Danube, Sava, Tisa Below Levels as Villages Go Dry
RHMZ warns Serbia's three largest rivers will stay below low navigable levels, as states of emergency over drinking water shortages remain in force in Trgoviste, Sjenica and part of western Serbia.
Is the water still running from the tap tomorrow? In parts of Serbia it currently isn’t running reliably, because the long-running drought has now reached the country’s largest rivers.
The Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia (RHMZ) issued three parallel warnings today, Sunday, September 6, at 10:20 a.m. The meteorological warning forecasts a continuation of the unfavorable weather through the first ten days of September, with temperatures of 30 to 35 degrees Celsius and no rainfall. RHMZ states in that warning:
Through the end of the first ten days of September, the unfavorable weather situation is expected to continue, with a rainfall deficit and above average temperatures of 30 to 35°C.
What the hydrological warning shows
The hydrological warning was issued a day earlier, on September 5 at 9:58 a.m., and stays in force for a full seven days, until September 12. According to it, water levels on Serbia’s three largest rivers, the Danube, the Sava, and the Tisa near Titel, will remain below low navigable levels in the days ahead. RHMZ states in the hydrological warning:
Water levels will move below low navigable levels over the coming days.
The picture is similar on smaller waterways. Flow rates on the Kolubara and its tributaries, the Jadar, the Toplica and the Vlasina, tributaries of the Zapadna and Velika Morava, as well as the Crni and Beli Timok, have dropped close to the minimum monthly average values at 95 percent reliability, the threshold the profession calls the biological minimum.
The third warning, agrometeorological, was issued earlier still, on August 31 at 12:08 p.m., and runs through September 7. It concerns crops rather than people directly, but points to the same drought. RHMZ states in that warning:
The prolonged duration of the drought, combined with high temperatures, has caused continuous water and heat stress in agricultural crops.
The institute adds that the lack of soil moisture could also complicate the sowing of winter crops if the dry conditions continue.
Villages that have run out of water
The warning on paper has already become an everyday reality without tap water in several parts of Serbia. A state of emergency over the shortage of drinking and utility water was declared on September 4 in part of the Trgoviste municipality. It covers 13 settlements across five local communities:
- Trgoviste: Donji Koziji Dol, Siroka Planina, Lesnica
- Radovnica: Rupica, Leskova Artina
- Donji Stajevac: Kuculja, Trnarci, Saranci, Surlica
- Sajince: Margance, Saprance
- Novo Selo: Vladovce, Barbace
Trgoviste’s municipal emergency staff has called on residents to use water strictly for basic needs.
A few days earlier, on August 31, a state of emergency was declared across the entire Sjenica municipality, effective immediately. There, the Serbian Armed Forces are delivering water by tanker truck to households, wells and reservoirs, currently in the villages of Dolinje, Dunisice, Trebine and Ursule, with part of the water also going to livestock.
The situation is similar in western Serbia, where the “Rzav” water supply system currently delivers about 570 liters of water per second. Cacak, which has been under water supply restrictions for 24 days, receives about 305 liters per second. The hardest hit is Arilje, where only 44 liters per second arrive, so three ten-ton tanker trucks are topping up the reservoirs of the town’s water system.
What this means for you
If you live in one of the affected areas, or are simply passing through in the coming days, plan for limited water supply and pack a reserve in advance, a canister of water in the trunk is not excessive. The same advice local governments keep repeating applies to gardens and yards: water is for basic needs only while the warnings remain in force, through September 10 for the weather and through September 12 for the rivers.
This is not the first drought related story of the season. We previously reported that RHMZ was warning of extreme fire danger in Serbia, driven by the same high temperatures and lack of rainfall. Now the same drought, measured by the same institute’s same figures, is showing up both in riverbeds and at garden taps.
