World Water Day, which we celebrate every year on March 22, was established by the United Nations in 1993 to raise awareness of the importance of water to our lives and the need for its sustainable use. Around 71% of our planet is made up of water, but only 2.5% of it is freshwater, of which only 1% is available for use. Water is not evenly distributed across the globe, leaving almost 2.2 billion people without access to safe drinking water today. Climate change and steady population growth further increase the water crisis and require urgent action.

The theme of this year’s celebrations is Water and Gender. It highlights the harsh realities of daily life, as water scarcity and lack of sanitation disproportionately affect women and girls, especially in many regions where poverty, gender inequality, and water scarcity are closely linked. Without safe water, sanitation and hygiene close to home, women and girls bear a heavier burden than men and boys. In eight out of ten households facing water scarcity, women and girls are responsible for collecting water.  They care for people made sick by unsafe water. They lose time, health, safety, and opportunities. And, they are often left out of decision-making. Furthermore, access to safe sanitation is essential for women’s health.

This makes the global water crisis a women’s crisis.

It’s time to centre women and girls in water solutions – not only as users, but as leaders, engineers, farmers, scientists, caregivers and changemakers. Because when women and girls are empowered to play their full role alongside men and boys, everyone thrives.

That’s why this year’s campaign is called ‘Where water flows, equality grows’.

Water plays a particularly important role in the Plitvice Lakes National Park. It creates tufa barriers, waterfalls and lakes, is a habitat for numerous plants and animals, and serves to supply drinking water and other human needs. That is why every year, on World Water Day, we also remind ourselves of the need to protect and conserve freshwater ecosystems. We have also used this opportunity for many years to inform eighth-graders from local elementary schools about the waters in our park, the problems associated with freshwater and the theme of World Water Day through presentations and workshops.

Slike: Radionice u OŠ dr. Franje Tuđmana i Oš Slunj

Objava World Water Day – Water and Gender pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

World Water Day, which we celebrate every year on March 22, was established by the United Nations in 1993 to raise awareness of the importance of water to our lives and the need for its sustainable use. The theme of this year’s celebrations is “Water for Peace”.

Unfortunately, this vital resource is still not available to everyone. Although around 71% of our planet is made up of water, only 2.5% of it is freshwater, of which only 1% is available for use. Water is not evenly distributed across the globe, leaving almost 2.2 billion people without access to safe drinking water today. Climate change and steady population growth further increase the water crisis and require urgent action.

Water has always been able to create peace, but also to cause conflicts between nations and states. Very often, water bodies have formed natural borders between countries. The Plitvice Lakes are another example of such a division, as the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy used to pass through Lake Kozjak, which can be seen on Wagner’s map from 1770. Even today, more than 3 billion people around the world depend on water that crosses national borders. Of the 153 countries that share rivers, lakes and aquifers with their neighbors, only 24 countries have cooperation agreements for their shared water.

Water plays a particularly important role in the Plitvice Lakes National Park. It creates tufa barriers, waterfalls and lakes, is a habitat for numerous plants and animals, and serves to supply drinking water and other human needs. Today, the water of Plitvice Lakes connects people with each other and with nature.

This year, we will also celebrate World Water Day by educating the eighth-grade students of Plitvička Jezera Elementary School and Dr. Franjo Tuđman Elementary School about the importance of water and the need to protect it, and we have organized another opportunity for all visitors, residents and employees of the Park to celebrate the day. From March 21 to April 12, an international ceramic exhibition entitled “Water – the liquid of life” was set up in the winter garden of the Hotel Jezero, the design of which was inspired by water in all its manifestations.

Objava World Water Day – Water for Peace! pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

Every year on March 22, we celebrate World Water Day and remember that while water is a vital resource, it is unfortunately still not available to all.

World Water Day was established in 1992 at the initiative of the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of water to our lives and the need for its sustainable use. This year, the UN 2023 Water Conference will also be held from March 22-24, with many countries joining forces to try to solve the water crisis. Although about 70% of our planet is water, only 2.5% of it is freshwater, of which only 1% is available for use. Water is not evenly distributed across the globe, leaving nearly 2.5 billion people without access to safe drinking water today. Therefore, the theme of this year’s celebration calls us to accelerate change and that each of us must do our small part to achieve the changes we want to see in the world in terms of conserving water and ensuring its availability to all.

On this day, each of us should reflect on how we are doing in this time of water crisis. Do we just stand by and observe what is happening around us, or do we act as we can? Many will say that our individual efforts are small and insignificant, but the actions we all take can ultimately help solve the water crisis. See the pages https://www.unwater.org/bethechange/ to see what everyday actions we can take to do our part.

Water in Plitvice Lakes National Park

In Plitvice Lakes National Park, water plays a particularly important role. It creates tufa barriers, waterfalls and lakes, provides a home for numerous plants and animals, and serves drinking water and other human needs.

To ensure the richness of our waters in the Park in the future, but also on a global scale, every drop of water is important and every smallest activity we do to preserve it.

Dobriša Cesarić: Waterfall

It flows and flows, flows the waterfall

Does my little drop make any difference at all?

Look, a rainbow appears in it

And in a thousand colours it appears shivering and lit!

That dream lighted up in the waterfall

And my drop helped to weave it all.

(translated by Toni Šimundža)

One of the drops that help weave the waterfall is educating others about the importance of water and the need to conserve it. Therefore, this year we will also hold workshops on this topic with eighth grade students from Plitvička Jezera Elementary School and Dr. Eugen Kvaternik Elementary School.

Objava World Water Day – accelerating change! pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

The theme of World Water Day 2022 is groundwater

It is the water we find underground, in aquifers – geological formations of rocks, sand and gravel that hold substantial quantities of water. Aquifers are recharged with water mainly from rain and snowfall infiltrating the ground. Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere. Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater, supporting drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farming, industry and ecosystems.

Groundwater is being over-used in many areas, where more water is abstracted from aquifers than is recharged by rain and snow. Continuous over-use leads eventually to depletion of the resource. In other places, we do not know how much groundwater lies beneath our feet, which means we could be failing to harness a potentially vital water resource. Groundwater is polluted in some areas. As the remediation of such water is a long, difficult and financially demanding process, it increases the cost of processing groundwater, and sometimes even prevents its use. What we do on the surface matters underground. We must only put harmless, biodegradable products on the soil and use water as efficiently as possible.  One of the key messages of the World Water Day campaign is that groundwater must be thoroughly explored, analyzed and monitored.

Groundwater in the Plitvice Lakes National Park

Groundwater plays a particularly important role in the Plitvice Lakes National Park. It dissolves the limestone underground and then creates tufa barriers, waterfalls and lakes on the surface. Therefore, on the occasion of World Water Day, we have prepared educational texts, posters and a short film about how this invisible treasure becomes visible in our National Park. Traditionally, we will also hold workshops with eighth graders from local elementary schools about the importance of water and the need to protect it, with a special focus on groundwater.

We hope that all of this will help protect our groundwater so that we can preserve it for future generations.

Objava World Water Day! Groundwater: making the invisible visible pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".