**2.1 General characteristics of the basin**

The Sava river basin is a major drainage basin of the South-Eastern Europe covering the **total area** of approximately 97,713 km2, and represents one of the most significant subbasins of the Danube river basin, with the share of 12% (Fig. 1). The basin is **shared among five countries**, a negligible part of the basin area also extending to Albania (Table 1), and hosts the population of roughly 8.5 million.

The landscape within the Sava river basin is diverse, the **elevation** varying between approx. 71 m above sea level (m a.s.l.) at the mouth of the Sava river in Belgrade (Serbia) and 2,864 m a.s.l. (Triglav, Slovenian Alps). Mean elevation of the basin is approximately 545 m a.s.l. In terms of **land cover/land use**, most of the basin is covered by the forest and semi-natural areas (54.7%) and agricultural surfaces (42.4%), while the share of artificial surfaces is 2.2%.

the 1990-ies, which turned the Sava river from the largest national river into an international river, challenged the water management in the Sava river basin substantially, by seriously affecting its basic elements (hydro-meteorological data exchange system, monitoring and early warning systems, etc.) and confining it to a national level, unlike the integrated approach, emerging in Europe at the same time. The changes have also caused a sharp decrease of economic activities in the region, such as navigation, unlike the other parts of Europe, where the inland waterway transport has proven to be a competitive transport mode, being environmentally friendly and capable of reducing congestion on densely used roads (EC, 2006). Since then, the Sava river has been hardly used for transport, for a number of reasons, including a lack of maintenance and investments, resulting in a poor quality of infrastructure, poor intermodal road and railway connections, as well as damaged ports and river infrastructure and presence of unexploded ordnances,

For these reasons, a new international framework became necessary in order to ensure a sustainable use, protection and management of water resources in the Sava river basin, and thus enable better life conditions and raising the standard of population in the region. After a process of negotiations, the new framework has finally been provided by the development of the *Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin* (*FASRB*, 2002), and subsequent establishment of the International Sava River Basin Commission (ISRBC), as an international

The overall objective of the *FASRB* is to establish and maintain the transboundary cooperation in the water sector, in order to provide conditions for sustainable development of the region within the Sava river basin. The main purpose of this Chapter is to present the approach to water resources management, based on the *FASRB*, which appears to be a good

This part provides a review of basic facts on the basin, including the information on its biological and landscape diversity, as well as main uses of water resources in the basin,

The Sava river basin is a major drainage basin of the South-Eastern Europe covering the **total area** of approximately 97,713 km2, and represents one of the most significant subbasins of the Danube river basin, with the share of 12% (Fig. 1). The basin is **shared among five countries**, a negligible part of the basin area also extending to Albania (Table 1), and

The landscape within the Sava river basin is diverse, the **elevation** varying between approx. 71 m above sea level (m a.s.l.) at the mouth of the Sava river in Belgrade (Serbia) and 2,864 m a.s.l. (Triglav, Slovenian Alps). Mean elevation of the basin is approximately 545 m a.s.l. In terms of **land cover/land use**, most of the basin is covered by the forest and semi-natural areas (54.7%) and agricultural surfaces (42.4%), while the share of artificial

organization with responsibility to coordinate the implementation of the *FASRB*.

basis for a progress toward sustainable development of the region within the basin.

illustrating also the relevance of the Sava river as a Danube tributary (ISRBC, 2009d).

**2. Natural basis for cooperation in the Sava river basin** 

**2.1 General characteristics of the basin** 

hosts the population of roughly 8.5 million.

surfaces is 2.2%.

endangering safe navigation.

Fig. 1. Location of the Sava river basin (ISRBC, 2009e)


Notation: SI – Slovenia; HR – Croatia; BA – Bosnia and Herzegovina; RS – Serbia; ME – Montenegro; AL – Albania.

Table 1. Share of the Sava countries belonging to the Sava river basin (ISRBC, 2009d)

The Sava river basin is situated within a wide region where the moderate **climate** of the northern hemisphere prevails. The average annual **air temperature** for the whole basin is 9.5°C. Mean monthly temperature in January falls to about -1.5°C, while in July it can reach almost 20°C.

