Serbia Not Lacking Water, But System Needs Major Investment, Says Hydrogeologist

Serbia is facing a unique hydrological situation marked by a prolonged dry spell, yet hydrogeologist Zoran Stevanović assures there is no cause for excessive alarm regarding water supply. He credits the robust water systems, built by engineers approximately 50 years ago, for the current resilience.

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Water stress would be a situation where you have greater water use than its renewal. That is a situation where you have pressure on water resources, that is one of the UN parameters used, and another is water availability, which is viewed as a certain amount of water that belongs to each individual in the country.

However, Stevanović emphasizes the critical need for systematic investment in water infrastructure and rational management of water resources to prevent future problems. He notes that while Serbia is not water-poor, ranking mid-tier globally in "water stress", a measure of water usage against renewal, concerns about consumption remain. The country's water availability per capita is adequate, but the strain on resources necessitates careful management.

The hydrogeologist also addressed the low water levels in the Danube River, attributing them to a mix of natural and human-induced factors influencing climate change. He explained that the Danube, in its upper reaches, behaves like a karst disappearing river, with some water loss to the Rhine basin through underground channels, a phenomenon he terms "underground piracy." While this is an interesting aspect, it is not the primary reason for the current low water levels.

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The Danube is a strange river; many do not know that in its upper part, the basin behaves like a mountain river, a karst disappearing river. And incredibly, I've had the opportunity to see it, it loses a part of its water underground, at sinkholes, and that water goes into the Rhine basin.

Stevanović highlighted the unusually dry climate in Belgrade and its surroundings, comparing it to arid regions where dry periods can last from April to October. He pointed out the extremely low air humidity, sometimes dropping below 30 percent and even reaching 18 percent, leading to significant evaporation from all water surfaces. This high evaporation rate further exacerbates the impact of the dry spell on water resources.

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I am seeing for the first time in Belgrade, on diagrams published by the Republic Hydrometeorological Service every hour, that the air humidity these days is only below 30 percent, i.e., 25 to 30 percent. Last night at 6 p.m. it dropped to 18 percent.