Serbia additionally had to cope with the Save and Theiss rivers overflowing their banks in April. Miroslav Cvjetkovic, Deputy Director of the Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage (BVK), reports that 250,000 ha of farmland throughout the country were flooded, resulting in a total damage of over € 35 million. The centennial floods that struck the Danube and Save rivers yet held a blessing in disguise for Serbia. Most of the dams alongside the rivers withstood the water masses and rising groundwater levels, and BVK pulled all forces together to keep the aftermath for the population of Belgrade within tolerable limits.
This was a great achievement, considering that on 17th April the Danube rose 25 cm and the Save 20 cm above the flood levels marks of 26th March 1981. "This time, thanks to our perfect sewer management, the city area was far less flooded," says Miroslav Cvjetkovic, relieved that a potential health hazard for the population was prevented just in time.
The city areas alongside the river banks were again the most endangered zones in April 2006. While the Danube water did not penetrate the dams, it forced its way through the sewer system and spilled out of the gutters. All sewer outlets in Belgrade are below 72 metres above sea level.
Forecasts predicted that the water would rise to 75.2 metres above sea level, thus covering many city areas "only" up to 30 cm with water; but then the water actually rose to 75.7 metres above sea level, and this would have submerged many streets under a water layer of 80 cm and paralysed the entire city traffic.
The BVK experts managed to prevent this scenario even though they had little state-of-the-art technology at hand. As a first step, they set up 12 provisional pump stations, changed the purpose of the existing sewage pump stations by converting them into flood pumps, and by-passed the gullies with hoses. Then they sealed off the entire sewer system (placing 3 mm rubber inserts below the manhole covers and topping them with sand bags) and put it under pressure in the flooded areas.
As in some places the seals got damaged by trucks and off-road vehicles, the covers were soon secured with additional beams. Throughout the flood event, the BVK team as well as the operators of all other waterworks in the region consistently monitored the condition of the drinking water to preserve its quality, even though on account of the pipe pressure it would have been very unlikely for the groundwater to penetrate into the water supply system.
Moreover, chlorine concentrations in the drinking water were increased. The results of analysis revealed that in Belgrade the quality standards of drinking water were maintained throughout the entire flood event! "Our experience with the April flooding will help us to better understand flood events and control them more effectively," says Miroslav Cvjetkovic, who also puts great hopes in the City of Belgrade’s Master Plan envisaging further flood protection facilities.
At supraregional level, Serbia is also anticipating the Danube Flood Alert System which forms part of the Flood Action Programme (FAP). This ICPDR Programme adopted in 2004 is aimed at the implementation of a sustainable flood protection programme in the Danube Basin.
The key goals are to protect the people and their belongings and to promote the preservation and improvement of river eco-systems. The FAP may therefore be viewed as the first concrete step on the path leading to a successful implementation of the new EU Flood Directive.
(Source: aqua press Int. 2/2006)
