On November 9-10, 2011 in Belgrade, GWP CEE and GWP Med participated in the the Sava Stakeholder Forum organized by the International Sava River Basin Commission. The objective was to present and discuss the draft of the Sava River Basin Management Plan among the affected stakeholders.
The Plan describes the present water status in the basin, identifying significant pressures and proposed measures directed towards achieving the environmental objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive on a basin-wide scale.
Since the region suffered war in the late 1990, environmental issues were not at the top of the agenda. The role of GWP has been important to facilitate stakeholder involvement. In addition, the International Sava River Commission (ISRBC) has invited GWP CEE to join with observer status based on GWP’s reputation in the Danube Commission.
The possible process for participating in the implementation of the River Basin Management (RBM) Plan was discussed at the November meeting. A more permanent mechanism of organizing structured participation of stakeholders in the management of the Sava River Basin in the form of a Water Partnership has been discussed. GWP CEE Chair Martina Zupan proposed that the Sava Water Partnership join the GWP CEE and it was supported by the GWP Mediterranean representative Dimitris Faloutsos. It was also agreed with the ISRBC Executive Secretary Dejan Komatina that GWP CEE would submit an application letter for observer status, which was done.
The Sava River is the third longest tributary and the largest by discharge of the Danube River. The length of the Sava from its main source in the western Slovenian mountains to its mouth at the Danube in Belgrade is about 944 km. The basin, with an area of 97,713 km2, covers parts of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and a small part of Albania.