engleski

The Neretva River : Integrated Coastal Area and River Basin Management

Human civilisation has always flourished in river basins and along estuaries and seacoast. Estuaries and coastal areas have always been regarded as a favourable location for a wide range of human activities. These activities have been based on the exploitation of a variety of resources, and by have taken advantage of natural transportation routes by land and sea. River basins have also supported human activities for a long time, the availability of water being crucial. Rivers have been the avenues along which people, goods and ideas moved from the coast deep into the continent, and vice versa. The river itself provides an important supply of water, sediment and nutrients to the estuary and coastal environment. Unfortunately, human activities in river basins as well as in coastal areas increasingly endanger river, estuary and coastal environment by air, soil and water pollution, and by changing of natural characteristics of these areas. The estuary and coastal area is an essential part of a river basin. These two areas are linked through a number of natural and socio-economic processes. The water cycling affects water quality and quantity and ultimately estuary and sea water quality having an impact on estuary and coastal ecosystems, and as human activities in the estuary and coastal areas, like tourism, fishing, aquaculture, recreation opportunities, etc. Similarly, sediment transport affects soil and coastal dynamics, and has an impact on estuary and coastal ecosystem and human activities in the coastal zone. At the sametime, human activities in the river basin also affect coastal ecosystems and human activities in the coastal areas providing food, water, energy and services. In order to achieve sustainable management, both river basin and coastal problems require an integrated and multisectoral approach. Environmental management has become increasingly multisectoral, covering a range of economic and social goals. Conflicting demands on natural resources have resulthes in a need for a comprehensive approach, introducing multiple objectives and bringing the necessity to the broader geographical scope. The geographic scale of river basin management is regional and often extends over national boundaries with a strong possibilities of international conflicts, while the scale of coastal zone management is often local/regional and national. In the example of the Neretva River, river basin and coastal area management are an international management problem (between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia) with very specific issues (eg. pollution of estuary and sea, flood protection, water supply, management of special protection of estuary and marine areas). The Neretva River has great socio-economic and environmental importance for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. It is a river with significant hydroeneregetic potential and production, and an important source of water for supply, irrigation, and flood control. The lowland part of the river which consists of wetlands, as well as the estuary, are very important protected ecological areas. Part of the coastal sea under the influence of a river is also a protected area for shellfish growing. The majority of the watershed is situated in Bosnia-Herzegovina, while the lowland part and estuary are situated in Croatia. Coastal areas affected by the river are situated in both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. These administrative boundaries in river basin and coastal areas, make the solution of common problems, and the optimal management of the river basin and coastal areas, very complex and difficult. The situation calls for the need to consider in a integrated way both river basin management issues and coastal area management issues, providing both areas with opportunities for treating certain aspects, in the past treated as external inputs or outputs to the respective system, in a direct way thus integrating respective policies into a unified framework and management system. This will ensure the better co-ordination of actions and policy making across sectors (water, forestry, agriculture, urban development, environmental protection, etc.) and spatial level (coastal and estuary zones to river basin) ultimately leading to a more rational use of resources and more effective environmental protection. The goals of integrated coastal and estuary areas, and river basin management, fall within the framework of sustainable development In order to achieve an integrated concept of water resources management, and a sustainable development of river basin and coastal areas it is necessary to develop integrated plans for water resources management. The main prerequisites for sound planning and water resources management, is sufficient data i.e. an overall monitoring system. An integrated monitoring system should be established that treats all usual and special problems and characteristics of an integrated system river basin-estuary-coastal area in a co-ordinated way. This paper will present the problems associated with the integrated management of the Neretva River and its associated coastal strips ; and provide guidelines for an integrated management and system development of a transboundary monitoring network.

coastal area management, river basin management, sustainable management, river Neretva

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