EXPERT'S PROPOSAL FOR THE SOURCE OF THE REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY THREATENED BY GRAVEL EXTRACTION: TWO MORE WATER SOURCES APART FROM BOLJE SESTRE

The director of the Regional Water Supply System, Goran Jevrić, warns about the idea of "Energoprojekt hidroinženjering" Consulting Engineers Co. Ltd that water should be pumped from ''Kaludjer oko'' and ''Crno oko'' springs, stating that "hasty decisions could do more harm than good"

Another confirmation from experts that the damage was caused by the deepening of the Morača riverbed, from which more than 100 thousand cubic meters of gravel were extracted

After several months of analysis, experts from “Energoprojekt hidroinženjering - Belgrade” concluded that the Bolje sestre water source was endangered by long-term uncontrolled extraction of sand and gravel from the Morača riverbed, which was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) in mid-March.

Thus, the earlier claims of environmental activists, as well as the representatives of several state institutions, primarily the Regional Water Supply System (RWSS), which supplies coastal municipalities with water from local sources, were confirmed.

The director of the RWSS, Goran Jevrić, assures that, despite everything, the water supply to the coast will be in order.

"Of course, it should have in mind that there is a possibility of significant unforeseen disturbances in hydrological conditions, especially in the part related to the devastated bed of the Morača River," Jevrić told CIN-CG.

To mitigate this risk, the Regional Water Supply System, according to him, initiated investigative and test actions to provide the necessary quantities for certain technical interventions for this season as well.

Due to the drastic drop in yield of 80 percent, the director of the Water Administration (WA), Damir Gutić, suspended the works on the regulation of the Morača River in December.

The Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Ratko Mitrović, said in the Parliament at the end of March that he visited the river with the locals of the village Grbavci and that they "noticed that gravel from Morača was being exploited at several locations, despite the current ban".

"It was noticed that the bed of the Morača River deepened more than five meters and widened several times in the part closest to the Bolje sestre water source," he told MPs.

The Ministry told CIN-CG that currently there is no permit or consent from WA that would allow entry into the riverbed and that any intrusion is "considered illegal".

According to the data previously obtained by CIN-CG, more than 100,000 cubic meters of gravel were previously extracted from the bed of the lower course of the Morača into Skadar Lake through concession works on flow regulation. The concessions were held by the company "Bemaks", and earlier by "Cijevna komerc" and "Beton gradnja".

According to CIN-CG's estimates, based on the data obtained from "Bemax", at least 52 thousand cubic meters were extracted from the riverbed.

"Cijevna" told CIN-CG that they extracted about 68,000 cubic meters, while "Beton Montenegro" did not answer the questions.

Speaking about the problem of illegal exploitation, the Ministry told CIN-CG that "in most cases, it is about the exploitation of materials from land that is out of the riverbed and which is not treated as a floodplain."

How to obtain 1,100 liters per second

Assessing that "return to the state before 2020 cannot be predicted, and probably not fully realized", "Energoprojekt hidroinženjering" experts in the analysis CIN-CG received under the Law on Free Access to Information for Regular Supply of the Montenegrin Coast suggested adding water from nearby springs to the existing spring, primarily spring ''Kaludjerovo oko'' and ''Crno oko''.

The director of the Regional Water Supply System told CIN-CG that the investigative work to select a source for public water supply requires comprehensive and serious research, and therefore significant time to make the right decision. He says that the legal regulations that need to be implemented through complex administrative procedures should not be neglected, because this issue is also of exceptional importance for health protection.

"This is precisely the reason why the study focused on seeking a short-term solution that would provide sufficient water for an orderly and sustainable water supply of the Montenegrin coast for two to three years… Hasty decisions on the subject could do more harm than good,” Jevric said.

The capacity of the water supply system is 1,100 liters per second, and the results of the analyzes conducted within this project indicate that the currently available water sources of the Bolje Sestre spring are at a minimum of 700-800 liters per second.

The analysis states that the source of the Bolje Sestre was not considered as an additional water source for several reasons, including the fact that there is a real possibility that abstracting the required quantities would affect the yield, possible loss of natural source, without gaining the required quantity.

The document states that the minimum yield of ''Kaluđerovo oko'' is not known, i.e. the maximum amount available for exploitation in the conditions of hydrological minimum. The advantages are the greater impact of groundwater and protection of water quality from the impact of ''Malo Blato'', and the disadvantage is that the transport of water is longer and more complex, with unpredictable problems of expropriation and use of private land.

The yield of ''Crno oko'' is also not known, and it will be difficult to determine it due to technical difficulties. The technical solution with the suction pump directly above the main source ensures the pumping of groundwater as a priority. The advantages are the unlimited amount of water for exploitation and the relatively short length of transport to the plant and the minor issues of expropriation. The disadvantages include probably higher costs of water intake and construction works due to field conditions, but also the uncertainty of water quality due to the impact of mixing with the water of ''Malo Blato'' source.

