The National Precipitation Management Conference, held during Science Month, took place on November 14-15, in Baja, Hungary. The event was organised by the National University of Public Service, Faculty of Water Sciences. Over two days, more than 350 participants discussed urban rainwater management issues, attended four sessions, and heard 50 lectures. The role of the JOINTISZA team during the event was to highlight the use of advanced IT methods in urban hydrology management.

Professor János Tamás, from University of Debrecen, who chaired one section on day one delivered a presentation titled “The Role of Urban Hydrology in River Basin Management Plan 2 (RBMP-2)”. Professor János briefly introduced also the JOINTISZA pilot activity 4.4, Urban Hydrology Management, and described the role and a high-resolution 3D city model in urban hydrology as a part of the case study for Debrecen. The presentation demonstrated the benefits and applications of airborne laser scanning technology in urban water management planning in the frame of a possible green urban infrastructure.The application of LIDAR technology was also presented as a proven means of providing accurate data for assessing green areas, built-in areas, urban run-off conditions, cistern design and rainfall utilisation; it also offers a detailed view of buildings, vegetation and surface properties. The presentation also pointed out that remote sensing devices using new types of electromagnetic spectrum offer good opportunities for the rapid collection of homogeneous data sets in conducting a wide range of assessments, including flow factors, land use modifications on water infiltration, water retention management, and measuring evapotranspiration. It is possible through such data sets to determine flow condition parameters, roughness factors, direction of run off, and spatial and temporal evolution of aggregation.

The conference offered an excellent opportunity for communicating possible outcomes of JOINTISZA pilot activity 4.4 to scientists, decision makers and stakeholders. Besides this, the conference was also a good opportunity for knowledge sharing and transfer. Presentation topics included: establishment of system theory and long-term urban rainwater management planning; rainwater loads on sewerage networks; the role of green infrastructure in the management of rainwater and drainage of urban areas; meteorological background of flash flooding; expected results of sustainable precipitation; the role of green roofs in the use and temporary storage of rainwater in urban areas; and municipal water management.