Barbara Cencur Curk

• Professor (Assistant) at University of Ljubljana

Submarine springs near Izola, in the Northern Adriatic Sea, appear in funnel-shaped depressions and smell strongly of sulfur. Along the Mediterranean coast there are many submarine karst springs containing brackish or fresh water, but submarine sulfur springs are not particularly common. Three submarine sulfur springs and one terrestrial sulfur spr...

The available literature on natural hazard risk analysis focused on the implementation of water safety plans (WSPs) is surprisingly quite poor, despite the significant increase in the number and severity of disasters and adverse effects on drinking water supply systems generated by natural hazards. At the same time, WSPs that conveniently account f...

In the EU Drinking Water Directive (EU DWD) 2020/2184, the approach of the “water safety plan”, as suggested by the WHO, has been individuated as the correct tool for water utilities to ensure safe, drinkable water. The ADRIATIC-IONIAN Interreg project, MUHA—Multi-Hazard Framework for water related risks management, has become the necessity to effe...

In the EU Drinking Water Directive (EU DWD) 2020/2184, the approach of "water safety plan" as suggested by the WHO, has been individuated as the correct tool for water utilities to ensure safe drinkable water. The ADRION Interreg project MUHA moved from the necessity to effectively link different aspects of the water related risks management in an...

The paper presents the results of a tracer experiment with the uranine tracer at the non-hazardous landfill of Dragonja. The purpose of the tracer test was to determine the dynamics of the potential pollutants from the landfill to the groundwater. The landfill lies on the thicker weathered layer of flysch rock that forms the slope of the hill. At t...

This paper presents a qualitative approach for assessing land-use pressures on the water resources of a transboundary Dinaric karst catchment of the Kupa River in Southeast Europe. Spatial analyses of the water quality indices for surface water and groundwater were carried out in a GIS environment, as well as a detailed assessment of man-made hazar...

Research into the unsaturated zone and groundwater recharge can greatly improve understanding of hydrological processes and assist in sustainable groundwater management. Groundwater recharge of the Ljubljana Field aquifer, a coarse-gravel porous aquifer in Slovenia, was estimated with reference to soil characteristics, outflow data from a weighing...

A risk management methodology is presented for the adaptation of water supply to changing climate and land-use activities, considering socio-economic aspects. Several management options were selected for the case of the public water supply of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The major management actions for improving drinking water safety are (1...

p>Ljubljana field aquifer is an important source of drinking water for the Ljubljana city and surrounding areas. Knowledge of the water balance and of the water flow dynamics through the unsaturated zone and recharge of Ljubljana field aquifer is crucial. The water balance assessment of the upper unsaturated zone provides an insight into groundwate...

The United Nations General Assembly declared safe and clean drinking water as a human right. However, recent studies have revealed that water resources are under increasing pressure, mainly due to land use and climate change. Within the Central Europe (CE) Region, the need for adapted and target-oriented land-use activities concerning the protectio...

The United Nations General Assembly declared safe and clean drinking water as a human right. However, recent studies have revealed that water resources are under increasing pressure, mainly due to land use and climate change. Within the Central Europe (CE) Region, the need for adapted and target-oriented land-use activities concerning the protectio...

Cross border water resources and drinking water supply management are among the basic concerns for almost all Adriatic Sea countries. Adopting measures such as developing common methodologies, tools and techniques addressing water quality and quantity issues, water losses and pricing policies, is a top priority. Regarding the harmonization of proce...

Cross-border water resources management and protection is a complicated task to achieve, lacking a common methodological framework. Especially in Adriatic region, water used for drinking water supply purposes pass from many different countries, turning its management into a hard task to achieve. During DRINKADRIA project a common methodological fra...

The Ljubljana Moor extends from the southern part of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, to Krim-Mokrc karstic mountains. The sedimentation basin of Ljubljana Moor is filled up in the central part with lacustrine and marshy sediments and on the borders of the basin are the gravel fans. In the base of sedimentation basin is prequaternary karstified...

The Adriatic Sea countries face significant problems regarding cross-border water resources management. DRINKADRIA project aims at developing a common methodological framework, for efficient and effective cross border water supply and resources management, taking into consideration different resources types (surface and ground water) emphasizing in...

The Adriatic Sea countries face significant problems regarding cross-border water resources management. DRINKADRIA project aims at developing a common methodological framework, for efficient and effective cross border water supply and resources management, taking into consideration different resources types (surface and ground water) emphasizing in...

Namen raziskave je bil narediti primerjavo med dvema metodama strukturne analize: metodo Eraso ter inženirsko metodo in ugotoviti primernost obeh za ugotavljanje toka podzemne vode. Ti dve metodi temeljita na različnih principih: prva temelji na mikrotektonski analizi in se večinoma uporablja na površinskih golicah, medtem je bila druga razvita v n...

Water resources and climate change

Nowadays, Adriatic Sea countries are facing significant cross-border water supply and resources management problems. Cross border water resources management is a complex issue, requiring the adoption of immediate measures, while at the same time it is quite challenging. No common methodologies and tools exist, addressing water quantity and quality...

