Environmental Project Management and Issues

EKO-KaWela Bay Project - Environmental project management and issues

V, Androtec 1,B, IvanW 2 ‘ Universip of Zagreb, Croatia 2Executive Manager, EKO Project, Croatia

Abstract

Due to extensive industrialization and increase in population numbers during the last fifty years, Ka3tela Bay has become one of the most polluted areas in the Mediterranean. Six years ago, the Croatian Government, in collaboration with the World Bank and European Bank, decided to invest approximately 150 million Euros in water supply and sewage systems that would address the sea quality issues in the whole Bay, such being the largest undertaking in the Adriatic, and among the largest ones in the Mediterranean. The separate describes the initial stages of the project named EKO-KaNela Bay, its structure, technical approach in addressing various issues, in particular those related to designing and environmental monitoring, as well as major implementation milestones with completion schedules. Resistance of locals concerning certain undertakings, such as submarine outfalls, which required special approach in engagement of professionals and a broader governmental management matrix, is also viewed in retrospect. Finally, the project financial flow is presented, as well as problems in balancing the tiding sources in view of surplus loan proceedings during certain implementation periods. In conclusion, it is quite possible to protect the sea and improve its quality by implementation of grand-scale infrastructure projects in a country as developed as Croatia, but there exists a number of problems, from planning to funding arrangements and technical implementation in conjunction with the position of the population, who need to see for themselves the common welfare through such projects with concrete arguments of in situ measurements and by means of adequate modeling for demanding processes. © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

~4 Coastal Environment 1 Introduction

Strategies concerning water and sea protection from pollution in Croatia are based on legislation as adopted by the Parliament, and their implementation, taking into consideration financial capabilities local- and national-wise, Priorities and long-term plans are defined in accordance with such capabilities. Adopted laws are adjusted with the European Union laws and directives, and also with the Meditemanean Action Plan guidelines, since Croatia is a signatory of the plan. The current economic situation in the Republic of Croatia makes it difficult to address water-protection issues, particularly in view of the fact that the percentage of developed sewer systems in the Croatian littoral, being topical to this separate, is rather low. The main preoccupation of the Republic of Croatia and Hrvatske vode [Croatian Water Authorities], which is the relevant institution in charge of preparation and implementation of strategies related to water-supply and water- protection, was construction of water-supply systems. With respect to the indebtedness of the Croatian Adriatic coast and lack of sufficient water quantities on the islands, transportation of water from the mainland has been top priority, and a rather technically and financially demanding task. Prospects in tourism were quite an incentive for such huge undertakings. The percentage of population coverage by water-supply systems is in excess of 90Y0, However, parallel to such tasks, construction of disposal facilities was not initiated, so that wastewater quantities grew tenfold on account of improved water supply. The total length of the Croatian coast in-bebween its border with Montenegro in the east and Slovenia in the west is 700 km in a straight line, whilst its actual length, together with the islands, equals approx. 6000 km. The load of pollution discharged along the Croatian Adriatic coast, together with the population, tourists at the height of tourist seasons, and industries (fortunately not foul in nature) amounts to approx. 2,220,000 PE, Having in mind that the load by the Italian littoral alone is approx. 30,000,000 PE, it is obvious that the north of the Adriatic is in a better condition, and that the pollution loads are not significant globally so that they could impact the sea eutrophication-wise. On account of undeveloped sewage systems and direct coastal wastewater discharging, there exists a markedly local pollution in the Croatian littoral, with the highest concentrations in the area of Ka5tela Bay, because of a large number of coastal wastewater discharges. The towns of Split, Solin, KaStela and Trogir, as well as the communities on the island of ~iovo, all located around Kaitela Bay, underwent intensive development and urbanization after W.W.II. Population numbers have tripled in the past 40 years; thus, there were approximately 109,000 inhabitants in the area in 1953, while today they number around 300,000, Industries, transportation and commerce have been developing shoulder-to-shoulder with the increase in population, The city of Split is the centre of Dalmatia, with a marked tendency of fiu-ther expansion. Unfortunately, urban planning diverted development, and © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

Coasta[ Environment 15 particularly that of industries, to the Kai$telaBay are% so that the small bay, with limited capacities, has been rather devastated and polluted.