"Through a comparative analysis of the proposed sources for water supply, ''Crno oko'' has a small advantage primarily because it is relatively easy to provide the full required amount of water for water supply without additional interventions," it is stated in the analysis.

To find the optimal solution and balance between the required quantity and the best possible quality, two solutions of exploitation have been proposed. The first involves intake of the available quantities from ''Kaluđerovo oko'' source, provided they are proven, and ''Crno oko'' if required. The second solution envisages the exploitation of only ''Crno oko'', in addition to the existing quantities at the source of ''Bolje sestre''.

Morača riverbed "plowed"

According to the announcement of the Regional Water Supply System, the hydrogeological analysis of the yield of the spring, which was completed by "Energoprojekt hidrinženjering" last month and signed by the geological engineer Vladimir Beličević, was also presented to Minister Mitrović.

"This problem arose predominantly due to the exploitation of sand and gravel in the Morača riverbed. The basic condition for preserving the current quantities of water at the ''Bolje sestre'' spring is that there is no further deterioration of the terrain and the Morača riverbed due to new unforeseen works. Unfortunately, the effects of gravel exploitation in the Morača riverbed can be worsened in the coming years by the additional natural deepening of the riverbed as a result of increased speeds and disturbed riverbed profile," Belicevic told CIN-CG.

Therefore, in his opinion, it is necessary to take measures to rehabilitate the riverbed and return it as close as possible to the natural state, i.e. not lower than the elevation of 10 meters above sea level (masl). The analysis established that the Water Administration's recommendations on the excavation in the zone upstream from the mouth of the Cijevna in Morača were not followed.

Based on the request of the Regional Water Supply System, geodetic and bathymetric surveys were performed in November (using an echo sounder) on three sites upstream from the mouth of the Cijevna into the zones opposite the ''Bolje sestre'' spring. Based on these measurements, the lowest riverbed elevations are from 3.04-5.21 m above sea level, and the water levels in the Morača are from 7.35 to 8.61 masl.

According to the statement of the Regional Water Supply System, after the presentation of the analysis, the Minister said that the inspection and other competent bodies must "react urgently to stop these illegal activities because the water supply of the Montenegrin coast must not be endangered."

The Directorate for Inspection Affairs told CIN-CG that this year, two initiatives from the Regional Water Supply System for inspection supervision of the exploitation of river bed material from the Morača watercourse were received and that their inspectors made more than 40 field visits to the narrow sanitary protection zone.

"In the procedures of inspection supervision of the exploitation of river material, two criminal charges were filed with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office to determine the identity of the perpetrators of the theft of natural resources and one supplement to the criminal report. A decision was also issued banning the exploitation of river material on the control section ", the Directorate for Inspection Affairs stated, without identifying the perpetrators.

The drop in yield can be reflected to ''Plantaze'' as well

"Energoprojekt hidroinženjering" also states that the phenomenon of operation of a large number of irrigation wells, located in the zone of plantations in the valleys of the Morača and Cijevna, should be the subject of study in the coming period.

"The influences of these facilities on the work and yield of the ''Bolje sestre'' spring cannot be ruled out. However, the multi-year mode of operation of these wells is stable and takes place in the same annual period. It is mostly interrupted at the end of August after the main vegetative period for the grapevines ", it is stated in the finding.

The operation of these wells, as it is pointed out, is mostly predictable on an annual level and it is unlikely that there has been a drastic increase in their number, especially in the period during 2020, when the largest decline in spring yield was registered. This indicates that they "did not exert the main and decisive influence".

However, Jevrić told CIN-CG that the problem of reducing the yield of water balance will also affect other economic entities that use groundwater in the area of Podgorica for their economic activity, from "Plantaže" to agricultural producers and water supply companies.

"Plantaže", which consumes two million cubic meters of water from 24 pumping wells, from a depth of 50 to 90 meters, for irrigating 2,300 hectares under vineyards and orchards, told CIN-CG in March that they did not produce consequences, because every extracted liter returns to the soil.

Examine the impact of the highway – once it is built

Having in mind the planning documents that envisage the construction of the Bar-Boljare highway in the second protection zone of the ''Bolje sestre'' spring, according to the recommendation of "Energoprojekt hidroinženjering", it is necessary to propose to study possible impacts on the spring and defined protection zones.

This phase of the highway from Podgorica to the seaside is not in the current plans.

"In this process, it is necessary to envisage appropriate interventions and necessary measures to protect the source. The measures refer to the construction of water facilities for collection, drainage, and treatment of wastewater (main collectors, wastewater treatment plants) to provide the necessary protection of the source from the adverse effects of highway construction. During the design, the highest recorded water level of the spring must be taken into account, so that in the future the stability of the highway will not be disturbed and wastewater from its surface will not flow into the spring ", the finding warns.

Miloš RUDOVIĆ