Description
Successful water resource management requires good information on the state of the environment. This information is often scarce, delayed and scattered. The main aim of the CRIS project is therefore to develop an information system supporting the river basin management. The primary outcome of the project will be the increase data availability and broader possibilities for data processing and use. The information system will be composed of a central database, a set of modeling tools simulating the status of the water cycle and an online user interface providing project results in the form of reports, plots or maps. The outcome will support Polish units responsible for water management, water supplies and for flood/drought/human health protection. The project consortium includes two Polish research institutes and one Norwegian (the Norwegian Institute for Water Research) which leads the investigation of alternative sources of information on the water resources and which supports the simulation of surface water system. Due to the close and interdisciplinary collaboration the partnership will demonstrate a novel tools supporting water management and protection of environment.
Summary of project results
The main goal of the project was to develop an information system supporting river basin management in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive. The system was designed according to the actual needs of end-users, i.e. entities responsible for water management. Successful water resource management requires good archival, current and forecast information on the status of the environment in catchments. Such information is often scarce, delayed and scattered. The CRIS system consists of: a central database, a set of modelling tools simulating the status of the water cycle and an online user interface providing project results in the form of reports, plots or maps. The main outputs of the project are: (a) the CRIS system and (b) implementation of the CRIS system for the Mała Wisła catchments. The system was fully developed and made publicly accessible. The user can obtain 12 information services via the website: 1) Precipitation distributions based on the analysis of weather radar reflectivity, 2) 48-hour weather forecast, 3) Meteorological parameters used for the assessment of water balance, 4) Daily water balance and transport of substances in river basins, 5) Daily water balance and transport of substances in watercourses, 6) Flow rate in watercourses, 7) Water stages in the Wisła River in cross-sections, 8) Daily groundwater table elevations and nitrate concentrations, 9) Hydrodynamics, temperature and water quality of the Goczałkowice Reservoir, 10) Daily nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere in sub-basins, 11) WMS - Digital cartographic data, 12) Satellite-based information about the surface water quality. The project outputs can be implemented in other river catchments in Poland and thanks to the Norwegian input they may also be considered as an international approach. All project outputs were delivered as a result of activities financed under the project. To ensure sustainability of the project results the project consortium has officially declared the intent to keep the system well-maintained. The system was welcomed by the target audience (entities responsible for water management, water supplies and flood/drought/human health protection) confirming that new data on water resources and factors affecting their status will contribute to the more effective water management. The primary outcome of the project is increased data availability for river catchments and broadened possibilities of data processing and data use.
Summary of bilateral results
The project consortium included two Polish research institutes: the Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas (IETU), and the Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute (IOS-PIB), as well as the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA). The main achievements of the Polish partners were: 1) design and implementation of the database to handle all types of data used by the CRIS system, tools for data exchange and the Internet browser (IETU) for data access (cris.ietu.katowice.pl), 2) incorporation of separate modules to the CRIS system: a meteorological model, weather radar observations, hydrological and meteorological observation for calculation of the water inflow to catchments, a nitrogen deposition model, a groundwater model (IETU), 3) investigation of modelling of water balance and surface water quality, development of a forecasting tool for the surface water flow, assessment of surface- and groundwater interactions (IOŚ). The main achievements of the Norwegian partners from NIVA were: 1) incorporation of a 3D model of the reservoir for simulations of hydrodynamics, primary production, and sediment transport, 2) implementation of alternative sources of information on water resources (satellite observations). The key achievement of the project was a geographic information system for the case study area. Spatial information used in the CRIS system required a geodatabase which could gather various information and make it available for GIS. The GIS task was performed by IETU and aimed at gathering and storing static spatial information about the case study area in the form of GIS dataset including: land use, digital elevation model, geological and hydrogeological characteristics, shallow aquifer map, soil maps, stream network, administrative units borders, location of the monitoring points, reservoir bathymetry, and population density. Bilateral relations were strengthened by the research collaboration, meetings, teleconferences and common dissemination events facilitated the exchange of knowledge and understanding of regional / national needs in the field of water management. The Norwegian funds have generally contributed to deepening bilateral relations in the implementation of the CRIS project as they were the main funding source for the project.