Surface and ground waters are one of the basic resources; they are an important constituents of the environment and serve to satisfy economic and other needs of the society. The purpose of the actually prepared modification of the Czech Water Act (Law No. 1381973) discussed in this paper is (1) to protect water in a comprehensive and flexible manner, considering its irreplaceability and society-wide significance, (2) to regulate its withdrawals and other treatment in a planned manner in order to maintain a balance between the demand for water and the capacity of water resources, (3) to care for its purity and economic utilisation, (4) to protect against floods, and at the same time, to respect the conservation of nature and ecosystem protection, and (5) to provide for recreation, shipping and other important water uses which are of interest to the society. The paper is presented to serve as a basis for the planned comparisons of the legislational state-of-the-art in the USA and Czech Republic.
Economic Instruments for Lake Water Quality Management in Japan.