Category: Romania

Since 2018, the Blue Deal programme is working on drought management in the partnership in Romania. This was noticed by water managers in Portugal. In February, a team of experts of Blue Deal partnership Romania were invited to travel to Mértola, Portugal to provide insights and recommendations on how to address challenges posed by drought and water scarcity in this region. They did not only bring in knowledge and expertise from the Dutch perspective, but also from the Romanian perspective.

The Blue Deal partnership in Romania focuses on several key activities to combat droughts, including restoration of irrigation systems, stakeholder collaboration for joint water management solutions, monitoring and promoting sustainable groundwater usage and developing strategies to manage water resources amid climate change. 

These topics were also highlighted during the expert session in Portugal. 

Advising regional stakeholders

During the visit to Mértola (Mértola has the size of the Province of Utrecht), various regional stakeholders were advised by the experts on different approaches to manage the Guadiana River. Representatives from the municipality of Mértola were also present. The river forms the border between Spain and Portugal and faces severe drought conditions. As a result, there is less water available for agriculture and nature. The team was invited by the Dutch embassy and consisted of Johan Remijn and Joost van der Zwet from water authority Rijnland, Silvia Mosterd from water authority Noorderzijlsvest. Experts from Nyenrode University (Tineke Lambooy and Antoinette Hildering) and the University of Murcia, Spain (Eduardo Salazar Ortuno) were also present.

Collaborative efforts 

The team was joined by Eduardo Salazar Ortuno. He is involved in advocating for the ecosystem’s voice as a legal entity. Also present was the deputy mayor of Mértola, Rosinda Pimenta, who emphasized the importance of thinking about the future together.

Furthermore, the team collaborated with Gotlieb Basch from the University of Evora. Gotlieb is passionately involved in the impact of soil on water quality. He is, therefore, strongly against ploughing and advocates for covering the soil with organic material to prevent it from drying out. This reduces the need for pesticides and fertilizers.

For them, it would be beneficial if Brussels adjusted subsidy rules to encourage farmers to work this way. Therefore, to have more influence in Brussels, the advice to Mértola is to form a coalition with other European municipalities that face similar problems.  

Expert conclusions

Manuela Moreira da Silva from the University of Algarve, highlighted innovative solutions for local water retention: it can reduce water consumption by 50%. Farmers in the region prefer small, irrigated areas to have their grass grow, favouring multiple dams over a single large dam. However, the experts concluded that new dams should not be constructed. Namely, the assumption is that more irrigated land could lead to large agricultural companies threatening the quality of the Parque Natural do Vale do Guadiana.  

Student perspectives

Three students, Emilio Munos Guerrero, Alba Gimeno, and Willemijn Lodders, emphasized the importance of making Mértola attractive to children and young people. They also argued that future space users should not be easily offered a cheap alternative. They highlighted the importance of health in relation to sustainable production. Rosinda Pimenta concluded by pointing out that it makes little sense to start running if the people around you are not yet doing so. “Involve them, take them along, and inspire them.” 

Key takeaways

The following five points are worth considering: 

1. Holistic approach: To tackle drought, it is important to zoom out rather than zoom in. By looking at other aspects such as ecology, land use, water recycling, and local water retention, more can possibly be achieved. 

2. Soil management: Drought is not just a challenge that can be solved by bringing in more water. Soil management and use are closely linked to it. 

3. Stakeholder engagement: Involve current and future users in planning more than ever before. Pay attention to the distribution of young and old, different educational levels, and cultures.  

4. Interdependence: Drought and spatial planning are interdependent. 

5. Beyond technical measures: To interest all users, more is needed than presenting technical measures. 

Added value

Drought becomes increasingly problematic in Europe and is an important topic on the knowledge agenda of Dutch Water Authorities. The outcomes of the visit to Mértola emphasize once again how special it is, that Dutch Water Authorities conduct extensive research on drought and create plans that even look ahead to 2100. 

Dutch ambassador visits Blue Deal Romania

In the meantime, capacity building and knowledge exchange on drought management continued in the Romanian Blue Deal partnership.  

The Romanian Dăbuleni pilot area – which suffers from great droughts – was visited by the Dutch ambassador Willemijn van Haaften. She met the Jiu Water Basin Administration (Jiu WBA) in Craiova, Romania, along with a team from the Embassy. Representatives from the National Administration “Romanian Waters” (ANAR) and Jiu WBA presented projects developed under the Blue Deal initiative. 

The delegation explored key sites in the Dăbuleni pilot area that deals with severe drought challenges. Highlights included: 

• The Dăbuleni Research Institute – Director Aurelia Diaconu presented research on drought-resistant plant species.
• The Museum of Plants Adapted to Sandy Soils – showcasing plant species adapted to the arid conditions of the Oltenia region.
• Izvor Ascunsa – Hidden Spring rehabilitation – a Blue Deal mini-pilot project demonstrating sustainable water management solutions.
• Field visits to strategic sites such as Jieț at Ostroveni, Jiu at Zăval, the Jiu-Jiet reconnection project, and the Danube at Bechet, highlighting practical approaches for drought mitigation and ecosystem restoration.

