engleski

An Example of Watershed Management in Croatia

Activities on the implementation of integrated watershed planning have started to bring significant results last year. It is impossible to speak about all watersheds in Croatia, but some of them can be pointed out as examples. This paper offers an example of improving watershed management. It refers to a small watershed in the River Danube basin in the northern part of Croatia. Beside the two main rivers, Karašica and Vučica, there is a rather developed network of artificial and natural watercourses. In relation to this watershed, there are three major fields of activities. The first problem that had to be taken into consideration was protection against floods. Within the last decade, the existing flood protection system had malfunctions in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002. Thus a comprehensive flood risk analysis was undertaken the results of which have defined the priorities in the development and reconstruction of the existing flood protection system using both technical and non-technical measures. The second topic is related to the river Vučica restoration. Most of the river has been regulated in the past, but certain principles of river restoration were applied recently (restoration of the river’ s natural meandering, and application of natural materials for erosion protection). The third topic is related to river-water quality management. The fact that agricultural fields cover more than 2/3 of the total area shows the vulnerability of the surface and subsurface water resources, due to the non-point source pollution. The paper will conclude with a review of further activities on the implementation of integrated watershed planning.

: integrated watershed planning; flood risk analysis; river restoration; water quality

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