Kailtela Bay is a semi-closed marine area with monthly sea changes in its mid-section, The borders of the bay, particularly in its east, with the highest pollution concentrations, undergo minimal sea changes. With respect to the shallow sea in the eastern part of the bay and the concentration of coastal discharges fkom the population and industries (brewery, meat-processing plant, dairy), that is, for the reason of high organic matter inputs, particularly in the summer, when sea temperatures are rather high, there occurs the so-called “red bloom”. Due to the lack of oxygen in the sea under such pollution conditions, a special species of zoo-plankton propagate with reddish effects, while the fish suffocate. No sewage system whatsoever has been constructed in the major part of the Trogir, Kaiftela and ~iovo Island area, so the bulk of wastewater is being collected in septic tanks, All wastewater is disposed of into the coastal sea either directly or indirectly, but with no treatment. In the region of Split the situation is somewhat better as far as development of sewage networks is concerned; however, all wastewater is also disposed of into the coastal sea by a number of coastal discharges, bar the section of wastewater of the so-called south catchment, which are discharged by a submarine outfall into the Brad Channel with prior screening treatment. © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

16 coastal Environment Due to such pollution conditions, Ka3tela Bay was declared the largest black spot in the Croatian littoral, and was given priority by the Croatian Parliament in addressing its issues. With regard to the national priority and the willingness of the towns to implement the subprojects, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) commenced negotiations concerning possible credit arrangements with the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development respectively.

2 EKO-KaWela Bay Project Concept

The main task in planning the infrastructure facilities was to fmd solutions for a sewage system and wastewater disposal. Notwithstanding, while sizing the EKO- Ka3tela Bay Project, as it is officially called, it was also suggested that the existing water supply system of the towns around the bay be extended and improved, because of regular summer water rationing, particularly in the west, i.e. the town of Trogir and the island of ~iovo. Thus, three subprojects were defined under the EKO-KaNela Bay Project, viz.: A) Split-Solin Sewerage System; B) Ka5tela-Trogir Sewerage System; and, C) Split-Solin-Ka3tela-Trogir Water Supply System. The subprojects had initially been technically defined in the 70s, while the final sewage system concepts were adopted in the 90s. The main precondition set by the foreign banks for their Loan Agreements negotiations concerned preparation of feasibility stmdies that would confm technical concepts of the infrastructure facilities or suggest some other optimal ones. Those studies were prepared in 1996, fully conftig that the concepts as proposed by local designers were correct, so that preparations regarding the signing of Loan Agreements could be commenced. One particular condition stressed by the banks concerned environmental standards, which were also met under the proposed systems.

2.1 Wastewater Disposal

Long-temn oceanographic researches indicated that the Ka5tela Bay sea, being a semi-closed marine area, should not be the recipient of treated wastewater; instead, feasible options in wastewater disposal require sea with higher capacities, in this case the Brad and Split Channels respectively, located without the bay, Further tasks during the preparatory stage concerned investigation of the capacities of the channels as recipients, their sensitivity, and thus definition of the ratio of treatment degree and wastewater disposal by submarine outfalls. Results of the study and key conclusions revealed that both channels are able to receive far larger quantities of waste matter without any impacts on the marine eco-system. Thus a phased development of wastewater treatment plants was facilitated. © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

coastal Environment 17 Moreover, by means of further elaborations and technical reviews of the undertaking, the solution with two sewage systems with two treatment plants and two submarine outfalls with discharges into the Split and Brat Channels was adopted as optimal. Thus the sewage systems were defined for the towns of Ka3tela-Trogir and Split-Solin respectively.

PROJEKT EKO-KA~TELANSKl ZALJEV MMllzAehlslaSusTAvl

KAw-su KA$TELA-TROGIR .-.

