VTEI / From the world of water management

From the world of water management

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.

Comparison of the quality of thalweg lines extracted from data of DMR 4G, DMR 5G and its derivatives

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Determining the gradient of watercourses in the case of local applications is a common problem, which is most often dealt with by geodetic surveying. However, determining the gradient of all watercourses in the Czech Republic is a challenge. The use of geodetic methods on such a scale is usually unrealistic. Therefore, it is necessary to choose a different approach, such as the extraction of the gradient lines from other already existing elevation data. The DMR 4G and DMR 5G are elevation models currently available for the Czech Republic. For the extraction of gradient lines, it is necessary to create a digital terrain model (DTM) from the available datasets. Various interpolation methods are used for this. But which of the available interpolation methods is the most suitable? What role does the size of spatial resolution play in the quality of altimetry representation and subsequent sizes of the stored DTMs? To find answers to these questions, we chose four study sites (fourth order catchments) in the Otava river basin. Eight different DTMs were then created at each site, which were then compared. The results show that choice of raster size has a significantly greater influence on the resulting quality of the gradient lines than the choice of interpolation method in the case of DTM creation from DMR 5G data. DTM from DMR 4G data gives worse results than from DMR 5G at the same raster resolution.

Interview with Ing. Petr Kazda, Director of Partnership Environmental Foundation

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Do you know Tree of the Year, Planting for the Future, and the Adapterra Awards? And do you know what an Open Garden is? Do you use Greenways? All this and much more is related to the Partnership Environmental Foundation in Brno, whose director since 2019 has been Ing. Petr Kazda. Why is climate change a challenge for him that can bring us new opportunities?

Watermills and windmills as a meeting place

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There were many attempts in the past to establish a holiday of Czech mills, which could be related to the holiday of St. John of Nepomuk or even lesser-known saints such as St. Senan or St. Vinok. Therefore, our colleagues Rudolf Šimek (for watermills) and Jan Doubek (for windmills) agreed to organize a joint event for the anniversary of the creation of the legendary mill emblem on 13th May 1116. They also invited archivist and molinologist Jan Škoda to cooperate and approached the owners of several mills to see if they would support the event. There was a wave of very positive reactions, so they decided to organize a big event called Mill Open Day, which will take place on Saturday 11th May this year.

The Czech Republic chairs the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe River for the next three years

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In Magdeburg on 16th January 2024, the handover ceremony took place of the presidency of the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe River (ICPER). The Czech Republic took over from the Federal Republic of Germany for the next three years. Ing Tomáš Fojtík, who is Director of T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute (TGM WRI), was appointed as the new president with the agreement of the contracting parties. The TGM WRI employees are internationally recognized and long-term leaders, spokespeople, and members of working groups and expert groups, who significantly participate in the Commission’s activities and direction. This fact underlines the significance and importance of this re-search organization of the Ministry of the Environment as well as the actual research. Since the ICPER establishment in 1990, Ing. Tomáš Fojtík is the fifth president of the Commission from the Czech Republic.

Interview with Ing. Tomáš Fojtík, director of the T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute

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He has been Director of TGM WRI for a year. How does he evaluate this first year and what has he already managed to change for the better in our Institute? How does he remember his twenty years at the Institute as regular employee? And what are his plans and goals for the future regarding the direction of TGM WRI? „I would like to continue fulfilling my vision of creating a recognized and functioning institute of national and European importance as a research base for the field of water management with such a working culture and environment that it would be a target and prestigious workplace for quality and satisfied experts willing to actively cooperate,“ says the Director of our Institute, and newly also the president of the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe, Ing. Tomá Fojtík.

Interview with prof. Ing. Pavel Pech, CSc., professor at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

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the future be over water rather than oil and land? Why is he more afraid of genes than climate change? And is it better to build dams and large water reservoirs, or establish ponds, wetlands, and pools? What is his opinion on artificial intelligence? These are just some of the topics that I discussed with prof. Ing. Pavel Pech, CSc., long-time head of the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Modeling at the Czech University of Life Sciences (CULS). “I’m from Hnojárna,”* he says about himself with a smile, and it does not sound pejorative at all – after all, he is the founder of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at CULS in Prague.

