J. For. Sci., 2026, 72(5):246-255 | DOI: 10.17221/33/2026-JFS

Analysing economic factors and forest cover impacts on water resource management: A comparative study of seven Slovak reservoirsOriginal Paper

Klára Báliková ORCID...1, Marek Trenčiansky ORCID...1, Ján Bahýµ2, Martina ©těrbová ORCID...3, Jaroslav ©álka ORCID...1
1 Department of Forest Economics and Policy, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia
2 Department of Forest Resource Planning and Informatics, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia
3 National Forest Centre Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia

Water reservoirs (WR), as a key source of drinking water in Slovakia, face increasing challenges due to environmental pressures, economic aspects and technological limitations related to water collection and treatment. The aim of the study was to analyse and compare the economic external factors of seven major Slovak drinking water reservoirs (Málinec, Truček, Nová Bystrica, Hriňová, Klenovec, Starina, and Bukovec). The results of the study evaluated the following economic factors: (i) drinking water supply, (ii) drinking water demand, and (iii) average annual costs for drinking water treatment and purification. The last-mentioned was studied in more detail to investigate how the catchment's forest cover affects annual water treatment costs. The analysis of economic factors showed that smaller reservoirs with a lower technical base, such as Hriňová and Turček, are more sensitive to seasonal and ecological fluctuations, leading to greater cost variability and more negative management effects. In contrast, large reservoirs such as Starina and Nová Bystrica exhibit greater stability and resilience to these impacts, and economic factors positively influence water resources management. The study also demonstrates that the catchment's forest cover and reservoir volume significantly contribute to lower drinking water treatment costs in Slovakia. These findings highlight the economic relevance of forested catchments for drinking water supply and underline the importance of integrating forest management considerations into water resource management.

Keywords: drinking water treatment costs; forest ecosystem services; Slovakia; water reservoirs

Received: April 13, 2026; Revised: May 18, 2026; Accepted: May 18, 2026; Published: May 29, 2026  Show citation

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Báliková K, Trenčiansky M, Bahýµ J, ©těrbová M, ©álka J. Analysing economic factors and forest cover impacts on water resource management: A comparative study of seven Slovak reservoirs. Journal of Forest Science. 2026;72(5):246-255. doi: 10.17221/33/2026-JFS.
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