SRA~KlKANAL \ —.I SPLtTSKl KANAL Figure 2: Sewerage systems

Since the degree of sewage network development varies within both systems, it was agreed that the systems be constructed in phases, wherein Phase 1 would serve as the backbone, with all key and common structures. Phase 2, which is not covered by the EKO projec~ shall comprise extension of the secondary network viz. an increase in capacities of each system, and, in accordance with applicable laws, construction of a plant with a higher degree of treatment. Split-Solin Sewerage System (Phase 1) comprises a sewer network and pipelines approx. 33 km long; 6 pumping stations, the largest with the capacity of 720 I/s; a 2512 m long hydrotechnical tunnel with the 17 mz profile; a mechanical treatment plant with a rough 10-mm screen and a fme 2-mm screen, incl. grit and grease removal; and a 2750 m long submarine outfall, of which 950 m runs through the Stobret cove, and the remaining 1800 m from the Stobre5 promontory to the open sea. Ka3tela-Trogir Sewerage System comprises sewer mains and pipelines approx. 45 km long; 6 large pumping stations with the power rating of 52-150 kWh and 13 small ones with 1-13 kWh; a 2800 m long hydrotechnical tunnel; a 2300 m long underwater crossing between the mainland and the island of ~iovo; a mechanical treatment plant with fme and rough screens (2 and 10 mm respectively), incl. grit and grease removal; and a 2200 m long submarine outfall. Both sewage systems would be furnished with a remote contro~monitoring system with two sub-centres and a main centre on the premises of the municipal utility. © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

18 coastal Environment 2.2 Extension and Improvement of the Split-Solin-Kaitela-Trogir Water Supply System

The existing water supply system of the towns of Split, Solin Ka.3telaand Trogir is based on water intake at the Jadro River spring in Solin and transportation of water to consumers by gravity channels, both in the direction of Split, as well as of Solin-Kaitela-Trogir. During the past decades the development of the system has not been able to respond to the increasing water demands on account of lack of finances. Consequently, capacities of the major transpotidistribution facilities Qipelines, pumping stations, water reservoirs) are either insufficient or their operatioml properties do not meet reliability standards. This project covers priority structures that will bring about major improvements with smallest possible investments, and that will also fit into the long-term system development concept. The Water Supply System comprises eight separate structures in total. The “backbone” of the system is made of the following facilities. CITY OF SPLIT PUMPING STATION, capacity 2000 l/s, for water- purnping to urban reservoirs. SOLIN, KA$YIELAAND TROGIR PUMPING STATION, capacity 1000 l/s, with an intake basin for the direction of Solin, Kaitela and Trogir; new water reservoirs (5000 mz). MAIN PIPELINE THROUGH KA~TELA, 11.4 km in length, 800 and 700 MM in diameter. WATER RESERVOIR IN KA~TELA, capacity 3000 m3, and WO local subsystems with pumping stations and recons~ction of approx. 5 km of pipe network.

PROJEKTEKO-KA~TELANSKlZALJEV vOoooPaKRaKl SUSTAV SPUT40LIN-KASTELA-TROGIR PoaouwulaoGuwuA

,,,,,.. ,,,: KA$TELA .** . -+ ,’7 -,,~%’,,: % :?” :,’ SOIJN .2., ...... - -r :~i: .~,’, ,.: ,,’ . . ,’ “ “:.,.,2,>,: :;&. r ,.. KA$TELANSKI ZALJEV ,,,, TROGIR ,:-., .’ ...... ’. x ,.”$!,.m, r., ... ‘ ...... ’ /...,.:’ .*W < rn.z : fy~ ‘“”’r ;P;- : - ‘“ :,. faovo ~- \ Figure 3: Split-Solin-Ka.5tela-Trogir Water Supply System © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

Coastal Environment 19 EXTENSION OF REMOTE CONTROL AND MONITORING SYSTEM. This system shall also be furnished with a remote control and monitoring system,

