1. Organisational and technical aspects of the water information system in Slovenia
Lidija Globevnik, Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia
Stanka Koren, Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia
WORKSHOP OF WATER INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR EUROPE (WISE)
12 November 2008, Paris

2. Organisational aspects of water informatics in Slovenia:
Governmental Bodies
issue in close relation to waters
no.of govern. bodies managing information in close relation to waters
Ministry of Finance
water pricing, environmental taxes
Ministry of the Interior
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
international cooperation in water management
Ministry of Justice
implementation of penal sanctions
Ministry of Defence
protection against natural and other disasters 1
Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs
Ministry of the Economy
economical development, energy, tourism
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food
fisheries, irrigation, drainage, plant protection products, fertilisers 4
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of the Environment and  Spatial Planning
water management, nature and biodiversity, environmental impact assessment; spatial planning 6
(1 body with 12 subsystems)
inistry of Transport
water pollution and flood prevention and control by/of highways
Ministry of Education and Sport
education, recreation and sports on waters
Ministry of Health
drinking water quality, bathing water quality
1 (2 systems)
Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology
research, higher education
Ministry of Public Administration  
public administration, salary system in the public sector, administrative processes
Statistical Office
annual stastistics on environment- water thematic area (Eurostat)
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
(AT THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY)

3. Water Informatics at Ministry of the Environment and  Spatial Planning - 6 bodies collect/produce and store data&information closely related to water - 5 bodies deposit data&information into ENVIRONMENTAL INFO SYSTEM:
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
(AT THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY)
Institute for Water of RS
Geological Survey Institute
Institute for Nature Protection

4. Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia: (WATER INFORMATICS)
From 2003 on: technical support for WFD implementation in Slovenia (Art. 3, 5, 13)
Permanently: flood mapping, conceptual projects for flood protection, technical support to env. ministry for water rights licensing
From : Phare Topic Link to ETCW (Eurowaternet development in Phare countries)
From 2007 on: partner in ETCW consortium (EEA river quality data collection and data base management, WISE data model, WISE Map Viewer support, CSI 019 and CSI022 indicators assessment, support for reporting for Bathing Water Directive, water ecology reports,

5. Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia:
64 GIS layers in the info system
44 layers with information related to water and used for WFD art 3, 5, 6, 13
20 layers: support layers (administrative borders, number of inhabitants, land use,...)....imported from other systems
10 layers produced and maintained by IWRS (updating); they are deposited into Environmental Information System

6. Environmental Agency of Republic of Slovenia – (ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM)
web page:
“Water” Section
Environmental Atlas
- GIS WEB service
- Eionet in Slovenia

7. regular information under section “water”
Environmental Agency of Republic of Slovenia – (ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM)
web page:
regular information under section “water”

8. Environmental Agency of Republic of Slovenia – (ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM)
Environmental Atlas :
monitoring - WATER
WATERS

9. Environmental Atlas – WATER SECTION, FLOODS:
Environmental Agency of Republic of Slovenia – (ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM)
Environmental Atlas – WATER SECTION, FLOODS:

10. Environmental Agency of Republic of Slovenia – LIST OF DATA BASES at the Agency
data base of the MONITORING programme of quality of water/rivers, lakes, transitional, coastal, sea, groundwater and REPORTING for EEA SoE (Waterbase)
data base of the MONITORING programme of quantity of water/rivers, levels of lakes, coastal, groundwater REPORTING for EEA SoE (Waterbase)
data base of the MONITORING of meteorological/climate parameters
data base of the MONITORING of snow landsliding
data base of MONITORING programme of BWD (Bathing water directive) and for the REPORTING for BWD
data bases/information for the REPORTING for WFD/DWD/GWD
data bases/information for the REPORTING for UWWTD
data bases/information for the REPORTING for IPPCD
data bases/information for the REPORTING for ND
data base of water rights and permits for use of water and activities on waters
data base of water infrastructure (objects on waters)
data base of environmental permit system
EIONET-SI info system (WISE SoE reporting, national indicators assessment for national SoE reports)

11. Environmental Agency of Republic of Slovenia–
The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely of mathemathical or experimental skill (Einstein, 1938)
Environmental Agency of Republic of Slovenia–
9 working groups + 6 responsible persons in the field of water informatics
5 “outside” data suppliers (chemical, biological monitoring of surface water; chemical monitoring of groundwater; bathing waters quality for 20 sites; WFD elements; drinking water quality)
for UWWTD and IPPCD reporting: data from individual polluters

12. The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely of mathemathical or experimental skill (Einstein, 1938)
Environmental Agency of Republic of Slovenia– Issues in the field of data&information flow:
personal/institutional attachment to data and information “produced” at the Agency
integration of different databases not automatic/systematic; operational mostly by personal contacts between employess
integrated analysis of “numerical/string” data operational for SoE reports, reporting for European institutions
efficient: Environmental Atlas: integration of “spatial” data (common paltforma, unique geo-referenced system)
not so efficient: integrated analysis of “numerical/string” and “spatial” data as a support for decision making process
not so efficient: integration of data and information from other national institutions

13. National level – Problems with data&information flow
( example: AT IWRS for WFD needs- analysis, reports, technial background studies for political decisions...)m
“expert” WATER INFORMATION SYSTEM

14. CONCLUSIONS:
Problems in building integrated digital environmental/water information system at national level:
- weak spatial integrity and georeferencing of objects of some data bases
- missing data dictionaries (meta descriptins of fields, history) (DD)
weakly defined working processes for updating of data bases
missing responsibility for mantenance of some data bases
weak knowledge of legal basis for data/information collection and reporting
un-trust and weak collaboration between institutions
underestimated human resources needs
long time needed that “raw data” are processed into an “offical” data base
preference to share aggregated data and not raw data
weak collaboration between experts that work on info - technical and content issues
HOW can we benefit from WISE system:
use the same data dictionary system as WISE
learn from WISE how to deal with responsibility, working processes and legal issues
collaborate with WISE system to build trust and confidence