Ministers Ćorić and Počivalšek Support the Revitalization of Sutla/Vonarsko Lake

Croatian Minister of Environment and Energy Tomislav Ćorić and Slovenian Minister for Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek held their second working meeting on the topic of Sutla/Vonarsko Lake on Tuesday, during which they agreed to continue the water management cooperation between the two countries and expressed support for the idea of revitalizing Sutla/Vonarsko Lake, the Ministry of Environment and Energy announced.

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Sutla/Vonarsko Lake currently serves as a retention area primarily aimed at holding back the high water wave of the Sutla River and increasing flood protection for the downstream area. The Ministry states that the goal of the meetings was to determine the status of activities agreed upon at the meeting held in April in Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia, where the ministers agreed that retaining the water wave of the Sutla River is in the interest of both sides as agricultural land, infrastructure (roads, border crossings), households, and business facilities located downstream of the Vonarje dam are currently at risk.

“A strong economic cooperation has been established between Slovenia and Croatia, which is also based on tourism potential. I am pleased that we have made significant progress in the last few months, the discussions we held were extremely successful, and we have a completely realistic, mutually aligned draft whose benefits will be felt on both sides of the border,” emphasized Slovenian Minister Počivalšek after the meeting.

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“We are aware that there are several challenges in implementing the set goals within a relatively short timeframe by the end of the year, but we believe that the project’s goal, which is to reduce the flood risk for the population of both countries and the additional value of utilizing that space, is absolutely worth all the invested effort,” said Minister Ćorić, adding that today’s meeting, like the one in Rogaška Slatina, is an important turning point for the continuation of Croatian-Slovenian water management cooperation.

The Ministry states that the realization of this project, namely the lake formation of the accumulation and its use for tourism purposes, is supported by the municipalities of Zagorska Sela and Hum na Sutli as well as Krapina-Zagorje County from the Croatian side, and the municipalities of Rogaška Slatina and Podčetrtek as well as the Savinja region from the Slovenian side where the accumulation is located. The Republic of Croatia also fully supports this project.

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“The modernization of the Vonarje dam is part of a joint project Cross-Border Aligned Risk Reduction (FRISCO 2.1.), and Ministers Ćorić and Počivalšek assessed that the implementation of the conclusions is going in the desired direction and within deadlines, and they once again gave unequivocal support to this project,” the Ministry of Environment and Energy announced.