Towards Reducing the Flood Risk in Bosnia and Herzegovina With EU Support

The European Union provides continuous support to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the water management sector in the field of flood protection. The project, which results were presented today, enabled the creation of erosion maps and the design of flood protection infrastructure in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the past 30 months, erosion maps for the area of ​​the Federation of BiH and Brčko District of BiH and complete technical project documentation for flood protection infrastructure for selected priority sections in the Sava River Basin and in the Adriatic Sea Basin in the Republic of Srpska have been prepared. The primary goal was to identify areas threatened by erosion processes and enable an easier and more precise determination of priorities as well as a better analysis of the costs necessary to reduce the floods risk in BiH.

Extensive fieldwork, research and exceptionally good cooperation with local communities resulted in the development of the main project for the regulation of the Bosna River in the municipalities of Modriča and Vukosavlje, the development of the main project for the drainage of Petrovo polje, the development of the main project for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the canal network in Ivanjsko and Lijevče polje, and the development of the regulation project the Drina and Ćehotina rivers in the municipality of Foča.

“The creation of full technical documentation for flood protection infrastructure will help local communities in the further process of seeking financial support for their full implementation, the practical benefit of which will be felt to a great extent by the residents of the mentioned areas. Adequate flood protection will enable the development of agriculture and transport, lead to better economic opportunities as well as the development of local communities. As part of the activities of this project, 278 maps of erosion maps for FBiH and BD BiH were created. The created maps will help in the development of plans for land use, the risk of floods and losses of material and human assets will be reduced” said Armin Hadžialić, Team Leader, presenting the achieved results of the project.

With this project, European Union supported the implementation of the Action Plan for flood protection and water management and thus increased the capacities of institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina for flood risk management in line with the EU Water Framework Directive and the Flood Directive. The European Union allocated 1,45 MEUR in grant for the project “Development of erosion maps and design of flood protection infrastructure in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. The project is part of the comprehensive EU support to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the water management sector in the field of flood protection.