| Popis: |
The upper part of the Kupa river catchment area is situated in the mountain massif of Gorski Kotar, with the highest peaks reaching about 1500 m. It is in this mountain area that the Kupa catchment area, and hence the catchment area of the Black Sea, is only some 15 km away from the Adriatic Sea, and therefore directly exposed to its climatic influence. Therefore, this area is the most abundant in rainfall in Croatia, with rainfall reaching even 4000 mm per annum. With that respect, water resources of the upper part of the Kupa catchment area, in addition to high enviromental value, have an extremely important water supply and hydropower potential which is at present utilized only to a minor extent. However, in accordance with the growing water and power demand, larger use of water resources from this part of the catchment area is planned. Such plans are being intensified by the fact that, opposite to the global growing trend of water demand, the contrary trends are also present - the falling trends of mean annual discharges in most watercourses throughout the wider region. The situation is similar in the upper part of the Kupa catchmant area, where the falling trend of mean annual rainfall has been particularly noticed in the past ten-year period. Therefore, the approach to planning of the area development and finding of optimum ways to meet the expected water demands should take into account also the falling trend of discharges in watercourses and sources in the area. |