3 Problems in Setting Up, Implementation and Progress of Project

All interested parties agreed that the construction of proposed facilities would be managed as a unified, common investment, both in terms of selection of structures, as well as repayment of loans, with the investment framework as described in Clause 4. With respect to the complexity of the Project and related organizational, technical and financial demands, and particularly the magnitude of the investment and varied interests of the population in this large area, it was determined that a professional centre would have to be established, to be in charge of preparation and implementation of this unique and demanding Project, beneficial not only to the towns and the County, but also to the Republic of Croatia. It was taken into consideration that the existing municipal organization was not adequately structured and lacked proper personnel for preparation and construction of proposed structures, and was also limited by applicable laws to strict maintenance of water supply and wastewater disposal facilities, Therefore the Republic of Croatia, the Split-Dalmatian County, the towns of Split, Solin, KaMela and Trogir, Hrvatske vode, and Vodovod i kanalizacija d.o.o. Split founded the EKO-Ka3tela Bay agency, charged exclusively with preparation and construction of proposed structures. EKO Agency would cease its operations once the whole assignment has been completed and commissioned to the end- user, viz. Vodovod i kanalizacija d.o,o, Split, A very significant issue concerning the project being regarded as integral and a joint investment for all four towns and municipalities where the facilities are being constructed, is that the local fimding sources are being covered jointly by the citizens and that the price of each m3 of water consumed is the same in all towns and municipalities, i.e. EUR 0.16, regardless of investment values in respective communities. Obviously, the city of Split is bearing the brunt, but is aware that the project would not have been effected had it not been for the unity, i.e. proportional investment ratios would render charges in other towns be three- or four-fold. The Agency got clearance to start its operations in April 1998. It was planned that the terms of reference, and thus preparation of final designs, be commenced simultaneously, as projected by the implementation progress plan. However, the Municipality of Okrug, where a wastewater treatment plant was supposed to be built under the Ka5tela-Trogir Sewerage System, declined such construction. That project was stopped at the time. Talks with the Okrug Municipality went on, possible solutions were sought, and the activities concerning this subproject were restarted once a new acceptable system variant was found inrnid-2001, The © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

20 Coastal Environtnenl other two subprojects were commenced unhindered, the consultants in charge of final designs starting their works in December 1998. It should be particularly pointed out that there exist problems concerning applicable laws dealing with construction of such large public facilities, e.g. the Building Act, disorderly and unkempt land registry management, which delays land acquisition tasks that are prerogative for issuance of final building permits. Planning and siting of idiastructure facilities, adoption of such plans, which are the bases for obtainment of all requisite permits, nowadays represents great hindrances in construction in Croatia, Since those infrastructure facilities are sited within very communities, while the land registry documentation is in a rather unorderly condition, administrative problems turn out to be almost impossible to deal with. Let us illustrate this with some of our experiences in this regard. The Agency executed international bidding procedures for five capital structures in the amount of EUR 25 million, and entered into contracts with contractors in February 2001, We were issued first building permits in October 2001, and the last one from the package of five in March 2002. Thus we have the selected contractors, in general not very busy under current unsound economic conditions in Croatia, with funding sources secured and available, that have to wait for almost a year to commence construction on account of the aforementioned issues. One need not point out various problems that this fact creates in management of such complex assignments. Planning of implementation schedules, securing loan funds as per projected timetables, etc., cause unnecessary expenditures related to scheduled but unutilized fl.mds. The time required to sort out such administrative issues cannot be predicted, for it could take two months, or as much as up to a year. The issues we have come upon in the course of the Project vary in nature, and such unpleasant experiences were direction signs to the legislators as to how the laws and acts should be modified; unfortunately, for the time being this Project has had no benefits from such changes. It would have been better to construct more sewers, and even secondary networks, than pay penalties to the banks. As to the Ka&ela-Trogir sewerage system the major obstacle to the implementation lies in zoning documents that is generally adopted on the regional, i.e. county, level. Namely, in view of the system concept modification, it was necessary to embody it in official written documents. All water-protection related projects, and particularly with structures such as treatment plants or submarine outfalls, are marked with resistance from population to projected sites. The most recent opposition, caused by a part of the Stobrefi community population, concerned the Split-Solin sewage system. This opposition and resistance is not a feature in the temperament of the population in the area of Ka?itela Bay; such an effect is world-renowned as the “NIMBY” syndrome. A similar resistance, undoubtedly with certain political undertones, resulted in the Ka5tela-Trogir sewage implementation delays of approx. 3 years. In order to strengthen the position of the professionals as to selection of the actual length of the submarine outfall, in addition to design calculations and one- year oceanographic investigations, mathematical and physical models were also © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

