Sava RBMP

Country: Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia (participating country)
Client: European Commission, Directorate General for Environment ("DG ENV"), International Sava River Basin Commission
Duration: 12/2009 - 12/2011
Project partners: VVMZ spol. s.r.o. (SK), Water Research Institute (SK)

The overall objective of the project is to facilitate the approximation to the EU environmental acquis especially in the field of water through the identification of priority objectives common to the beneficiary countries as a whole and by encouraging a more strategic focus to the use of available financing and ensuring coordinated action between all planning and financial instruments operating in the region, in particular as regards integrated river basin management according to the WFD (also including navigation, hydropower, flood prevention and agriculture).

The purposes of this project are as follows:

• Provide support and assistance to the Sava Commission and the beneficiary countries in preparing and starting to implement an integrated river basin management plan;
• Develop the necessary capacities and information base to prepare an integrated river basin management plan for the Sava River basin, in close coordination with other international donors and the authorities of Slovenia;
• Facilitate coordination of the water-related support projects in the Sava basin, both on national and regional level, in order to ensure consistency and synergies of planning and financing of other policy developments (e.g. navigation, hydropower, agriculture, flood protection).

The main goal of the project is to facilitate the preparation of the Sava River Basin Management plan. In particular the capacities in the Sava Commission and in the beneficiary countries will be strengthened. The project includes strengthening of the integration of planning and institutional capacity in the region to structure environment infrastructure investments, approximation to the EU environmental acquis, especially in the field of water and ultimately improvement of the environmental conditions and protection of water resources and of freshwater ecosystems. In particular, by ensuring that the necessary strengthening of capacity is addressed (through training, development of best practices and assistance to water sector reform) the project is contributing to the sustainability of operations.

Experts of Environmental Institute are responsible for the following:

• Assessment of the existing national and Danube basin wide monitoring networks;
• Assistance to water management authorities in data acquisition;
• Establishing elements of the river basin management plan;
• Updating a Road Map for preparation of the Sava RBM Plan;
• Assistance in updating of the gaps in the Sava River Basin Analysis Report;
• Updating the assessment of the status of surface waters and ground waters;
• Assistance in updating the designation of heavily modified water bodies /hydromorphological conditions;
• Assistance in updating the economic analysis of water uses;
• Assistance in updating the setting of environmental objectives for surface and ground waters;
• Assistance in the establishing and/or updating an inventory of protected areas;
• Preparation of key background documents on Sava basin wide significant water management issues (SWMI);
• Preparation of key background documents for the Sava RBM Plan development;
• Assistance in the preparation of Programmes of Measures (PoM);
• Drafting the integrated Sava River Basin Management Plan;
• Integrating water protection in other developments in the Sava basin;
• Involving stakeholders and the public;
• Preparing strategy for follow-up;
• Assistance in identifying the related financing and investment needs to implement the Programme of Measures;
• Review of the strengths and weaknesses of the Sava RBMP.