VTEI / List of articles

List of articles from – 4/2024

Fishponds as an element of surface waters network – overview, history, function

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Historically, fishponds are a part of our landscape and Christmas carp is also a part of our culture. This paper describes the history of fishpond management and the different functions of fishponds – the development of fish production as food, the influence on quality of surface waters, the influence on climate and on hydrological regime of the landscape, and the issue of fishpond sediments – their removal and further use. As there is no general pond register in the Czech Republic, so (as part of the DivLand project) we created the Map of water bodies and fishponds in Czech Republic, based on the ZABAGED (primary base of geographical data
in the Czech Republic). For water bodies with an area over 1.0 ha, a public database (xls) was created; bodies over 5.0 ha were classified into groups (fishponds, reservoirs, flooded areas, lakes). The database also contains accessible data on the quality of fishpond sediments. Fishpond sediments are a favourable material for improving the quality of agricultural soils; problems with their use are mostly technical and economical.

Assessment of the status of surface water bodies in the Czech Republic for 2019–2021

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The article presents the results of the assessment of the status of surface water bodies in the Czech Republic for 2019 to 2021. The status assessment has been carried out by T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute, p. r. i. (TGM WRI), Biology Centre CAS, and the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI). The status of the water bodies was evaluated according to monitoring data from the River Boards state enterprises and – in the case of selected priority substances in biota – from the CHMI. The assessment procedures were the same as in the previous status assessment for 2016 to 2018, which was incorporated into the river basin management plans for the third planning period. The article focuses on presenting the results of the assessment, which was prepared by the TGM WRI. It is a summary assessment of the ecological and chemical status of water bodies, an evaluation of chemical and physico-chemical indicators and a comparison of the results of the assessment for 2019 to 2021 with the assessment for 2016 to 2018. In 2019 to 2021, good chemical status was not achieved in 57.6 % of water bodies; the problematic pollutants are mainly polyaromatic hydrocarbons; in the ‘biota’ matrix there was also mercury and brominated diphenyl ether. Good ecological status/potential has not been achieved in 92.3 % of water bodies; the problematic indicators are mainly biological quality elements and phosphorus.

Verifying the applicability of methods for modelling erosion and connectivity of sediments in the Slavíč catchment in the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy mountains based on geomorphological mapping of fluvial processes

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As part of the research activities of the Hydrology Department of CHMI Ostrava, field investigations and measurements are being carried out in several catchments to verify the outputs of GIS tools, empirical formulas, and mathematical models focused on surface runoff, fluvial erosion, and sediment transport. The main emphasis is placed on the influence of deforestation and land use changes on rainfall-runoff relations and fluvial erosion, especially within the framework of the NAZV “DEFOREST” and “CLIMCFOR” projects, in which CHMI collaborates with the Forestry and Game Research Institute (VÚLHM), the Bishopric of Ostrava-Opava, and Water Management Development, and Construction joint stock Company (VRV). The presented article deals with the possibilities of analysing fluvial processes and disconnectivity of flows in the Slavíč catchment in the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy Mountains. ESRI ArcGIS and GRASS GIS tools were used for these analyses. Field verification of outputs took place at several sampling points within the main stream Slavíč.

Comparison of VTEI citations in the Web of Science and Scopus databases

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A journal’s citation rate is an indicator of its quality. The presented study builds on analyses of the citation rate of the VTEI journal published in previous years. A new analysis of VTEI journal citations using Web of Science data was conducted and the citation analysis using Scopus data was updated. A comparison of citations in both bibliometric databases was performed to determine the degree of overlap between the two databases and whether it is more appropriate to monitor the citation rate in one or both bibliometric databases. The citation analysis confirmed a high degree of overlap between the two databases. For monitoring the citation rate of the VTEI journal, it is sufficient to track citations in the Scopus database; unique citations found in the Web of Science database represent only a small portion of all citations. The citation analysis also confirmed the increasing trend in the number of citations of articles published in the VTEI journal, which was noted in previous years.

Interview with Mrs. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Birgit Vogel, ICPDR Executive Secretary

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One of the biggest international activities in water protection is the multilateral cooperation in protecting the Danube. It originally started in the 1980s in the form of the Declaration signed in Bucharest in 1985, which concerned the Danube River itself. In 1992, at the initiative of the European Communities, the internationally supported Danube Environment Programme was launched, covering the entire Danube basin including its tributaries. In parallel, work was underway to prepare a Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube. The Convention was submitted for signature in Sofia on 29th June
1994 and entered into force on 22nd October 1998. The Contracting Parties to the Convention are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Ukraine, and the European Union. In August 2022, for the first time, a woman became the Executive Secretary of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) – Prof. Dr.-Ing. Birgit Vogel.

This year’s Danube Day is marked with round anniversaries

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This year we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River. This is a significant event; the signing of the Convention on the Protection of the Danube River initiated cross-border cooperation aimed at the protection of the Danube and its tributaries. The Convention was signed on 29th June 1994 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Jizera Mountains researchers in Podbaba

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On 25th January 2024, a seminar Meeting of researchers in the Jizera Mountains was held in the conference centre of T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute (TGM WRI) in Prague. It presented (mainly long-term) research projects implemented in the Jizera Mountains and focused on atmospheric precipitation, forest soils and forests, waters and their biota in recent decades, i.e. from peak acidification to current phenomena associated with climate change. However, no less important was the personal meeting of people who research, permanently work or live in the Jizera Mountains and are interested in the development of the situation in this area, as well as the final debate open to all.