A major EU co-financed development has not only introduced new water management authority procedures but also reorganized and digitalized existing administrative processes. As a result, case management in this area is now conducted electronically.
The quality and quantity of available water resources are crucial to a country’s economy and significantly impact daily life. Accurate monitoring of Hungary’s water reserves and consumption is therefore essential, as both agricultural and residential water use influence water availability and long-term planning. The Water Use Information, Monitoring, and Integrated Regulatory Framework (VIZEK) project aims to simplify data reporting for water management authorities, decision-makers, and statistical offices while also streamlining and accelerating the water use permitting process.
The VIZEK project focuses on the digitalization of water rights and water protection permitting processes, aiming to reduce the administrative burden on agricultural water users and authorities. The development sought to significantly decrease the time required for permit application preparation, eliminate paper-based administration, and make procedures smoother and faster. As part of the project, an innovative, service-oriented, user-friendly IT system was developed. This system supports the digitalization of disaster management authority procedures and provides citizens with access to preliminary water information regarding potential water demands.
The electronic permitting system is expected to lead to more professional irrigation practices, potentially expanding irrigated agricultural areas and increasing economic benefits for farmers. One of the system’s key innovations is its economic calculation tool and decision-support module, which helps people engaged in irrigation farming estimate expected investment and water usage costs. This enables them to conduct cost-efficiency analyses before starting the investment and permitting process, ensuring more informed financial decisions.
A key aspect of the VIZEK project is the assessment of water rights permitting processes and the collection and provision of accurate data on water use and demand. To achieve this, the development required the creation of integrated IT systems. Another major priority was improving transparency in actual water usage, which was accomplished through methodological and IT enhancements to the monitoring system. From a user perspective, the project introduced several practical improvements, including: a one-stop system for fee and tax payments related to water usage, the implementation of the e-water book (e-vízikönyv), the electronic management and tracking of fines issued in disaster management authority procedures, a more efficient and reliable water management system
Overall, the VIZEK framework contributes to better optimization of water supply and usage. By integrating databases and digitalizing processes, it has established a coherent, contradiction-free, and fully reliable data management system.
The development was implemented from EU funding in the project KÖFOP-1.0.0-VEKOP-15-2016-00011 under the Public Administration and Public Service Development Operational Programme.
Find out more about the project in the Project Finder:Details