Coastal Envit-onnwnt 21 prepared for additional safety and to eliminate any fears the population living in the construction area might have. Our disagreeable experiences in relations with the public in the above case should help in Mure construction of similar structures, so that the implementation schedules may be set in more realistic terms, which will render projects more rational investment-wise. In the light of Croatia being oriented towards tourism the so-called Adriatic programme will be initiated next year, to be backed up by an IBRD loan, with the total value amounting to EUR 180 million. It comprises quite a number of small-scale sewage systems in the littoral and islands. Experience will have to be utilized from previous projects, for use of rationality can help achieve significant benefits. In spite of all the problems in setting up construction, obtainment of building permits and settlement of land acquisition issues, execution of international and national bidding procedures, selection of contractors and monitoring of operations in the field, it can be concluded that the works are under way with certain lags that need not have occurred, that there are obstacles in applicable laws, administrative torpidity, unorderly and unkempt land registry records, and that there is the expected resistance of the locals to construction of such structures. However, all key structures under the Split-Solin sewage system, bar a small section of the additional network that had been incorporated into the Project subsequently, have been contracted and granted valid and final building permits and are under construction, while some of them have already been completed. There is no reason whatsoever that those structures should not be completed and put into trial operation as scheduled, viz. in the f~st half of 2003, before the tourist season. The key structures under the subproject of extension and improvement of the Split-Solin-Kaitela-Trogir water supply, have also all been contracted and granted valid building permits and are under construction; they are to be completed and put into trial operation by rnid-2003. The KaNela-Trogir Sewage System, which has been obstructed the most due to faulty preparations has only just reached its initial stage, viz. the international final design and tender documents bidding procedure has been commenced; its environmental impact assessment will have undergone public review and location permits obtained by the end of June 2002. This corresponds with the adoption of zoning plans, and, should all the above deadlines be met, all works will be completed and put into operation in the fust half of 2006. Local fms have been successfid in all the final design-, supervision- and construction-related biddings. Construction is under way as per stipulated schedules and the local fms have been executing rather complex tasks exceptionally well, For the biddings under the project two consortia were formed, with the fm of Konstruktor-InZenjering d.d. and Lavi5evi6 d.d, respectively, both of Split, Croatia, as the leading partners. © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

22 Coastal Environment 4 Financial Flow

The EKO-Kaiitela Bay Investment Programrne was adopted in 1998, with the total investment value amounting to EUR 133.3 roil. Due to subsequent requirements, the scheduled investment value was raised to EUR 143.2 roil. in July 2001. In addition to taking part in Project funding, the fm of Vodovod i kanalizacija d.o,o. Split and Hrvatske vode Zagreb also undertook the obligation to repay the EBRD and IBRD loans, The loans will have to be repaid by 2011 (EBRD) and 2013 (TBRD). Vodovod i kanalizacija d.o.o. Split provides investment t!l.mdsfor the Project and loan repayment from water surcharges amounting to EUR 0,16 per 1 m3. When the amount of water surcharges was being determined it was necessary to make sure that the living standard of the local population would not be compromised and also that such fhnds would be stilcient for Project implementation purposes. That is the very reason for the extension of the last dates of the loans, with their repayment projected to take 11 and 10 years respectively,

