Daglas Koraca will outline the involvement of all three projects in the Intereg Italy Croatia programme:  Watercare, Asteris and AdSWiM are projects that are related at the level of theme, purpose and general benefit to a wider community and they will be realized through the implementation of activities and project goals aimed at protecting the water and improving the living conditions of the coastal population.

The ASTERIS project (project name comes from selected letters from the longer project name Adaptation to Saltwater inTrusion in sEa level RIse Scenarios) has a total budget of EUR 1,026,244.20, of which EUR 156,419.20 for METRIS and the leading partner is the University of Urbino " Carlo Bo ". During the two-year project period, METRIS will be tasked, among other activities, with developing a map of the sensitivity to seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers at the macro-regional level (Adriatic), based on future scenarios of sea level rise and the hydrological cycle. Also, best practices will be defined and a clear guidance will be given to the management of vulnerable aquifers through the conduct of analyzes in Italy and Croatia.

The AdSWiM project (Managed use of treated urban wastewater for the quality of the Adriatic Sea) has a total budget of EUR 2,035,703.13, of which EUR 66,887.50 for METRIS and the leading partner is the University of Udine (UNIUD). During the project, METRIS will conduct analyzes of chemical and microbial contaminants for two years at off-site and selected wastewater treatment plants; as well as it will develop innovative methods for the analysis of the above mentioned pollution and improvement of the wastewater treatment system. The ultimate goal is to preserve and improve the quality of seawater in chemical and microbiological terms and to preserve the ecological status of the Adriatic Sea.

The WATERCARE project (Water Management Solutions for Reducing Microbial Environment Impact on Coastal Areas) with a total budget of EUR 2,833,019.40 in two and a half years, of which EUR 206,559.40 are for METRIS activities and the National Research Council leading partner - Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR). The aim of the project is the realization of a pilot plant that treats wastewater emissions at precipitation load in order to reduce microbial contamination of the environment of the Adriatic area, which is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as evidenced by numerous studies. Heavy rains cause significant floods of rivers and environmental impacts are great. One of the major consequences is a decrease in bathing water quality due to fecal contamination that originates from local sewage systems and local agriculture. The project will develop an integrated water quality system (WQIS) that will correlate meteorological events and the response of the drainage system to the microbiological impact of wastewater on bathing water.