Looking back at the National Dialogue on Water 2023

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After a four-year break caused by the covid pandemic, the National Dialogue on Water took place on 25–26th October 2023, this time in the Skalský Dvůr hotel in Vysočina. The event was organized by the T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute, p. r. i. (hereinafter TGM WRI) in coop-eration with the Czech Scientific and Technological Water Management Company (Česká vědeckotechnická vodohospodářská společnost, z. s.) The main theme of the event was a comprehensive approach to the protection of drinking water sources. This topic was addressed by a large number of experts from the field of water management (118 participants), whether it was representatives of the Ministry of the Environment (MoE), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Health, state-owned River Basin State Enterprises, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI), water authorities, operators of water supply and sewerage systems (VaK), mayors, private companies, hydrogeologists, and others.

Kozmice bird meadows and their importance for nature and landscape

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Alluvial wetlands and alluvial meadows (often referred to as “wet” in the literature) are one of the types of habitats that, with the gradual develop-ment of the cultural landscape, suffered the greatest transformation and often complete disappearance; in the Czech Republic, the most significant transformation by the transfer to field crops together with land improvement peaked roughly in the 1970s. Discussions about the importance of wetlands have, however, been revived in different periods; the factors that trigger these discussions are mainly floods and drought, which is clearly indicated by the drought that started in 2015. In their name, alluvial wetlands and meadows indicate that they are situated in a river landscape and are in periodic or constant contact with the surface water of larger rivers and groundwater, including the hyporeal. It is therefore obvious that these landscape elements are at least locally important for the cycle of water and chemical substances in the river landscape.

Interview with RNDr. Radim Tolasz, Ph.D., climatologist of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute

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Today, one individual cannot quickly mitigate the current impact of climate change that the entire world is facing by changing their behaviour. However, the promotion and spread of education is one of the main keys to making positive changes in a significant part of the population. In an interview for VTEI, the Czech representative in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climatologist RNDr. Radim Tolasz, Ph.D., from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI), describes further steps to mitigate the effects of climate change or, for example, his own first professional experience after 1980.

Development of pond locations in the Polabí lowland since the mid-19th century – part 2 – Poděbrady region

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This article presents the results of research on landscape changes in the Poděbrady region as part of the Polabí lowland, where there have been significant changes in the location of ponds. The area of all types of ponds (according to stability) makes up 3.17 % of the Poděbrady region. Ac-cording to their occurrence in the area in 1836/1852–2022, the ponds (or their parts) were divided into disappeared, continuous, and new. Disap-peared ponds have the largest representation – about 60 % of the total pond area according to stability. They are followed by continuous ponds, with the minimum area represented by new ponds. The historical or (more precisely) disappeared ponds were more robust than the present ones, i.e., they had a larger average size. Analyses show that almost three-quarters of the disappeared ponds have been replaced by arable land.

Fundamental revision of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive provokes conflicting reactions from European Union member states

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Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21st May 1991, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD), entered into force 32 years ago, which is a respectable age for a legal regulation. Since then, through the consistent implementation of its requirements, good results in water protection have been achieved in practice. Between 1990 and 2014, there was a reduction in the amount of pollutants in treated and discharged urban waste water for organic pollution expressed as BOD5 by 61 %, for total nitrogen by 32 %, and for total phosphorus by 44 %. The extensive support pro-vided to cities and municipalities from EU financial instruments as well as from national sources and the relatively strict application of sanctions have led, according to data published by the European Commission (EC), to the fact that currently 98 % of waste water in the EU is effectively collected and removed of and 92 % properly treated. Until now, the Directive’s requirements have primarily focused on centralized systems for the collection, removal, and treatment of waste water in agglomerations producing loads at the level of 2,000 population equivalent (PE) and more.

Interview with Mgr. Petr Hladík, Minister of the Environment

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The Minister of the Environment wants to give people the opportunity to live in harmony with nature, and by that he does not mean just planting trees on city streets. Why does Petr Hladík call the Ministry of the Environment the Ministry of the Future? The use of rainwater, solar panels, and deposit PET bottles no longer have to represent an excessively progressive approach, but a standard for returning to our planet at least the minimum of what we take from it. Grey water subsidies? Why should we want it and what will we actually benefit from it? The new Minister of the Environment, Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL), answers these questions for VTEI journal.

Technical Heritage of the Elbe-Vltava Waterway

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From 8th November 2022 to 31st January 2023, an exhibition entitled “Technical Heritage of the Elbe-Vltava Waterway” took place in the atrium of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU). The exhibition included exhibition panels, an interactive model of a weir lock, a video projection screen, and a stand with a web application www.lvvc.cz. The exhibition mapped the history and development of this 324 km waterway since the beginning of the 19th century, and it is expected to continue as a travelling exhibition.

