held at the headquarters ČVTVHS in the convention hall no. 217, Club technicians, Novotného lávka 5, Prague 1, on 27 September 2016.
Interview with Minister of Agriculture Ing. Marian Jurečka
Interview with Minister of Agriculture Ing. Marian Jurečka on the topic of drought and water management planning.
Floods and drought in flooded villages in southern Moravia, how the chronicles, photos and stories captured them
In the period 2013-2016 was solved the project program NAKI Ministry of Culture called “Flooded cultural and natural heritage of South Moravia” by the team of experts from various fields that straddle the TGM WRI, p. r. i.
Periodic droughts in streams: the next negative factor influencing crayfish populations
Periodic droughts in small streams are caused by climate changes but also by the inappropriate management of precipitation and surface water. If these factors act simultaneously, water level rapidly declines even up to the complete drying up of long sections of the stream.
Risk assessment of drying up of small streams in the Czech Republic
A categorization of the Czech Republic territory in terms of the risk of drying up of small streams (1st to 4th order by Strahler) was proposed. Three levels of risk (low, medium and high) for basic hydrological units (catchment) were set. The risk levels were defined using selected abiotic characteristics of the hydrological units and their combinations.
Drought management and water reservoirs construction in the context of spatial planning
In the Czech Republic long-term protection of localities suitable for surface water storage (LASW) is done. Currently the number of them is 65; in the near future this list will be updated. The protection of these areas, however, has impacts on social and economic development of communities, local people and on the landscape itself, too.
Interview with the Minister of the Environment Mgr. Richard Brabec on the topic of drought
Drought has been and certainly will be. On this topic is based conversation with the Minister of the Environment, which includes questions on the continuing heat wave and drought.
Establishment and operation of the interdepartmental commission WATER-DROUGHT
Since the mid-80s of the 20th century in the Czech Republic is a demonstrable increase in water temperature slightly influenced by surface water as a result of climate change.
Presentation of the Global Water Partnership
The Global Water Partnership was established jointly by the Swedish Agency for International Development, United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank in 1996 as an international network in order to create a unified approach to the use of water resources.