EN
The study looks at the importance of water to the rural environment and describes the rules and goals concerning rational management of water resources, the consequences of interference in water relations, and factors influencing the previous water management practices in rural areas. It was shown that in the post-war period the purpose of land reclamation was reduced and the projects in that field were not connected in time and space with the geodesical arrangement of rural settlements. In course of time, under new social-and-economic conditions the functions of rural areas were extended, so it proved necessary to approach the problems of water management together with those of spatial managetnent and combine the tasks within the framework of an integrated site development system for rural areas. The study presents the range of integrated environmental development, focusing on the water factor.