What changed
2026-07-31 17:55 UTC → 2026-08-01 16:44 UTC ·
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In late July 2026, the Trbovlje municipal water utility in Slovenia asked residents to curb garden irrigation, car washing and pool filling, noting that the request was voluntary and The drought that illegal submersible‑pump extraction was being fined. Two days later, Gornji Milanovac began earlier in Serbia imposed a binding ban on irrigation, pool filling, well use and similar activities, with inspections and penalties. The drought’s impact spread the summer continued to tighten water supplies across the Balkans. Record‑low levels in Slovenia’s Balkans through the end of July. In Slovenia, the Mura and Drava rivers triggered a remained near‑record lows, keeping the temporary fishing ban in place and cut limiting hydro‑electric output generation to roughly half of normal. In Croatia, the normal output. Croatia’s Osijek gauge fell to nearly stayed at almost –2 m. m, confirming the severe drop in river levels. Montenegro’s Orahovac source showed still exhibited reduced salinity and was deemed unsuitable for drinking, limiting supply restricting its use to technical uses purposes while authorities worked on repairing a major pipe rupture is being repaired. rupture. In Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the aging infrastructure distribution network caused a loss of about 46 % of treated water in 2024, prompting an sustaining the emergency “two days on, two days off” water‑reduction regime in the Banja Luka. The sequence illustrates Luka area. Serbia’s Gornji Milanovac municipality formalised a shift from advisory conservation in Slovenia to enforceable restrictions in Serbia strict water‑saving order, prohibiting irrigation, pool filling, well use, fire‑hydrant misuse and emergency measures elsewhere other non‑essential consumption, with inspections and penalties until rainfall improves conditions. In North Macedonia, the town of Debar introduced timed supply windows—initially four‑hour, later five‑hour periods—and barred garden watering, pool filling and courtyard washing, citing high summer demand, unpaid bills and illegal connections as drivers of the regional drought persists. shortage.