Buzhala: Serbia Receives More Than 1.2 Billion m³ of Water Annually from Kosovo, Despite Threats Over the Ibër

Commentator Viktor Buzhala has commented on warnings that Serbia is considering diverting the course of the Ibër River, assessing that such a move would create a precedent that could place Serbia in even more unfavorable circumstances.

In a Facebook post, he compared water flows between Kosovo and Serbia. Buzhala claims that the volume of water flowing from Kosovo into Serbia is significantly greater than the amount entering Kosovo from Serbia through the Ibër.

According to his calculations, the Ibër brings an average of around 350 to 440 million cubic meters of water from Serbia into Kosovo each year.

On the other hand, he says that approximately 1.2 to 1.25 billion cubic meters of water flow from Kosovo’s territory into Serbia each year.

“The Ibër alone, after passing through Kosovo and taking in the Sitnica and other rivers and streams, carries around 950–970 million cubic meters of water to Serbia annually. The Binça Morava adds another approximately 280 million cubic meters per year,” Buzhala wrote.

He said that if Serbia establishes a precedent under which the state in the upper reaches of a river may alter or stop its flow to the state located downstream, it should bear in mind that it is itself in a “downstream” position for several waterways originating in Kosovo.

Buzhala emphasized that, in his view, Kosovo has other options for supplying water to the Kosovo Energy Corporation if potential problems arise with supplies from Ujman.

According to him, around 22 million cubic meters of water per year are needed to operate Kosovo A and Kosovo B. An alternative system with a capacity of one cubic meter per second, he added, could provide around 31.5 million cubic meters of water annually.

According to Buzhala, the Sitnica alone carries around 400 million cubic meters of water per year, so a small portion of that amount could be treated and used to meet KEK’s industrial needs.

“The water could be taken, treated and pumped into a reservoir near KEK or directly into the industrial system,” he wrote.

He also mentioned Batllava Lake as another option, noting that the lake was originally built in part to meet the needs of the thermal power plants. According to him, supplying Batllava with additional water through the Llap system could be considered.

According to Buzhala, these interventions would be far smaller in scale than completely replacing the Ibër system.

In conclusion, he warned that using water as a means of pressure could also have consequences for Serbia.

“Serbia should know that threatening to use water is a two-way game. If you cut off the water coming from your territory, there is a physical possibility that Kosovo could also retain the water originating in its territory,” Buzhala wrote.

According to him, if Belgrade intends to use water as an instrument of political pressure, it should carefully consider its geographical and hydrological position before establishing such a precedent.