Vipava river basin, Slovenia
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Case study coordinator: Peter Suhadolnik; Vipava society
BeWater Impact
- BeWater participative process for the first time gathered stakeholders from different sectors and include them in the development of the RBAP from the start. RBAP is therefore plan with high input from stakeholders and is now accepted as their plan.
- The BeWater project became a well-known brand for the promotion of the inclusion of adaptation into policy design amongst stakeholders, residents of Vipava RB and representatives of authorities.
- Some WMOs were implemented before BeWater project ended. One of those is the Council for Vipava River which was established by the end of 2015 and is totally in line with WMO 1 Establish an inter-municipal expert working group for the Vipava river basin.
- The Life ViVaCCAdapt project started in the middle of year 2016. The project is in some parts follow up of project BeWater. Especially in the part where project will establish new shelterbelts for wind protection what is implementation of WMO 20 Preservation of existing and introduction of new shelterbelts.
- Two new proposals for projects are being prepared in Vipava RB which refer to the results of BeWater projects. One by the Ministry for Environment and Spatial Planning which is called VISFRIM and it is a cross border project with Italy aiming to improve flood risk protection. The second is coordinated by the Council for Vipava River called GREVISIN aiming to establish green infrastructure along Vipava River.
About the river basin
Vipava River Basin is located in the south-west of Slovenia and is part of Soča river basin area. It covers an area of 598 km2 and a population of 52,000 inhabitants.
In contrast to its karst region surroundings, most of the Vipava River Basin region has an impervious flysch sedimentary rock base. The main water body is the Vipava River which is 45 km long and has a mean annual flow of 17.3 m3/s. The water level of the Vipava River varies significantly due to karst surface tributaries. Before river regulations were introduced in the 1970s, floods were very common in Vipava valley. The climate of the region is Mediterranean, with mild winters and hot summers.
The River Basin has a complete monitoring network, with 8 main meteorological stations within the area of influence of the basin (data series between 20 and 62 years) and 6 gauging stations on the Vipava River (data series between 10 and 72 years) and 6 gauging stations on its tributaries (data series between 10 and 70 years). Land cover has been monitored from 1993 and water consumption data for the region are available from 2002. Data on socio-economic indicators are available at Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.
CSRB Challenges
- Morphological changes of riverbanks, wetlands and coastal zone
- Industrial pollution
- Water flow regulation and abstraction
- Diffuse pollution caused by agriculture
- Invasive species
