The municipalities of Tivat, Herceg Novi and Kotor must urgently work on an alternative for a safe water supply for those cities, because the Regional Water Supply is not able to guarantee a safe and sufficient water supply to the Bokele municipalities in the long term.
This was emphasized by the mayor of Tivat for "Vijesti". Željko Komnenović.
He said that there is already a conceptual solution for a new system for supplying Boka with water from the reservoirs of the "Trebinje" hydropower plant, which in the long term guarantees sufficient quantities of water for the unhindered further touristic, urban and economic development of Boka, and also provides a number of accompanying positive effects, such as the production of electricity that will cover the costs of pumping water to the initial elevation of the new water supply system.
The Municipality of Herceg Novi and the Herceg Novi company "Vodovod i Kanalizacija" have developed a technical concept for the new pipeline Trebinje - Zubci - Sitnica - filter station Mojdež, which foresees the delivery of at least 500 seconds of water for Herceg Novi, expansion of the capacity of FS Mojdež, as well as numerous other advantages, and the possibility of assigning additional quantities of water thus brought from Lake Trebinje to the municipalities of Tivat and Kotor.
Such a solution, according to Novljani, would enable regular water supply to that city without the usual restrictions during the regular annual cleaning of the hydrotunnel in the pipeline from Plata in Croatia, through which Herceg Novi currently receives most of its water, as well as meeting the needs of the planned development of the city in the next 50 years and more year. The water from the Trebinje Lake would be sufficient for the needs of Tivat and Kotor, with which the Herzegovinian water supply system is already connected in several places, and there would be no problem in forwarding it to the people of Tivat and Kotar. The Municipality of Trebinje and Elektroprivreda Republika Srpska have agreed on this venture and confirmed that they are able to deliver from their system an additional 500 liters of water per second to Boka.
For the NGO "Ecological Society of Boka Kotorska" from Heerceg Novi, the technical solution of bringing 500 l/s of water from the "Trebinje" hydropower plant system to Herceg Novi and Boka, via Zubac and Grab, is unacceptable. According to the calculations of their hydrology engineers, it would be financially very expensive in a technically relatively complicated solution that would have high costs of electricity for pumping water, as well as expenses for maintaining the system.
Komnenović has no doubts that bringing water from the HPP "Trebinje" reservoir to Boka through this route is the right thing and that it is urgently needed by the three Boke municipalities.
"We have a big problem with water supply. The regional water supply can no longer meet the needs of Tivat. Whenever there is a major turbidity or other emergency situation, we are forced to rely on our own resources in the form of the local sources of Plavda and Topliš, and Tivat has no more local resources, although we have perhaps the best and most modern local water distribution network with perhaps the lowest percentage losses throughout the state. It is in vain for us when 96 percent of us depend on the water we buy from the Regional Waterworks, and he does not have enough of it to meet all our needs. The only real solution for long-term provision of safe water supply to Tivat is this new solution proposed from Herceg Nobog, by bringing additional quantities of water from Lake Trebinje, from that side to Bok," said Komnenović.
He recalled the repeated interruptions of water supply from the Regional Water Supply during the past months due to various malfunctions, water turbidity and other difficulties in that system, which is already at the upper limit of its technical capabilities when it comes to the delivery of water for the three Bokele municipalities. That is why the Regional Waterworks is currently, in parallel with the construction of the Tivat-Jaz boulevard, laying a new branch of its pipeline for three cities in Boka along the route of that road, but that new, additional pipeline that transports water from the source of Boljesestra on Lake Skadar will not be in operation. at least until the summer of 2026.
"That's why for us in Boka, this proposed solution for bringing additional amounts of water from the Bilećko and Trebinje lakes basins is the right one. The project is already finished because it existed in the conceptual solution during the time of the SFRY. The initiator of its renovation and modernization is the Herzegovina company "Vodovod i Kanalizacija" and the director of that company Boro Lucic. I am sure that its implementation will determine the fate of further investments and development projects in tourism in Boka in the coming period," said Komnenović.
He clarified that for the water that would come from the Bilećko and Trebinje lake basins, apart from the costs of its transportation, they would pay almost nothing.
"The project also planned five turbine-generators on the break chambers on the part of the water supply where it flows by gravity, and in that way the electricity costs for pumping it to the initial heights would be almost completely covered. If I tell you that according to their data, the Regional Waterworks currently has a total of 260 liters of water per second for Boka, and according to this new project, only Tivat and Kotor would have 500 liters of water per second in the driest summer months when we need it the most due to the tourist season , it is clear to you how many advantages there are on the side of this solution that we in Boka are advocating for," Komenović pointed out.
He added that "90 percent of the pipelines needed for the implementation of this plan already exist" and therefore the total investment in completing this system would not be large. The technical concept of the solution envisages pumping water from Trebinje at an elevation above Lake Gorički, from where it would reach the Mojdež filter station by gravity. On its way to the FS Mojdež, several interrupting chambers with tubular turbines are planned, with the help of which electricity production is planned, which would minimize transport costs and electricity consumption.
The Municipality of Trebinje and Elektroprivreda Republika Srpska agreed on this undertaking and confirmed that they are able to deliver from their system an additional 500 liters of water per second to Boka.
The technical concept foresees the expansion of the existing capacities of FS Mojdež, from where the water would be distributed towards Herceg Novi, through the existing pipeline and the planned new pipeline Mojdež - Ratiševina - Topla - Podi, for which the development of the main project is in the final phase. From Herceg Novi, water would then reach Tivat and Kotor through existing pipelines.
A monopoly is in vain, if the necessary quantities of water cannot be delivered
When asked if there is political will in Montenegro to realize this project that would enable Boka to have a reliable water supply through the Regional Vovodod, which is a state project, especially from the point of view of fierce opposition to this idea of the management of the state company, Komnenović said that the responsible in "the company 'Regionalni 'vodvodek' can talk whatever they want from their point of view, but in essence, it all boils down to what they can or cannot provide to citizens and consumers."
"It's fine that the state monopoly they are advocating for, I accept it legalistically, but that monopoly is useless for you if you can't deliver the necessary amounts of water. They do not have them in the Regional Waterworks and it is unlikely that they will ever be able to deliver them. They themselves say that the yield of the "Boljasestra" spring is declining, that the restoration of the Morača bed as a result of criminal acts and devastation by illegal gravel mining will take at least ten years, and this is closely related to the capacity of the "Boljasestra" spring. We in Boka, given the accelerated pace of development of our cities, tourism and economy, certainly do not have time to wait for them for ten years, and therefore we must urgently work on the implementation of this alternative solution to meet our water needs", concluded Komnenović.
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