The visit reinforced the strong partnership between Romanian and Dutch water authorities and the support of the Dutch Embassy. It showcased successful interventions in combating drought and the improvement of regional water management.

Blue Deal Romania participated in the Wetskills event in Romania from 16 - 29 November 2024 with 2 assignments.

The Wetskills Water Challenge is a 2-weeks programme for students and young professionals from all over the world with a passion for water. They join an event, and work in transdisciplinary and transcultural teams on challenging water cases. Blue Deal Romania contributed to this years’ event with 2 cases:

• Engaging young people in risk, crisis, and corporate communication;
• Nature-based solutions for drought measures.

For the communication assignment, a Wetskills team of 5 people developed an app called Personal Assistant for Communication with Organisation (PACO), complete with its own mascot. This team included 3 staff members from the Blue Deal partner organisation, the National Administration Romanian Waters.

For the nature-based solutions assignment, a Wetskills team of 4 people devised solutions to reconnect an old river branch and to restore a neglected spring. This team included a staff member from the Dutch water authority Brabantse Delta.

The solutions were presented on 28 November 2024 at the Dutch Embassy in Bucharest. They will be discussed during upcoming Blue Deal Romania meetings.

On October 7, it was once again time for the annual meeting in Romania regarding the Blue Deal Economic Mechanism project. This year’s location was Timisoara, Romania. Following what was for some a long travel day, the workshop began on Tuesday, October 8, with a welcome speech by Liliana Michineci, the director of NARW, the Romanian water authority.

Progress in KPI dashboard

After reflecting on the Blue Deal work visit to Leiden, the Netherlands, which took place earlier in May this year, the first major topic on the agenda was addressed. This concerned the progress made by Romanian colleagues in developing a KPI dashboard. The aim of the dashboard is to help monitor their goals and achievements more effectively in the future. In collaboration with the World Bank, an initial concept for such a dashboard was created and presented for the first time in Timisoara, Romania. Although there is still much work to be done, the first step was well-received. The coming period will focus on identifying suitable KPIs and determining how data will be collected and provided. The project with the World Bank must be completed by March 1, 2025, and the topic will undoubtedly be revisited during the next Blue Deal work visit.

Tax collection

Although it was not formally on the agenda, the topic of tax collection was also discussed. Upon request, Philip Daelmans of the Dutch water authority Limburg gave a presentation about the imposition and collection of taxes through the tax collaboration system in which his water authority is involved. This topic piqued the interest of the Romanian colleagues, especially since the Romanian water authority NARW plans to introduce a solidarity contribution of €8 per household starting in 2025. This contribution is part of a proposed law based on World Bank recommendations. The aim is to raise an estimated €8 billion between 2025 and 2039, not only through the solidarity contribution but also by tapping into new revenue streams such as groundwater extraction fees and energy generation from water.

Key topics

2 key topics on the agenda for day 3 were communication/lobbying and treasury management. Starting with communication, it is crucial for NARW to bring its partners on board with the World Bank’s recommendations. Earlier this year, a meeting was organised with key stakeholders, including ministries and energy companies, and the Romanian colleagues provided an update on this in Timisoara. They drew inspiration for organising such meetings from the ‘storytelling’ workshop given by Marcel de Ruijter earlier this year in Leiden. Regarding treasury management, Philip Daelmans gave a presentation on how it is handled at the Dutch water authority Limburg.

Asset management

The main focus of the final day of the workshop was the use of risk and asset management within NARW. To make significant progress on these topics, work is being done with a software tool that NARW had previously employed. The goal is to use risk analysis to identify the most significant risks related to NARW’s assets, allowing prioritisation of actions and allocation of maintenance budgets accordingly. To date, 50,000 assets have been mapped and integrated into the software tool.

In addition to the above-mentioned topics, the workshop was, as always, enriched with presentations and excursions that provided participants with greater insight into the hosting water authority and its management area. All in all, the work visit was a resounding success on every level.

A Dutch Blue Deal delegation visited Romania from 8-11 July. The main goal was to discuss the content and scope of 2 workshops on behalf of the development a Decision Support System (DSS) in Romania. The workshops are foreseen in 2024 and 2025 to let Romanian experts learn the basics of developing a DSS.

DSS is a system that provides computer-driven technological solutions that help in making decisions to solve complex problems.

The Blue Deal work visit kicked off with a meeting at the National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management (NIHWM) headquarters and was dedicated to the expectations of the current workshop. At first, Mr. De Ruyter of the Unie van Waterschappen gave an update about the Blue Deal partnership.
Next, the director of NIHWM, Mr. Matreata, gave a presentation about the NIHWM systems currently used for water management in Romania, and the linkage between meteorological administration information and hydrological forecast centre products.

DSS complementary to current systems

After an extended lunch, Mr. Matreta explained how a DSS can be complementary to the systems already in function. He also gave an insight in the current developments for the flash flood warning system. To give a slight impression of some possibilities of a DSS, Mr. van der Zwan from the Dutch water authority Rijnland explained how Rijnland has developed a DSS and how it is used on a daily basis.

