Bulgaria - Information System for Water Permits and Monitoring Management

Client: Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW)
NVE Mandate: Assistance to MoEW in setting up a database system for registration, monitoring and control of water uses and licensing.
Contract Value/ Duration: € 1.386.080 (grant of € 1.177.535 from Innovation Norway within the Norwegian Cooperation Programme with Bulgaria, and € 208.545 co-financed by MoEW). Project started officially 1 December, 2009, and with planned ending by 30 April 2011. However, due to delays, the project has been granted an extension until April 2012.
Type of Activities: Study visits, preparation of documents, procurement activities, technical assistance, advisory services, advising on database system set ups (both software and hardware), and training workshops.
Work completed in 2010: Study visit of 13 Bulgarians from MoEW in Norway, preparation of the technical specifications, procurement, tender evaluation and contract signing with the winning consortium for the software component.
Work in Progress 2010: Implementation of the software project.

Background:
As an important part of Bulgaria’s water management policy and in order to fulfill the EU Water Framework Directive, the MoEW needs to develop a system for registration, monitoring and control of water bodies, especially to control discharge points and to provide information to the public online on the status of the permits.

Activities and Outputs:
In 2010, two major sets of activities were completed:

• A study tour in Norway for 13 Bulgarian participants from the Water Directorate and the 4 Basin Directorates.
• Procurement for the software component. This included the preparation of Terms of Reference, Request for Proposals, evaluation of proposals and preparation of Evaluation Report. Contract with the winning software consulting consortium was signed in August 2010.

The Software consulting consortium is in the process of executing their tasks. During the inception phase the Consultant clarified the requirements of the tender documentation and the proposed technical solution. This phase was immediately followed by the in-depth business analysis and functional specification of the system.

A working group consisting of staff from the four River Basin Directorates and the MOEW was formed to liaise closely with the Consultant. The Bulgarian project coordinator, employed by NVE, also participated in the group’s meetings together with its members and the Consultant. The development process started immediately after the Consultant presenting of the functional specifications. The pilot project was started and proposed changes observed while implementing the system. The development and implementation of the software component are expected to finish at the end of February 2011.