The objective of this study was to characterize a very coarse alluvial vadose zone of the Ljubljana basin (Slovenia), with a gravel content >75%. A combination of the simplified evaporation experiment (HYPROP) and the dew point method (WP4 PotentiaMeter) was used to obtain the information across a wide moisture range. We obtained water retention da...

This report summarizes the main transnational strategic planning questions based on the results and outputs of CC WARE project. A common strategic planning methodology is used for addressing the transnational elements of a strategy for mitigating vulnerability of safe drinking water supply (DWSUP) under climate change in South-Eastern Europe (SEE)....

The aim of this guidance is to facilitate the development of national or regional action plans to mitigate vulnerability of water resources under climate change. This document is targeted to those stakeholders who are directly or indirectly related to the protection of drinking water resources and/or dealt with climate change issues.

A research field site (RFS) was established at Sinji Vrh in the western part of Slovenia in order to study flow and solute (particularly pollutant) transport in fractured and karstified rocks, with a focus on the unsaturated zone. RFS consists of surface set-up and a research tunnel, 15 m below the surface. Agrometeorological station was installed...

Water resources are vulnerable to climate change and to many other socio-economic drivers of change. A key aspect of vulnerability is that it is spatially variable, reflecting variations of physical and socio-economic conditions. Given the real representation of vulnerability and a set of climate change adaptation options there is need to develop a...

Ljubljana field aquifer is recharging through precipitation and the river Sava, which has the snow-rain flow regime. The sediments of the aquifer have high permeability and create fast flow as well as high regeneration of the dynamic reserves of the Ljubljana field groundwater resource. Groundwater recharge is vulnerable to climate change and it is...

Groundwater quality is one of the most important parameters in drinking water supply management. For safe drinking water supply, the quality of groundwater in the water wells on the recharge area has to be controlled. Groundwater quality data will be presented for one test area in the SEE project CC-WaterS (Climate Change and Impacts on Water Suppl...

Ljubljana field is a part of Ljubljana basin in the central part of the country. Mura valley, in the north eastern part of the country, belongs to Mura basin. Both are important "storages" of groundwater and main source of drinking water for more than 380.000 inhabitants. In an unconfined porous Ljubljana field aquifer the thickness exceeds 100 m,...

The main drinking water supply problems are related to the significant change of groundwater quantity and quality observed in the last decades as an effect of land use practices and very likely also climate change. The latter may affect the ability of drinking water suppliers to provide enough water of sufficient quality to the consumers. These top...

Extreme weather events, such as longer dry periods or strong rainfall, have impact on water resources. When the impact is reflected as a deteoration of groundwater quality or decrease of available groundwater quantity, it can be a critical issue for society and economy. The extent of climate change and its impact on water resources was studied on t...

Ljubljana field gravel sandy aquifer is one of the most important alluvial aquifers in Slovenia and is a source of drinking water for almost 300 000 inhabitants. More than 75% of the aquifer lies beneath urbanised and agricultural areas. The water field Jarski prod is situated on the left bank of the Sava River. The groundwater is recharged by more...

Ljubljana field aquifer is the main source of drinking water for Ljubljana. About 35% of the recharge area is used for agriculture, predominantly for intensive vegetable production therefore two lysimeters were built in 1991 at the area of the water pumping station Klece in order to study natural nitrate percolation through the unsaturated zone. Th...

Most of the practical problems that we face today with the on-site management of drinking water sources and distribution of healthy drinking water, originate from past actions, interventions and political decisions. In Ljubljana, the capital of the Republic of Slovenia, underlying groundwater is the main drinking water source. The main threat to dr...

This paper presents the results of the 5th FP project AISUWRS (Assessing and Improving the Sustainability of Urban Water Resources and Systems) which aimed to assess the impact of the urban water infrastructure to underlying or nearby aquifers with the urban water balance modelling approach – a chain of different models that handle with contaminant...

Climate change is our reality and we are certain that it's taking place at global level, but how can we be aware of changes on the regional and local level. Increasing of global average temperature induce modifications in weather patterns also on regional level. In the last decade we have measured more extreme weather events, such as heat waves, ex...

The gravel sandy aquifer of Ljubljansko polje is the source of drinking water for nearly 300.000 inhabitants of the Ljubljana city and vicinity. There are two main waterworks: Klece and Hrastje. The plain area of Ljubljansko polje is a tectonic sink and consists of river sediments that can reach in thickness more than 100 m in the deepest part. The...

The main goal of the study was to compare two methods of structural analysis, based on different principles: an engineering method and the Eraso method. The first one was developed with the intention of studying geotechnical and hydraulic properties on freshly exposed rock surfaces, while the second one is based on microtectonic analysis and is mai...

The purpose of the research was to study the infiltration and migration of health-hazardous human viruses, such as enteroviruses, in the unsaturated zone of fractured and karstified rock, since these rocks present important aquifers in Slovenia. As a pos-sible model for behavior of health-hazardous viruses, we used the salmonella bacte-riophage P22...