engleski

MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR SOIL AND WATER RESOURCES IN RIVER BASINS OF THE CROSS-BORDER REGIONS. A CASE OF NERETVA RIVER VALLEY (CROATIA)

Inappropriate management of a coastal aquifer, highly sensitive to disturbance, may lead to its destruction as a source of fresh water much earlier than other aquifers that are not connected to the sea. Estuaries and river deltas are one of the coastal areas most at risk from human activities worldwide, and many of them are intensively-farmed arable land. Neretva River Valley is located in the southern part of the Croatian Adriatic coast. Agriculture mainly involves growing of citrus and other Mediterranean fruits, as well as early vegetables, regularly applying irrigation. Irrigation, as a regular growing measure, has led to significant increase in water abstraction, giving rise to growing environmental problems. The research programme was set out to develop and validate appropriate knowledge and technologies to improve the production capacity of the available soil and water resources of the region through two main research programme components: (i) land resources surveys and inventory and (ii) soil and water management in saline conditions. Historical data concerning irrigation and drainage as well as the groundwater table were used to analyze the relation between changes in soil salinity and land and water management practices. Multivariate models were established between soil salt contents and multispectral data (ASTER image). The results indicate that multiple linear regression (MLR) technique that included soil salinity data and multiple predictors including ASTER satellite image, DEM and distance from sea and open channels has not a strong prediction capacity. Anyhow, some of the results indicate that remote sensing may be a useful tool in evaluating and improving land and water management practices in this particular region. Appropriate technologies for the management of saline soils should be developed and adopted, as well as recommendations for the improvement of irrigation schemes. Networking between countries and research centres dealing with soil and water management is inevitable in preventing problems especially trans – boundary pollution.

coastal aquifer ; river delta ; arable land ; irrigation ; soil salinity ; multispectral data

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