Landscape changes in selected locations of the Polabí lowlands with a focus on wetlands

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This article presents three typologically different sites from Polabí where large-scale wetland sites were located in the past, including ponds. These sites were chosen in order to present disappeared floodplain meadows, disappeared “field” wetlands, disappeared ponds or pond systems, and, simultaneously, to present sites where wetland habitats have been at least partially restored. The main aim was to present easily accessible archival maps, on the basis of which it is possible to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of wetland habitats in the places of disappeared wetlands with regard to their possible restoration.

(Inter)nationality of VTEI journal

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V článku je popsána analýza národní orientace časopisu Vodohospodářské technicko-ekonomické informace (VTEI) pomocí bibliometrického indikátoru Index Národní Orientace (INO). Tato analýza navazuje na citační analýzu provedenou v roce 2022. Na základě údajů o publikovaných článcích se vypočítává Index Národní Orientace Publikujících autorů (INO-P). Pro citace časopisu VTEI v databázi Scopus se vypočítává Index Ná-rodní Orientace Citujících autorů (INO-C).

Interview with Michal Broža, head of the UN Information Centre in the Czech Republic

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Michal Broža was born on 13 May 1965 in Sušice. He graduated from Charles University in Prague and also studied at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Since 1995, he has worked at the UN in various positions. Since 2004, he has been the head of the UN Information Centre in Prague. He participated in missions in Africa and working stays in the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East. He also
worked as a World Bank consultant and researcher in the private sector. He specializes in UN issues, communication of global risks and megatrends. He is the author and co-author of publications and articles related to these areas, and he also gives lectures.

Subsidies from the Operational Programme Environment 2021–2027

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On 15 December 2022, calls from the Operational Programme Environment (OPE) 2021–2027 were finally launched for projects in the field of nature conservation and landscape protection, which will be financed through the so-called simplified reporting methods (hereinafter SRM). Simplifying the administration of subsidies was one of the main requirements of the European Commission, which it set as mandatory for all projects with total expenditures of up to EUR 200,000.

Planned restoration of aquatic ecosystems in Prague 4

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Prague 4 district in accordance with the National Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change [1], Concept for Protection from the Effects of Drought of the Czech Republic [2], Strategy for Adaptation of the Capital City of Prague to Climate Change [3] and Methodology for Rainwater Management in the City [4, 5], similarly to other progressive-minded parts of Prague, is preparing investment actions to support and strengthen green-blue infrastructure in the city. One of the most visible measures with truly demonstrable effects on the support of biodiversity and water retention in the landscape is the restoration of aquatic ecosystems. In the case of the capital city of Prague and its most populous district of Prague 4, these are mainly the restoration of canalized (straightened or piped) streams, or desilting, strengthening or comprehensive restoration of ponds and small water reservoirs in a highly urbanized landscape. A specific area is newly emerging bodies of water in places where water naturally tends to be retained after longer periods of rainfall and the area thus cannot be used for any other purpose, or even in places where there was no body of water before (although here in the narrower sense of the word it is not restoration). For such areas created by human intervention in order to strengthen the diversity of aquatic and wetland vegetation, the name artificial aquatic biotope has been adopted. Let us have a look at the differences and specific pitfalls of individual restoration using three specific examples.

Dewatering sewage sludge using sludge drying beds with wetland vegetation, the so-called Sludge Treatment Reed Bed units

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At present, the problem of waste disposal is growing worldwide; its secondary use is therefore more than desirable. A pressing problem for many small municipalities that need to build or reconstruct a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is solving the issue of processing the resulting sludge and its stabilization, sanitation, and further application. It is not unusual for small municipal WWTPs to lack a complete in-situ sludge management (including dewatering etc.). Sewage sludge is thus often pumped out at high cost and transported to a large WWTP. The main goal for the real application of sewage sludge is to prevent future damage to soils, plants, and the health of animals and people. For this reason, taking into account the substances currently present in the sludge (e.g., organic micropollutants), it is advisable to sufficiently pre-treat the sludge, not just sanitize it to eliminate above-limit microbial pollution.

Interview with Jaroslav Pollert, professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at CTU and a successful Czechoslovak representative in canoeing

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An interview with Jaroslav Pollert, professor of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at CTU and a successful Czechoslovak representative in canoeing, about his work as part of the Executive Committee of the International Canoeing Federation (ICF), the Czechoslovak and later the Czech Olympic Committee, about his professional career focused on the hydrodynamics of dispersion systems including, among other things, designing channels for water slalom and about his view on water management studies at Czech universities.

