November 5, 2012: The Croatian Water Pollution Control Society (CWPCS) and the European Water Association (EWA) jointly organize the 3rd International Conference on Waters in Sensitive and Protected Areas, which will be held in Zabreb in June 2013.
The Republic of Croatia is said to be a country rich in water resources. Extensive valleys of the Sava, Drava and Danube Rivers lie in the Pannonian Basin in the north. Other watercourses flow in all directions from the central karst region, creating an infinite network of streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands. Part of that water ends in the Adriatic basin, and part in the Black Sea basin.
These big and small basins are at the same time highly sensitive areas, of which large part is under protection - more recently under the provisions of the Water Framework Directive and other EU directives, and earlier under the national legislation. Due to their extraordinary value and state of preservation, these areas are recognized on the international level as well.
The complex management of this resource requires exchange of experiences between global experts, improvement of youth education about the need to protect water resources and encouragement of expert and general public active participation, in the procedure of adopting strategic documents in the field of water management. Thereby, the main target of the planned 3rd International Conference on Water in Sensitive and Protected Areas is to gather experience related to the implementation of the current European legislation in sensitive areas, the applied measures and technical solutions, protection of groundwater resources concerning new groundwater legislation, and current issues of water protection in transboundary areas. Therefore, the proposed topics to address these objectives are:
- Implementation of Legal Obligations related to Water and Environmental Protection in Sensitive Areas
- New Concepts and Technical Solutions Applicable in Sensitive and Protected Areas
- Protection of Surface Water and Groundwater Resources and of Strategic Drinking Water Reserves
- Waters in Sensitive Transboundary Areas
- Round Table: Tourism in Sensitive and Protected Areas