World Water Day 2021: Valuing Water
World Water Day, 22 March 2021, is about what water means to people, its true value and how we can better protect this vital resource | Author Pixabay
The theme of World Water Day 2021 is aimed at raising awareness of the global water crisis, the lack of clean water, of what water means to us, and how important it is for each individual and the local environment.
Pursuant to the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, everyone has the right to drinking water; moreover, water resources are a public good, and serve on a priority and sustainable basis to provide the drinking and domestic water supply for the population. Slovenia is relatively rich in water resources and ranks among the water-rich countries in terms of quantity. The territory of Slovenia mainly (81%) belongs to the Black Sea basin, and a smaller part (19%) belongs to the Adriatic Sea basin. 7,000 water sources are recorded in the water register. There are a lot of water sources in the Alpine world; however, there are only a few bigger ones in the Karst region. It is mainly the groundwater from water sources that is used for the supply of drinking water.
Slovenia is increasing its investment activity with regard to water. In the 2021-2027 period, it will allocate twice as much funding from the Cohesion Fund, the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Water Fund, for this purpose. The Ministry of the Environment is implementing these measures together with the municipalities, in order to ensure optimal and sustainable solutions adapted to the local environment.
The sustainable development goal is "to improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping, and minimising the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally by 2030." Progress towards this goal will inter alia help to achieve the goals of sustainable development in other areas. The use of wastewater offers various opportunities. Sound wastewater management ensures an affordable and sustainable source of water, energy, nutrients, and other reusable substances. The benefits for human health, economic development, and environmental sustainability outweigh the costs of wastewater management, which gives new business opportunities and creates more green jobs.