22 May 2014: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has released a report, titled ‘Toward Practical Guidance for Sustainable Sediment Management Using the Sava River Basin as a Showcase: Estimation of Sediment Balance for the Sava River.’ The report presents the results of a project to promote sustainable sediment management (SSM).

The report provides an analysis of the: Sava River Basin; methods of sediment monitoring and assessment; Sava River channel evolution in time; estimation of the Sava River sediment balance; gaps and data uncertainties; and proposals for further joint activities. The report includes recommendations for improving the Joint Sava River Basin Sediment Monitoring Programme, including through establishment of a joint Sediment Database, harmonization of sediment data through application of the same international technical standards and creation of new hydrologic stations.

The Sava is a tributary of the Danube River shared by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia. The basin is managed under the aegis of the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin (FASRB) by the International Sava River Basin Commission (ISRBC). The study was a joint effort by the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, the International Sediment Initiative (ISI), the European Sediment Network (SedNet) and the ISRBC. [UNESCO Press Release] [Publication: Toward Practical Guidance for Sustainable Sediment Management Using the Sava River Basin as a Showcase: Estimation of Sediment Balance for the Sava River]