PARTNER
International Sava River Basin Commission
International Sava River Basin Commission is an international organisation established for purpose of the implementation of the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin, namely the provision of cooperation of the Parties to the FASRB (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia), as well as Montenegro (cooperates based on the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between ISRBC and Montenegro), for realization of the following goals:
- Establishment of an international regime of navigation on the Sava River and its navigable tributaries, which includes provision of conditions for safe navigation on the Sava River and its tributaries
- Establishment of sustainable water management, which includes cooperation on management of the Sava River Basin water resources in a sustainable manner, including integrated management of surface and ground water resources, in a manner that would provide: water in sufficient quantity and of appropriate quality for the preservation, protection and improvement of aquatic eco-systems (including flora and fauna and eco-systems of natural ponds and wetlands); water in sufficient quantity and of appropriate quality for all kinds of use/utilization; protection against detrimental effects of water (flooding, excessive groundwater, erosion and ice hazards); resolution of conflicts of interest caused by different uses and utilizations; and effective control of the water regime
- Undertaking of measures to prevent or limit hazards, such as floods, ice, droughts and accidents involving substances hazardous to water, and to reduce or eliminate related adverse consequences
Official website
ISRBC, among all other activities, managing detrimental effects of flooding in the Sava River Basin, one of the SHELTER case studies. The Parties to the FASRB closely cooperate in all aspects of flood management since the establishment of ISRBC and its expert bodies, with Permanent Expert Group for Flood Prevention (PEG FP) having a leading role in this particular sector.
Parties to the FASRB, having noted the need to deepen the cooperation and to implement jointly agreed activities aimed at ensuring preconditions for sustainable flood protection in the basin, have agreed to prepare the Protocol on Flood Protection to the FASRB (Protocol: link). The Protocol emphasizes the importance of coordination measures, works and activities aimed at decreasing the flood risk throughout the basin, and the implementation of these activities in accordance with the "no harm rule" principle.
Therefore, in order to contribute to the decrease of harmful consequences of floods, in particular for human life and health, environment, cultural heritage, economic activities and infrastructure, the Parties have agreed to cooperate in the implementation of above activities. The Protocol represents a firm legal foundation for the implementation of all activities agreed by all Sava countries (including Montenegro), via their joint platform – the International Sava River Basin Commission. One of the main tasks foreseen by the Protocol is development of a joint Flood Risk Management Plan for the Sava River Basin (Sava FRMP), in accordance with the content defined by the EU Floods Directive (2007/60/EC), and taking into account all relevant aspects of flood risk management.
Sava FRMP, which is currently under development in the first cycle of planning, shall define common objectives of flood risk management and should focus on measures for achievement of those objectives in order to contribute to the decrease of harmful consequences of floods, in particular for human life and health, environment, cultural-historical heritage, economic activities and infrastructure, i.e. flood receptors recognized by the EU Floods Directive as well. For definition of the flood risk and potential adverse consequences, for all mentioned flood receptors, there are enough available input data in the expected spatial format, except for the data on cultural-historical heritage.
A need for the spatial layer in the format of Sava GIS is recognized and therefore the SHELTER project will aim to collect from the relevant national institutions within the Sava River basin, with engagement of PEG FP, all input data on the cultural-historical heritage, as the points, lines and polygons and to provide an state of the art GIS based layers necessary for the flood impact analyses on the receptor of cultural-historical heritage within the flood risk management planning, as well as for many other analysis related to the climate change adaptation. One or a few the most vulnerable sites of cultural-historical heritage, defined by the Sava FRMP and for which the data will manage to be collected, is going to be deeply analysed as a case study of the project.
