After Bulgaria became a member of the European Union in January 2007, it was appointed to meet the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD), which aims at achieving a favorable water status of all the water bodies in the country by the year 2015.

Under these circumstances, the Government of Bulgaria begun to put into implementation various plans and projects related to the water management, before officially becoming an EU member in 2007.

In 2006, an in-depth study on the integrated water management was conducted, and assisted the Ministry of Environment and Water to satisfy the requirements of EU-WFD, including the preparation of river basin management plans for the selected areas, and the development of GIS monitoring programs to keep a good water balance for the entire country. Transfer of technologies and training were also provided to the government counterparts.