Presentation of some of the results of a research project mapping the development of the construction of elevated water tanks in the Czech Republic

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This paper presents a summary of some of the results of the research project, “Water towers – identification, documentation, presentation, new utilization”, (DG18P02OVV010), which has been implemented since 2018 as part of the Programme for the Support of applied Research and Development of  National and Cultural Identity for 2016–2022 (NAKI II) of  the Ministry of  Culture of the Czech Republic. In terms of content, it follows on from articles from previous years published in this periodical, but clarifies and supplements the issues of technical terminology and typology established at its inception based 
on the knowledge gained during the project. Furthermore, it presents general results of the records of the structures of elevated water tanks and focuses on a brief description of the historical development of these structures in our territory. 

On the issue of authenticity of water management structures

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Authenticity, in the sense of credibility or truthfulness, is one of the key categories in heritage management. This paper focuses on the question of authenticity in relation to industrial heritage, specifically water management structures. In the case of these structures, emphasis is usually placed on authenticity of function, but two further types of authenticity are equally important: authenticity of material substance or form (in relation to the original design and the structure built on its basis), and authenticity as a consequence of historical evolution. The paper presents an analysis of four model examples of water management structures that are either legally protected heritage sites or have been proposed as candidates for legal protection. The analysis of their heritage values provides insights into the individual categories of authenticity and enables the formulation of principles for managing sites of heritage value.

Interview with Ing. arch. Eva Dvořáková and Ing. arch. Tereza Bartošíková, Ph.D., about protection of technical and industrial cultural heritage in the Czech and Slovak Republik

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As part of the December issue of VTEI, which is entirely devoted to the topic of technical and industrial cultural heritage and the “Programme of applied research and development of national and cultural identity (NAKI II)” of the Ministry of Culture, we asked for an interview with two specialists in this field, Ing. arch. Eva Dvořáková from the National Heritage Institute (Národní památkový ústav, NPÚ) and Ing. arch. Tereza Bartošíková, Ph.D., from the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic (Pamiatkový úrad Slovenskej republiky, PÚ SR).

Use and popularisation of historical and current water management sources of information for the development of an environmentally friendly society

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Since time immemorial, research in all scientific fields has brought countless new information and broadened the spectrum of current knowledge. In the past, research was made more difficult by the then possibilities of disseminating newly acquired knowledge. Many scientists in the world have asked
the same questions, proposed and tested similar hypotheses, obtained similar scientific results, and reached their own unique conclusions. The problem was the very limited possibility of sharing this new information, thus the possibility of their mutual use and very often their preservation and availability to
future generations. It is safe to say that in the history of science, a huge amount of knowledge and information was discovered that was not used enough, was discovered repeatedly, or was completely lost.

The current version of the BILAN model

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BILAN je celistvý konceptuální model v denní/měsíční struktuře (schéma je uvedeno na obr. 1), simulující složky hydrologické bilance na povodí. Přestože jeho vývoj byl nastartován ve VÚV TGM již počátkem devadesátých let minulého století, jde o model, který je v České republice stále standardně používán a zůstává přístupný laické i odborné veřejnosti. Například je nedílnou součástí řešení aplikace/systému HAMR [1], ale byl použit i jinde [2–4]. Mezi hlavní výhody modelu oproti jiným řešením patří interní kalibrační algoritmy, možnost přímého vkládání dat o užívání vod a nízká výpočetní náročnost vhodná pro variantní simulování (např. dopadů klimatické změny na vodní režim).

Annotation of the exhibition Irrigation – rediscovered heritage, its documentation and popularization

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As a response to landscape drainage in the modern era, caused by the intensification of agriculture, the drying up of ponds, and land reclamation activities, interest in the opposite process has reappeared, i.e. irrigation. Existing irrigation systems, at present often non-functional and preserved only in parts, have become the subject of interest for this project which tried to capture the historical development of this specific water management field as well as part of the industry associated with the implementation of irrigation and the production of soil irrigation equipment.

