Sustainable use of irrigation water is one of the EU’s priorities when it comes to environmental protection. Irrigation is usually one of the largest consumers of water. Excessive or inappropriate use of irrigation water can lead to adverse impacts within a river basin.
Due to the importance of sustainable use of irrigation water, the project held a training on “Sustainable Management of Water Resources for River Basin Irrigation” on 24 and 26 September 2019. Thirty representatives from different companies in the country attended the training intended for operators and regulators with responsibility for managing water resources for irrigation.
The one-day training focused on the basic theory of Integrated Water Resources Management at the river basin level (the Crna Reka basin was used as an example), with practical exercises on “available water for use” and “environmentally friendly flow”. The participants had the opportunity to watch a video presentation of the basic groundwater theory, and through hands-on experience using the RIBAMAN-5 model to assess the impact of integrated river basin water management and interconnection in the Crna Reka basin.
The RIBAMAN-5 software was developed under the project “Development of National Water Study”, which Eptisa implemented in the period 2016-2017.
The training, with lecturers Brian Faulkner and Daniela Buzarovska, was organized to help irrigation officials understand how their specific water capture operations affect other users and how the impacts of increased population and climate change will affect future water resources.
Attachments: Training Agenda, Manual: Using RIBMAN 5 for IWRM assessment
