Ivan Novković

Land Use Changes and Environmental Problems Caused by Bank Erosion: A Case Study of the Kolubara River Basin in Serbia

© 2012 Dragicevic et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Land Use Changes and Environmental Problems Caused by Bank Erosion: A Case Study of the Kolubara River Basin in Serbia

Floods in Serbia in 2010 – Case Study: The Kolubara and Pcinja River Basins

Riverine and torrential floods are the most significant natural hazards on the territory of Serbia. The potentially flooded area in Serbia with a 100-year return period is 15,198.07 km2 (17.2% of total area). Serbia is mostly threatened by the floods of small to medium-size torrential rivers mostly in late spring (from May to the end of June), a period characterised by intensive rainfalls of a few-hour duration. In the Pcinja River Basin, the town of Trgoviste was struck by a flood in May 2010. Two people were killed, almost 170 ha of land and 27 buildings were flooded (including 12 severely damaged), roads damaged or blocked, and 230 inhabitants evacuated. The flood in the Kolubara River Basin of late June 2010 affected 500 ha with 230 flooded households. Total damage was estimated at €370,000. In the watersheds studied, the 2010 floods were natural occurrences, but human action significantly aggravated the disasters. The messages to be learned help improve the system of prevention and the organisation of mitigation of flood damages, in order to reduce it to an acceptable level.

Torrential flood prevention in the Kolubara river basin

One of the most vulnerable parts to natural hazards in Serbia is Kolubara river basin. In the past, during the period from 1929 to 2013, 121 torrential flood events in the Kolubara river basin were recorded which show that this territory is extremely vulnerable to the torrential floods. The extreme event which occurred in May 2014 causing the catastrophic material damages and casualties was the latest and historical flood. The analysis of natural conditions in the Kolubara basin uniformly showed that this area is predisposed to a greater number of torrential floods due to its geomorphological, hydrological and land use properties. Torrential floods are closely related to the intensity and spatial distribution of erosive processes in the upper part of the Kolubara basin. The estimation of soil erosion potential is generally achieved by Erosion Potential Model (EPM). For the purposes of determining the degree of torrential properties in various water streams in the Kolubara basin, the calculation of susceptibility to torrential floods was assessed by Flash Flood Potential Index (FFPI). More than half of the basin area (57.2%) is located within the category of very weak and weak erosion (Zsr = 0.35), but the category of medium erosion is geospatially very common. Such a distribution of medium erosion category provides conditions for generating, i.e. production of sediment which would boost torrential properties of water streams. After the classification of the obtained FFPI values it was determined that 25% of the Kolubara basin is very susceptible to torrents and this data should be seriously taken into consideration. Based on the analyses, the best and most successful manner of defence is prevention which consists of the integrated river basin management system (integrated torrent control system) so that technical works in hydrographic networks of torrents and biological and biotechnical works on the slope of the basin would be the best solution. Permanent control of erosive and torrential processes in the river basin will be not only important for flood control but it can also protect the existing and future water reservoirs and retentions from siltation with erosion sediment which is of great significance to the water management, agriculture, energy sector, and the entire society.

Groundwater Quality Degradation in Obrenovac Municipality, Serbia

Water has no definition. Any interpretation, explanation, its formula or description, does not actually represent anything of what it really is. Although much is written about it and we think to know all, yet, it remains a great mystery to us. The water is like religion. Everywhere around us, does not impose, used as needed, usually mechanically, we are unable to recognize the salvation role in it. When we have enough water and turn it into a “servant” (means of use), we relate to it with negligence, just like we do with the faith in times of welfare. Only the lack of water and the need for it create a sense of ontological connection to us. And then we devote ourselves to prayer. And the greater the need for it becomes, the more zealous the prayer is.