Water and Energy – Challenges for the future

Hydropower is one of the most important renewable energy sources in Southeast
Europe. On a global scale it helps to increase the share of electricity production by
renewable sources, but on a local scale it creates ecological impacts in river
ecosystems. The EU-project “SEE Hydropower” deals with the optimization of water
resources management and the improvement of hydropower implementation with
respect to the environment. The objectives of the project are the review of the state
of national legislations and the national water resources management concerning
hydro power implementation as well as the summarization of different management
methodologies for reservoir operation in the Southeast European partnership
countries. Concerning the implementation status of the Water Framework Directive
significant differences were observed in the national legislation and the national and
regional water resources management in the project area. In this paper the main
focus is laid on the presentation of the EU project “SEE Hydropower” and on its
results concerning the implementation of the Water Framework Directive and the
existing differences between the project countries.