Original scientific paper
ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES FOR COASTAL UTILITIES MANAGEMENT
Lidija Runko Luttenberger
; Komunalac d.o.o. Opatija
Abstract
As part of the research concerning environmental protection model based on waste and water utility management, appropriate for a transition country such as Croatia, the author has surveyed Croatian utilities operating in water supply and/or sewerage and/or waste management. The results of the survey of municipal utilities in the Republic of Croatia indicate that the costs of maintenance are not sufficiently taken into account when investing, that investments in utility infrastructure are not always the most optimum ones and in function of environmental protection, that major investments are not always indispensable for implementing environmental protection, and that less expensive and more efficient solutions do exist in better organizational setup, that the concept of decentralized sewerage is not sufficiently known, that Croatian Waters are not an entity that utility service companies are quite familiar with, that “polluter pays” principle is not prevailing, that waste treatment close to the site of its production is an ecologically and cost-wise acceptable solution, and that it is inappropriate for private capital to run public service. The author is of the opinion that results of the survey should be taken into account within the context of aligning the municipal utilities sector on the occasion of Croatian accession to the European Union.
Keywords
environment; coastal areas; utilities management; water; waste; utilities infrastructure
Hrčak ID:
62884
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2010.
Visits: 1.636 *