Professional events in 2015

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This article is available in Czech only. For translation or more information on this topic, please contact author. Přinášíme Vám přehled odborných akcí z oboru vodního hospodářství konaných v roce 2015 a také poslední akce konané v tomto roce, na které se můžete ještě zaregistrovat. Organizační garance většiny dále uvedených odborných akcí náleží Ing. Václavu… Read more »

ČVTVHS in 2016

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This article is available in Czech only. For translation or more information on this topic, please contact author. Pokud jde o odborné akce v roce 2016, lze v této chvíli uvést několik záměrů, které se časem budou zpřesňovat a nepochybně i doplňovat dalšími: Jako formální spolupořadatel se budeme podílet na konferenci Voda 2016, kterou uspořádá dne 17…. Read more »

River ferries on old topographic maps

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Medium and large rivers were a major obstacle to historic trade routes and trails. River ferries were one of the main ways to cross them, so their sites were considered points of strategic importance. Using old topographic maps from Austrian military mapping from 1763–1768, 1836–1852, 1876–1880, Prussian military maps from 1825 and 1877, and Czechoslovak military maps from 1953–1957, we systematically located ferries throughout the current territory of Czechia. Map keys from individual mappings were also analysed to examine how ferries are depicted on these maps. Based on the study of old topographic maps, a geographical database was created with the location of individual ferries, including the period in which the river ferry was registered. A total of 514 historical ferries were recorded on old topographic maps from military mapping throughout Czechia; another 28 ferries were identified from other available, more detailed, map sources.

Citation analysis of VTEI

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The citation rate of a journal is considered an indicator of its quality. This study presents a citation analysis of the VTEI journal, published by the T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute (hereinafter TGM WRI). The citation analysis was conducted to identify the countries and institutions of authors who cite articles published in VTEI and the subject areas in which articles published in VTEI are cited. The identification of citing articles was complicated by the wide range of forms of VTEI journal title notation, as well as errors in the Scopus database. Therefore, the search was performed in several steps and the search query was gradually expanded. Descriptive statistics methods and cluster analysis using VOSviewer software were used for the analyses. A total of 126 publications were searched in the Scopus database, but only 108 publications were included in the analysis. These 108 articles quoted 152 articles published in VTEI. The number of VTEI citations has increased from sporadic citations prior to 2009 to more than 20 citing publications in 2020 and more than 30 cited publications in 2021. The majority of citations were received by articles published in VTEI within the first six years of publication, and the citation rate for articles published between 2009 and 2021 is relatively even. Authors from 66 institutions in 16 countries, mainly in Europe, contributed to the citing publications. However, authors from the Czech Republic were dominantly involved in citations and, in many cases, these were authors of articles published in VTEI. The main areas where articles published in VTEI are cited are environmental sciences, specifically the impacts of climate change on water management and hydrology, and water quality assessment using the water footprint.

Risk assessment as a comprehensive approach to protection of drinking water sources

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Drinking water supply as well as its quality form one of the basic pillars of modern society. This corresponds to the goal of the International Water Association (IWA) – good, safe and drinkable water, which enjoys consumer confidence and can be not only drunk without fear, but in which the consumer also appreciates its taste and aesthetic appearance. In order to meet these objectives, it is important to set drinking water quality requirements and also to keep the whole process of drinking water production and distribution, including all risk areas, under continuous control.

Development of citations of the magazine VTEI

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This article is available in Czech only. For translation or more information on this topic, please contact author. Časopis Vodohospodářské technicko-ekonomické informace (VTEI) vychází již 63 let. Zároveň je to pět let od ukončení spolupráce s časopisem Vodní hospodářství a začátku vydávání časopisu VTEI v současné modernizované podobě. V úvodním slovu k číslu 4–5/2015, jež… Read more »

Interview with Ing. Eva Juranová, head of the Department of Analysis and Assessment of Environmental Components at TGM WRI

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This article is available in Czech only. For translation or more information on this topic, please contact author. Paní inženýrko, ve svém výzkumu se zaměřujete především na problematiku radioaktivity v životním prostředí. Bylo toto téma již od počátku v centru vaší badatelské pozornosti? Ano, dá se to tak říct. Ve VÚV TGM jsem jako čerstvý absolvent začínala… Read more »

We present the new website of TGM WRI

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VÚV TGM se po více než 11 letech dočkal nového webu. Původně byla snaha představit nový web v rámci výročí 100 let od založení instituce na konci roku 2019, nicméně celkový rozsah změn si nakonec vyžádal širší diskuzi napříč celou institucí tak, aby se pracovníci ústavu mohli se záměrem, motivací a především účelem nového webu podrobně seznámit. Tím, že nejde o pouhou změnu designu, ale o zcela nový web včetně grafiky a struktury, bylo toto přechodné období jistě na místě a my ve VÚV TGM věříme, že návštěvníci z řad laické i odborné veřejnosti jeho uživatelskou vstřícnost a přehlednost brzy ocení.