Table 1: Project expenditure schedule per systems and funding sources

2000

TOT u. :::!%,+ / }33,301 30,677 I 33,233 I 63S01 I 4,449 ~ 11,501 reck .=-s ~ ~, t U. T. TOTAL (main) 91,3@- 30,677 ! 33233 : 33,78 I 4J43 / 5,674 A, ~, Split-SOlin Sewerage I “— 31,468 9,014 13,51cj 4,76j 4,254 4,621 . “,, 0,~ 18,92X 17,29fj 0,074 0,885 , %lit..Sniin-Ka.5tela. i I 21,651 0,~ q , “q “q 0’168 IV+ 0,7951 2,814 0,~ 0,( m- i +u!L j 0,0 ml

Hrvatske vode Zagreb provides funds for the Project and loan repayment from a section of collected water use and protection charges. Namely, Hrvatske vode collect charges for use and protection of waters, and 50 per cent of such funds collected in the Project region return into the project both in the construction and loan repayment phases. It should be pointed out that Vodovod i kanalizacija d.o.o, Split and Hrvatske vode Zagreb collect funds from the customers for the Project within the very area of Project implementation, Financial aspects of such projects generally need to be defined in accordance with the implementation schedule. Since there occurred certain delays during the © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

Coastal Environment 23 implementation of the three subprojects for reasons indicated above, the scheduled and adopted financial plan has been impacted, there have been certain financial penalties, which renders financial implementation difficult. Therefore the Agency Board and the Agency itself are trying to minimize such issues and use available means in the best possible fashion.

Table 2: Financial flow during the periods of construction and loan repayment Net total turnover - cumulative TOTAL year EUR 1997 0,19 1998 1,69 1999 7,53 2000 11,52 2001 13,24 2002 12,49 2003 10,28 2004 7,49 2005 4,87 2006 2,63 2007 1,33 2008 0,47 2009 0,08 2010 0,16 2011 0,67 2012 4,90 2013 11,04

5 Conclusion

Even though there exist huge difilculties in development of water-protection facilities and other infrastructure segments, particularly because of an extremely complex financial situation in Croatia, it is still quite possible to protect the sea and the environment from pollution even under such circumstances. In particular, tourism on the Adriatic coast and the islands is one of the major reasons for the state to take part along with local self-government units, as in the described project of EKO-Ka!5telaBay. Experience gained during this project shows that all possible obstacles in implementation should be foreseen more carefilly, and also that certain spaces of time should be added to technical and financial “ideal” scheduled deadlines for the purpose of contingencies. It particularly concerns the financial segment, where one need not invest too speedily into credit arrangements for a whole complex project, but should rather better manage it per separate units and within reasonable time-flames, The very management of such large-scale projects reveals all issues hindering their implementation, such as adoption of zoning plans, land registry-related conditions linked with land acquisition in attractive areas, pursuit for favorable credit arrangements, and selection of professional teams required for implementation, © 2002 WIT Press, Ashurst Lodge, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK. All rights reserved. Web: www.witpress.com Email [email protected] Paper from: Coastal Environment, CA Brebbia (Editor). ISBN 1-85312-921-6

24 Coasta[ Environment Similar future projects to come will benefit greatly from the experiences gained in the Ka.5tela Bay project, especially when seeking the savoir faire in public relations. Preparation of various models, from mathematical to physical, provides stronger arguments and are more figurative and articulate to the public. That is particularly valid for the new large-scale project that is being planned in Croatia by the name of “Adriatic”, driven by tourist-related motifs and requirements for sanitary correct use of sea, for which the negotiations with the World Bank are currently under way. It comprises a string of sewage systems in coastal and insular small and medium communities, with the estimated value of USD 180 nil. Croatia, being a potential EU member, and in spite of her very limited financial means, is able to fidfill obligations within reasonable time-frames in accordance with EU applicable laws, as well as others she is signatory to, but will have to implant the experience acquired in management of such projects into her laws and acts, which are currently not that adequate.

References

[1] MEIP Investment Programme, November 1997. [2] Southern Waters UK, DHV Netherlands, Hidroprojekt-ing Zagreb, IGH Zagreb. MEIP Feasibili~ Study, February 1996. [3] IGH Zagreb, PC Rijeka. Final design - Split-Solin Sewerage System, Phase 1, September 1999. [4] Revised Investment Programme, May 2001.