Hungary Nutrient Reduction Project

Project Objective

The Project is also expected to serve as a model for similar nutrient reduction initiatives in Hungary and other Danube basin countries. The Project delivers on the Government’s commitments under the Danube Conventions and other international agreements for the protection of the Danube River and the Black Sea and represents a substantial step toward Hungary’s compliance with EU Directives.

The total cost of the project is US$32 million, including a US$12.5 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The GEF Grant is complemented by a US$7.7 million reallocation from the Bank-financed Municipal Wastewater Project and counterpart funding of about US$10.4 million from the municipality of Budapest and US$1.4 million from the Ministry of Environment and Water.

The Project consists of three main components. The first component aims at upgrading the North Budapest Wastewater Treatment Plant to the tertiary level of treatment, allowing a 32 percent reduction of nitrogen loads and 17 percent of phosphorus loads. The second component  supports the rehabilitation of about 10,000 hectares of wetlands within the Gemenc and Beda-Karapancsa areas of the Duna-Drava National Park, to increase by almost 50 percent their nitrogen and phosphorus retention capacity from Danube River waters. A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system for water quality and environmental health is being developed in parallel. The third component focuses on dissemination activities to foster replication in Hungary or in other parts of the Danube River basin, linking with the GEF Danube and Black Sea Regional projects and Danube Convention-supported and GEF-supported dissemination activities. Overall, the Project is expected to reduce nutrient discharge into the Danube River by about 4,000 tons per year of nitrogen and 260 tons per year of phosphorus.