WWF, in support of its local partner the Drava League, has requested the Croatian Waters Company and its governing body the State Water Authority, to halt immediately the river regulation works, and the combined large scale extraction of river gravels directly from the riverbed, being carried out on the Stara Drava (’Old Drava’) upstream of the city of Varazdin.
This 20km stretch, which extends to the border with Slovenia, has some 30 river-branches and channels, and on its recent floodplain supports many wetlands and 20 oxbow lakes; it is rich in biodiversity and its habitats are home to over 50 Red List species.
Croatian Waters plans to turn this whole stretch of free-flowing, braided river into a series of pools separated by transverse stone barriers across the river channel. This is devastating ever larger areas of the beautiful landscapes and rich natural habitats of the Drava, as has already occurred on the 10km length of the Stara Drava downstream of Varazdin, between the retention-lakes of HEP Varazdin and HEP Dubrava, where the same combination of river regulation and gravel-extraction has been applied.
Documents
POSITION PAPER: DRAVA GRAVEL EXTRACTION
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