**Precipitation** amount and its annual distribution are very variable within the basin (Fig. 2), while the basin average is about 1,100 mm/year. Spatial distribution of **unit-area-runoff** largely follows the pattern of precipitation spatial distribution. It varies from 150 mm/year (below 5 l/s/km2) up to 1,200 mm/year (almost 40 l/s/km2), as shown in Fig. 3. Spatial distribution of **evapotranspiration** is heterogeneous, too (Fig. 4), with the basin average of about 530 mm/year. The long-term average discharge of the Sava river at the mouth is about 1,700 m3/s, which is equivalent to effective rainfall of about 570 mm/year, and to the unit-area-runoff for the whole basin of about 18 l/s/km2.

Integrated Water Resources Management as a

0

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2

3

**Discharge (1000 m3/s)**

4

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A B C

7

Basis for Sustainable Development – The Case of the Sava River Basin 27

The Sava river is formed by two mountainous streams: Sava Dolinka and Sava Bohinjka. From their confluence to its mouth to the Danube in Belgrade (Serbia), the Sava river is 945 km long, thus being the third longest tributary of the Danube. Together with its longer headwater, the Sava Dolinka river (Fig. 5), it measures 990 km. With its **average discharge** at the confluence of about 1,700 m3/s (Fig. 5), the Sava river represents the richest-in-water Danube tributary, contributing with almost 25% to the Danube's total discharge. The

longitudinal presentation of annual discharges along the Sava river is given in Fig. 6.

Fig. 5. Source and mouth of the Sava river (Left photo: "Zelenci", the Sava Dolinka source, Author: Milan Vogrin. Right photo: "Mouth", Author: Vlada Marinković. Credit: ISRBC)

1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 **River station (km)**

Fig. 6. Annual discharges along the Sava river: A – mean values; B – 100-year return period low flows; C – 100-year return period high flows (ISRBC, 2009d). Note: the river station is measured in the upstream direction (the zero station corresponds to the river mouth)

The Sava river basin is widely known for its high environmental and socio-economic values, associated not only with a natural beauty, an outstanding biological and landscape diversity (Fig. 7) and large retention areas along the river, but also with a high potential for

**2.2 Environmental and socio-economic values of the basin** 

Fig. 2. Mean annual precipitation in the Sava river basin (UNESCO, 2006)

Fig. 3. Mean annual runoff in the Sava river basin (UNESCO, 2006)

Fig. 4. Mean annual evapotranspiration in the Sava river basin (UNESCO, 2006)

Fig. 2. Mean annual precipitation in the Sava river basin (UNESCO, 2006)

Fig. 3. Mean annual runoff in the Sava river basin (UNESCO, 2006)

Fig. 4. Mean annual evapotranspiration in the Sava river basin (UNESCO, 2006)

The Sava river is formed by two mountainous streams: Sava Dolinka and Sava Bohinjka. From their confluence to its mouth to the Danube in Belgrade (Serbia), the Sava river is 945 km long, thus being the third longest tributary of the Danube. Together with its longer headwater, the Sava Dolinka river (Fig. 5), it measures 990 km. With its **average discharge** at the confluence of about 1,700 m3/s (Fig. 5), the Sava river represents the richest-in-water Danube tributary, contributing with almost 25% to the Danube's total discharge. The longitudinal presentation of annual discharges along the Sava river is given in Fig. 6.

Fig. 5. Source and mouth of the Sava river (Left photo: "Zelenci", the Sava Dolinka source, Author: Milan Vogrin. Right photo: "Mouth", Author: Vlada Marinković. Credit: ISRBC)

Fig. 6. Annual discharges along the Sava river: A – mean values; B – 100-year return period low flows; C – 100-year return period high flows (ISRBC, 2009d). Note: the river station is measured in the upstream direction (the zero station corresponds to the river mouth)
