Scholarly record

FROM INITIATION OF RIVER SEDIMENT MONITORING IN CROATIA TOWARDS NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ON SEDIMENT QUALITY

Dr. Stanislav Franciskovic-Bilinski, Dr. Halka Bilinski, Dr. Marina Mlakar, M.Sc. Kresimir Maldini

Abstract

Establishment of regular river sediment monitoring, in addition to water monitoring, is very important, as geochemical data of sediments are very significant for environmental impact assessment. First scientific investigations of sediments in Croatia started in the Krka River estuary in 1989, while first systematic research of a river basin in Croatia was performed in the Kupa River drainage basin in 2005. In 2008, Croatian water authorities (Hrvatske Vode) started a preliminary sediment monitoring program. Since then, the number of monitored watercourses and of analyzed parameters has been increasing. The current plan is to establish a permanent monitoring network of river sediments throughout the state and the goal is to set up about 80 stations, which will cover all most important and most contaminated watercourses. Currently the second phase of the sediment monitoring program, which will cover sediment pollution assessment, is in progress. Unfortunately, at the moment in the Republic of Croatia, as well as at the level of the European Union, unique legislative for river sediments does not exist, as this question is very complex and the natural composition of sediments significantly varies between different regions. Therefore, public institution пїЅCroatian WatersпїЅ decided to contribute to the development of legislative for sediments in the Republic of Croatia. A study was recently launched, in which proposals of threshold concentrations for 8 chemical elements (7 heavy metals and 1 metalloid) are given. They are as follows (in mg/kg): Cd (0.6); Pb (31); Ni (47); Hg (0.25); Cu (28); Cr (57); Zn (90) and As (10). These proposals of threshold values will serve to determine all critical locations on watercourses of Croatia and will lead to the improvement of the overall quality of sediments. Also, the proposed threshold concentrations are aimed to be the expert basis for Croatian National legislative on sediment quality.

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