Serbia is one of the few European countries with very high-risk exposure to natural hazards, especially floods. Since 2000, Serbia has faced several extreme weather episodes and flood events that caused high material and financial losses, as well as losses of human lives.
The most severe floods with catastrophic consequences happened in May 2014 when, due to extreme hydro-meteorological conditions, 1.6 million people living in 38 municipalities/cities, mostly located in central and western Serbia, were affected. At the time, the Jadar River Basin has suffered from harmful erosion effects, which caused huge damage primarily to the population, infrastructures, agriculture, economy and environment in this area. The basin covers an area of about 959 km2 (length 81.7 km) and flows through the municipalities of Valjevo, Osečina, Krupanj and Loznica.
One of the most endangered areas was Krupanj municipality's territory, where all types of torrential and erosion occurrences were recorded in a very short time. Besides the severe risk imposed on the population, life stocks and economy in the basin, the most affected was the agricultural sector. For years, the yield has been in a constant decrease; the lack of nutritive elements such as Ca, Mg and K is evident, leading to total degradation of the arable land.
The aim of this investment is to improve the flood and erosion protection in the Krupanj area (Jadar River Basin) by developing and implementing integrated torrential flood and erosion protection measures, works and structures based on green solutions which are cost-effective and simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits as well as help build resilience.
The purpose of technical assistance, provided through WBIF, is to ensure effective and rapid preparation of the Conceptual Design (CD), Feasibility Study (FS) with the Preliminary Design (PD), and the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the implementation of the most appropriate flood and erosion protection measures. Also, within the scope of TA, horizontal support will be provided to the main beneficiaries for the development of managerial and operational skills and proper implementation of the investment.
