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The Vrbas River Basin is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and has watershed of 6385 km². The catchment has two distinct hydrological regions, the upper, southern mountainous region, and the lower, northern flat region, known as Lijevce Polje. About 63 percent of the watershed belongs to the Republika Srpska (RS), and 37 percent to the Federation of BiH (FBiH). The River Vrbas is a tributary of the River Sava, which in turn is the biggest tributary of the Danube River.

Increasingly in Europe, water management is specified at the river basin level through the formulation of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) to be developed according to the European Union’s (EU’s) Water Framework Directive (WFD). The aim of the RBMPs’ is to significantly improve the ecological status for all surface and underground water bodies.

Also water management in the BiH strives to meet these criteria, and the laws both in the RS and the FBiH have been formulated in line with the requirements in the EU WFD. In view of the above, there is a need to prepare an update to the Water Resource Management Basis (Basis) according to the new laws and regulations set forth in the water laws of FBiH and RS and international obligations of BiH. The current project is preparing suggestions for updating the Basis that was completed in 1987 and 1989 and updated in 1997 (RS) and 1994 (FBiH). Read more...