engleski

The Maintenance of Agricultural Drainage Systems in the Conditions of Climate Change - The Jelas Polje Case Study

The paper presents the surface drainage of a part of Jelas polje, a field that is situated in the Croatian part of the Sava River valley. It is a complex hydrotechnical system with two safeguarding segments: the subsystem of reception and evacuation of runoff from hills, and the subsystem of flood risk management of the Sava River. The agricultural production in this part of the Jelas polje is mainly oriented towards field crops, which are most endangered by excess water during spring. According to farmers, in this century they are faced with problems they have not experienced before, situations where soil hold the water for an extended period of time and there is no adequate drainage. Direct consequence of such a situation is the decline of agricultural yields. All these problems farmers attribute to “bad and insufficient” maintenance of the channel network, which is under the jurisdiction of Hrvatske vode, legal entity for water management. The deeper hydrological and hydraulic analysis indicates extreme weather events and climate change, as well as the need for better adaptation to such a change. This paper analyzes the rainfall in the first vegetation months, April and May, during the long period from 1963 to 2020. In addition, these rainfalls are analyzed in correlation with the extreme water levels of the Sava River, when sluice gates are closed and drainage was provided by pumping stations. The performed analysis shows that in the last twenty years the amount of spring precipitations has significantly increased, as well as the danger of high Sava River water levels. Unlike in previous forty years, in this period there have been several coincidences of the threat from external and internal waters, which have adversely affected agricultural production for a long time. It all points out to a need for all stakeholders to join in, and with coordinated efforts find a better way to adapt maintenance of agricultural drainage system to the new climate conditions.

Drainage, Rainfalls, Water levels, Climate change, Jelas polje.

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