The first national workshop in Croatia within the WACOM project was held on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 online. The aim of the workhsop was to present the project and analyze the current situation in the field of flood, accident pollution and emergency response management. It was organized at the initiative of Croatian Waters and the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure.

"Croatian Waters covers all areas of the WACOM project including flood management and remediation of accident pollution. The Croatian Waters cooperates with the Sava riparian countries through bilateral commissions and multilateral commissions like the Sava Commission and the ICPDR. As far as flood defense is concerned, The Croatian Waters has long and successful tradition because the territory of the Republic of Croatia is vulnerable to floods. Currently the main activity is the preparation of the national Flood Risk Management Plan, which will be an integral part of the River Basin Management Plan 2022-2027. Flood hazard maps and flood risk maps have already been prepared and published on the Croatian Water's website. At the same time, big efforts have been made to improve the flood defense system in the Sava River Basin, as well as in the entire territory of the Republic of Croatia, especially in priority areas for which the EU projects are being implemented, such as the improvement of the Karlovac-Sisak flood defense system and modernization of the left bank downstream from Stara Gradiška towards Račinovci. The EU project „Improvement of non-construction flood protection measures – VEPAR“ with numerous study analyzes and hydrological models is also being implemented. Croatia also actively participates in all activities of the Sava Commission related to flood management. Remediation from accident pollution is carried out in accordance with the procedures. We wish that the accident pollution happens as rear as possible but we should be ready as much as possible for interventions when they are needed. In connection with all this, I emphasize the importance of the WACOM project, "said Danko Biondić, the Head of the Croatian Waters Development Department, in his welcome speech.

Duška Kunštek, Director of the Inland Navigation Directorate of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, pointed out that the key challenge of the WACOM project is improved cross-border coping capacity in the event of accident, extraordinary pollution and floods in the Sava River Basin. "From the current practice, it is clear that there is no effective prevention, timely responses and interventions to pollution in the Sava River Basin without coordinated cooperation at the basin level. This is particularly important at the parts of the river with potential transboundary impacts. Cross-sectoral cooperation enables the development of coordinated mechanisms for prevention and response of institutions responsible for water and flood management and civil protection. In this case the preparedness and response in case of pollution is more efficient and enables faster reactions and reduction of environmental risks. Improving the cooperation of key actors and jointly developed procedures for activating disaster management protocols in the Sava River Basin will enable the mobilization of the full potential of already existing digital tools (RIS, GIS) at the basin level. This will improve cooperation and interoperability between authorities and stakeholders in case of  emergencies. " stressed Ms Kunštek.

"For more effective flood defense, it is necessary that all competent bodies in the civil protection system cooperate, including local and regional self-government units, and the Civil Protection Directorate, as a basic authority in the field of protection against disasters, major accidents and floods. For this reason, it is necessary to further improve the direct implementation of flood protection measures within the water management system and to develop cooperation with all other participants involved in the implementation of flood protection (Civil Protection, Army, Fire Brigades, Police, Civil Protection, Montaniring Rescue Assotiation of Croatia , Red Cross,…). "WATER KNOWS NO BORDERS", I believe that everyone is well aware of this. For this reason, there is a need to further improve transboundary water management cooperation through better information and joint development of new hydrological models to better forecast, monitor and evacuate water waves and timely implementation of flood protection measures at endangered areas. Projects such as WACOM can certainly be of great help in resolving certain open issues in the field of increasing and improving cooperation between different actors of protection and rescue at the state and interstate level. The same goes for extraordinary pollution.” were some of the conclusions from the workshop presented by Tomislav Novosel, Croatian Waters.

The workshop was attended by more than 30 different institutions coming from Croatia, but also neighboring countries with more than 110 participants who made a significant contribution and participated in the development of the annex - the basis for the said Analysis. The workshop was successful thanks to the dynamic discussion between the lecturers and representatives of the WACOM project and the workshop participants. Topics related to the state of civil protection and water management and river navigation from the aspect of floods and sudden pollution were discussed.

In the discussion, information, knowledge and experience were shared and expanded, and constructive proposals were presented with the aim of improving the final document Analysis of the current situation in the field of flood defense, emergency pollution and emergency management in Croatia for Croatia, but also for improving the overall situation regarding the more effective system of flood prevention and response systems to sudden pollutions.

The press release in the local language is avaiable here.