Page 115 - Koderman, Miha, and Vuk Tvrtko Opačić. Eds. 2020. Challenges of tourism development in protected areas of Croatia and Slovenia. Koper, Zagreb: University of Primorska Press, Croatian Geographical Society
P. 115
the importance of protected areas on the slovenian coast for tourism ...
Fig. 4 Average annual discharge (m3/s) of the Rižana River at the Kubed II gauging station
during the 1966–2017 period, with an indication of a trend
Source: Slovenian Environmental Agency, 2019b
and the lagoon) are dynamic areas of interaction between running surface
waters and seawater, a long-term reduction in surface runoff in the area of
Slovene Istria could also have an impact on the geomorphology of flood-
plains at the estuaries of the rivers that formed them. Smaller volumes of
water available for runoff in the future could lead to a reduction in the ca-
pacity of watercourses to transport very fine sediments that are needed to
build the aforementioned floodplains, i.e. the wetlands. This could, in turn,
threaten the dynamic equilibrium of the sedimentation areas in question,
and lead to a situation where the amount of sediments washed into (fur-
ther) the sea is more intense than the amount of material deposited by riv-
ers, which could lead to a reduction in the wetland area.
Given the global rise of air temperature and the related increase of
energy in the atmosphere, the frequency of extreme weather events—
storms—which cause short-lived and very intense discharges along wa-
tercourses, will increase. In such situations, the erosional power of water-
courses increases sharply, which can have a negative impact on protected
areas (i.e. the wetlands) in the form of flooding and increasing amounts
of sediment being washed deep into the sea. This could, of course, neg-
atively affect the future use of the protected areas for tourism purposes.
113
Fig. 4 Average annual discharge (m3/s) of the Rižana River at the Kubed II gauging station
during the 1966–2017 period, with an indication of a trend
Source: Slovenian Environmental Agency, 2019b
and the lagoon) are dynamic areas of interaction between running surface
waters and seawater, a long-term reduction in surface runoff in the area of
Slovene Istria could also have an impact on the geomorphology of flood-
plains at the estuaries of the rivers that formed them. Smaller volumes of
water available for runoff in the future could lead to a reduction in the ca-
pacity of watercourses to transport very fine sediments that are needed to
build the aforementioned floodplains, i.e. the wetlands. This could, in turn,
threaten the dynamic equilibrium of the sedimentation areas in question,
and lead to a situation where the amount of sediments washed into (fur-
ther) the sea is more intense than the amount of material deposited by riv-
ers, which could lead to a reduction in the wetland area.
Given the global rise of air temperature and the related increase of
energy in the atmosphere, the frequency of extreme weather events—
storms—which cause short-lived and very intense discharges along wa-
tercourses, will increase. In such situations, the erosional power of water-
courses increases sharply, which can have a negative impact on protected
areas (i.e. the wetlands) in the form of flooding and increasing amounts
of sediment being washed deep into the sea. This could, of course, neg-
atively affect the future use of the protected areas for tourism purposes.
113
