Since the commissioning of the Regional Water Supply in 2010, the intensive exploitation of gravel and sand in the bed of the Morača river in the second sanitary protection zone of the "Bolje Sestre" source, where it is strictly prohibited, has had an impact on the water supply of the Montenegrin coast.
This is what they told "Vijesta" from that company, noting that they had sent more than 500 warnings and letters on this occasion, but that there was no adequate reaction from the competent state bodies and institutions.
Clarifying the claims from the article "The taps are dry due to gravel and unplanned construction" from yesterday's issue, they cited the fact that during the summer of 2021 and 2022 it was only 265 liters of water per second at the overflow threshold.
"In a word, if the further exploitation of slag and sand continued, this spring would most likely be permanently destroyed," said the Regional Waterworks.
The problem of proper water supply on the Montenegrin coast dates back to the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies. The sudden influx of population and the rapid development of tourism led to water shortages and the introduction of the first restrictions in 1972. Keeping in mind that without a proper water supply, it is not possible to develop tourism or provide the standard of living of citizens on the coast, the then leadership of Montenegro decided to build the Regional Water Supply System. The concept was that it would provide the missing amount of water that the local waterworks could not provide from their water sources, especially during the summer tourist seasons. When choosing the water source from which the Regional Water Supply will be supplied, based on the opinion of the profession, the Government decided in 2007 that it should be the "Bolje Sestre" source, which according to all measurements had 2.600 liters of water per second, which guaranteed a regular water supply for a very long period. .
"Unfortunately, since the commissioning of the Regional Water Supply in 2010, the intensive exploitation of gravel and sand in the bed of the Morača River in the II sanitary protection zone of the source of "Bolje Sestre", where it is strictly prohibited, has begun. "Despite numerous warnings and letters, over 500, there was no adequate reaction from the competent state authorities and institutions", they pointed out from RV.
All scientific studies and analyzes conducted by RV have shown that the main cause of the drop in yield is the illegal exploitation of gravel and sand.
"Due to the inadequate response of the state, at the end of 2022, the RV sent a strong warning to the Government and the relevant ministry that it cannot and will not bear responsibility for the water shortage on the Montenegrin coast, which is a consequence of illegal exploitation and the incomprehensible lack of response of the competent state bodies and institutions," they said. ..
They noted that the Government reacted for the first time at the beginning of 2023, i.e. prohibited the further exploitation of gravel and sand, which was the basic prerequisite for starting activities to remediate the consequences, which, as they stated, are immeasurable, so their remediation is very complex , an expensive and long-term process that requires taking measures and activities both for the revitalization of the source and for the provision of additional quantities of water.
"RV is expected to lead and finance all these activities himself. However, that process cannot be realized by the Regional Waterworks itself, but requires the maximum involvement of all competent authorities and institutions and the full involvement of the scientific community", they said.
The delivery of water to the coast in recent years was successful, they stated, because the water was delivered in accordance with the requirements of the local waterworks and was delivered in a much larger quantity than the contracted amount.
Although this summer was one of the warmest in the last 100 years and there was almost no precipitation, thanks to the stopping of illegal exploitation and the implementation of the construction of the sand constitution for the second year already, the RV in the given conditions has so far had a relatively better yield of the source of "Bolje Sestre" compared to on past years.
"Thanks to that, at this moment the Regional Water Supply is delivering an amount of water that is 180 percent higher than the contracted amount," they concluded.
As they function as one unit with the local waterworks, so far they have not had any objections from the local waterworks except for the Bar waterworks.
They state that the Bar water supply company contracted 40 liters of water per second for the month of September, while on average over 120 liters are delivered to it. They fully understand, as they said, the representatives of the Bar waterworks, who, due to the drastic drop in the yield of the springs from which they are supplied and significant losses on the network, need a larger amount of water than the Regional Waterworks has at its disposal.
"However, as we pointed out, we have very good cooperation with all the local waterworks, so together with the local Bar waterworks we are also "ironing out" this problem on a daily basis", they said.
The need for an additional amount of water due to the above reasons and a larger number of tourists increased during the month of September. This problem is being overcome in the Regional Waterworks on a daily basis, and in ten days they will stop delivering water to the municipality of Herceg Novi, so that quantity will be diverted for the needs of both Bar and other municipalities.
Budva is first in terms of consumption, Bar is second
Yesterday, September 6, the Regional Waterworks delivered more water to local waterworks in all cities except Herceg Novi than was agreed for that month.
"When it comes to Bar, 40 liters per second were agreed upon, and 124 liters are delivered. 40 liters are delivered to Ulcinj, twice as much as the contracted 20. For Budva, 262 liters are delivered per second instead of the contracted 170 liters. For Tivat, 100 liters and 65 liters per second was agreed upon. 120 liters per second are delivered to Kotor, 60 more than the agreed 80. The exception is Herceg Novi, which is delivered the agreed 50 liters per second".
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