With the insights of both the Romanian partners and the Dutch visitors, the discussions focused on the most sufficient pathway to implement a DSS in Romania and especially the critical points to take in consideration. To implement a DSS step-by-step, the first step is to develop a pre-operational DSS for a part of the Arges-Vedea river basin.

Visit to Arges-Vedea River Basin

The next day, the delegation was given a warm welcome by the Arges-Vedea River Basin Administration (RBA Arges-Vedea) in Pitesti. Mr. Cristian Barbu of the RBA Arges-Vedea provided insights in the water management in the watershed of Arges-Vedea.

After a perfect stay in the beautiful area of Voina in the northern part of the basin, the next day the discussion continued about how the water management in the Arges-Vedea basin is done. The participants concluded what the starting points were for a DSS in the Arges-Vedea basin, and how to develop, implement and maintain a DSS.

In the afternoon, the Rausor dam, one of the major dams in the Arges-Vedea basin, was visited. The participants were informed about dam management and technical issues.

How to develop basis knowledge on DSS

On the last day of the visit, the Dutch and Romanian participants had an online meeting with HKV and Deltares. They discussed the content of the workshops and the level of detail. The participants that will attend the workshops will develop basic skills about developing a DSS and gain basic knowledge of the structure of a DSS. This knowledge will be of utmost importance for upscaling a DSS other areas in Romania. Funding of the workshops comes from Blue Deal, NARW and NWB Fund.

After the meeting was finalised, the Dutch participants flew back home, looking back on a fruitful visit, and looking forward to the next steps in this process.

In the third week of May, the Economic Mechanism project group from the Blue Deal partnership Romania was welcomed to the beautiful city of Leiden.

Host of the 2024 session in the Netherlands was the Dutch water authority Rijnland. Especially for the occasion, Rijnland facilitated their meeting facilities in the city centre of Leiden, in a building, which is hundreds of years old. A place that breathes history, which was very much appreciated by both the Dutch and the Romanian delegation.

Finances and asset management

After the action points of last meeting in Targu Mures had been discussed, the programme for the week really kicked off with a presentation by Hans Nederend from the Dutch water authority Rijnland. Mister Nederend elaborated on the financing of investments and how capital costs are covered from the annual budget. Following, asset manager Koen Mooij from Rijnland, gave a presentation on asset management and how this is used within the water authority Rijnland.

Project with the World Bank

One of the main topics in each meeting of the Economic Mechanism Romania group is a project the Romanian water authority (NARW) has with the World Bank. The goal of this project is to achieve sustainable financing of the economic mechanism in Romania. This means that the income of NARW is to be improved by 20 percent by imposing a higher levy. Mirela Ciucur, Head of NARW Economic Mechanism, gave an update on the progress of the project during the meeting. After working several years with the World Bank, an advice from the World Bank is now completed. In the advice, 4 scenarios have been prepared. 1 or 2 of the presented options are to be chosen by NARW in order to implement in the economic mechanism. In July of this year, a meeting between the World Bank and the European Commission on the bill will take place. In September of this year, the approval of the new law for improving the economic mechanism is scheduled.

Visit to the NWB Bank

The first day of meetings ended with one of the highlights of the week, which was a visit to the NWB Bank in the Hague, the bank voor the Dutch water authorities. Even for the Dutch participants this visit proved to be an eye-opener. Although being familiar with the bank, most participants underestimated the magnitude of NWB. A nice presentation was given by NWB and there was plenty of time for all relevant questions to be asked.

Stakeholder management through Golden Circle Theory

The second day kicked off with an interactive session, guided by Marcel de Ruijter, a Dutch member of the Blue Deal team for Romania. The session was about stakeholder management, which is a crucial subject for getting the World Bank advice approved. The session was based on the so called ‘Golden Circle Theory’. A number of questions had to be answered by all the participants, after which the outcomes were shared and discussed among the group. For NARW, it is crucial to approach stakeholders such as the Ministry of Finance, Environment, and associations of municipalities.

AI in water management

After the session on stakeholder management, the Romanian delegation had arranged an online presentation on AI-powered automation in water management. George Roth and Andrej Nagy (external consultants responsible for AI in the public sector in Romania) gave a presentation on AI based on ‘The UIPath Platform where automation turns AI’s promise into real-world impact’. After the presentation, it was agreed upon that a practical example is to be worked on for the next work visit.

The use of KPI’s to monitor and improve performance

The next work visit is to take place in October 2024 in Timisoara, Romania. As a teaser for this visit, a presentation on the involved water authority (Banat) was given by Veronica Caxi (Economic Director at Banat). During the next work visit, we will discuss the use of KPI’s in order to monitor and improve performance. During our last meeting in Leiden, we also talked about this topic. For this meeting, a group of 4 experts from the World Bank joined online.

Apart from the various presentations and discussions, there were also a number of field trips, among which a fantastic guided boat trip from the municipality Katwijk to Leiden with its various canals. Altogether, the participants look back on what was again a fruitful and inspiring week.