KaraWAT

Title Strategy for sustainable management of water resources in Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark
Link to website http://www.si-at.eu/si2/karawat/
https://www.geopark-karawanken.at/slo/aktualno/projekti/karawat.html
Program Interreg V-A Slovenia-Austria
Project duration 01/2021 – 08/2022
GeoZS role in the project Lead partner
GeoZS contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.




Spletni pregledovalnik Karavanke UNESCO globalnega parka / Karawanken UNESCO Global Geopark Web Viewer




The main objective of the KaraWAT project is to enable a clear and structured strategy for sustainable water management in the cross-border Karawanken/Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark, due to the many challenges in the field of water management. This strategy should serve as an instrument of action for the 14 municipalities involved and generate a catalog of recommendations for measures that allow bilaterally harmonized water management procedures.

The Karawanken/Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark is one of 161 UNESCO Global Geoparks in 44 countries. These landscapes are of international significance because of their high geodiversity. Geodiversity is defined as the variety of earth materials, forms and processes that constitute and shape the Earth. They are managed with a holistic concept of nature protection, education and sustainable development. The project KaraWAT will contribute in this context to the sustainable management of water resources.

Project partners include EVTZ Geopark Karawanken m.b.H., the UNESCO Chair for Management of Conservation Areas and the Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS). These partners will work together, supported by experts from the Office of the Carinthian Provincial Government (Dep. no. 8 ‘Environment, energy and nature conservation’ and Dep. no. 12 ‘Water Management’) as well as the Water Directorate and the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia.

We will analyse most relevant issues on the state, loads, uses and risks to sustain sufficient quantity and quality of waters in geopark at several workshops. We will elaborate geological grounds for municipalities Ravne na Koroškem and Eisenkappel, so that the land use in future can become better adapted to natural settings. In long-term, this will reduce the risk of natural hazards (floods, storms, land slides...) and support faster measures to protect water resources at accidents (pollution, droughts). Much effort will be focused on the development potential of mineral waters, such as Rimski vrelec at Kotlje and several mineral water springs in Eisenkappel.

Hydrogeological map of Ravne na Koroškem will be a base for protection and planned use of drinking and mineral waters as well as flood management, in areas where groundwater-surfacewater interaction is crucial. Mass movement susceptibility map (landslides, rock falls, debris flows) (sliding, rock falls, debris flows) will help to implement the detailed municipal spatial plan and similar documents. The erosion susceptibility mapcould serve to perform measures to reduce or prevent erosion, which is directly connected to occurrence and prevention of floods. We will also equip one measurement site at Mt. Peca for evaluation of the quantity state of groundwater within this transboundary karstic aquifer.

Thematic maps and other results will be included in a joint innovative bilingual (Slovenian-German) web viewer. This will represent a single-entry point for long-term implementation of the water strategy of Geopark Karavanke/Karawanken.

All information prepared in the project is available on the interactive Slovenian-German-English browser (https://geopark-karawanken-waters.eu/). It represents a single entry point for access to the official spatial layers of Slovenia and Austria, which contribute to a better understanding of the space, natural conditions and risks, water resources and tourist potential of the Geopark. Visitors who choose "Experience Geopark" can find ideas for trips to geological and water phenomena, including mineral springs, while more demanding users who choose "Water management" actively request cross-border spatial information. The viewer also shows new measurements of the quantity and temperature of underground water in the Mežica and Topla mines in the cross-border karst aquifer Peca, and the characteristics of its water cycle can be seen in the new GEO.DOM visitor center in Peca.