A website with an interactive map has been created to effectively manage river basins and improve the ecological status of water bodies in Ukraine. This development was implemented by EPAM Ukraine's IT volunteers on a pro bono basis for the State Agency of Water Resources with the support of WWF-Ukraine. It will provide public access to information about the government-approved management plans for nine river basins.
These river basins include the Danube, Dniester, Dnipro, Don, Southern Bug, Vistula, Azov, Black Sea, and Crimean rivers. Each plan's strategic goal is to achieve or maintain the “good ” environmental status of surface and groundwater bodies. Each management plan includes a specific list of measures, which is now easy to track.
A user-friendly interactive map allows one to learn more about surface/groundwater bodies, track measures in river basin areas, their cost, and projected environmental goals. The solution will also provide transparency to other government agencies to prevent duplication or misallocation of funds. It also meets the requirements for standards as part of Ukraine's European integration.
“Despite the war, Ukraine has made significant progress in implementing the Water Framework Directive. We have identified river basins, established river basin councils, reformed the water monitoring system to meet European requirements, and created 4 modern laboratories. Adoption of river basin management plans is one of the indicators of fulfillment of Ukraine's European integration commitments in the field of environmental protection and, in particular, in the field of water management and a prerequisite for Ukraine's accession to the EU. The work is ongoing and with the help of experts and scientists we will achieve the planned goals,” said Ihor Hopchak, Acting Head of the State Agency of Ukraine for Water Resources.
A team of volunteers from EPAM worked on the project's technical implementation for three months. It consisted of seven specialists: FrontEnd and BackEnd developers, DevOps and BA specialists, a designer, a project manager, and a coordinator. The project was based on similar developments by European organizations and used modern technologies such as Java, React, Mapbox, Leaflet, and Google Cloud Storage. The development has become a quick solution to meet the necessary current tasks, but it can be supplemented with additional functionality in the future.
“We are proud to be a part of this project and apply our technical expertise to build transparent and understandable processes in the country. This website and map are essential tools for effective river basin management and improving the ecological status of water bodies. It is also an opportunity for Ukrainians to follow the work in their community and join such events,” says Serhiy Teslya, project manager of the project. “Technologies can and should be implemented in the modern Ukrainian state to solve strategic problems, such as environmental issues.”
The volunteers' work once again demonstrates that the IT community uses its skills to solve important environmental problems and promote sustainable development. Today, the volunteer team at ERAM has more than 600 members. Since 2022, they have implemented about 40 developments for the benefit of the state and charitable organizations.
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