Amid Low Rainfall and Scorching Heat, Bosnians Face Dire Water Shortages

Early in the morning, empty canisters, plastic jugs and old bottles are gathered; the journey to the nearest spring begins. With a little luck, cars with lower clearance will be able to climb the mountain roads. Sometimes the journey must continue on foot, and days’ worth of water supplies must be carried by hand. In larger cities, where there are not any accessible springs, there are only a few solutions. Residents can buy water tankers or try to get water from wells. Those who still have cisterns wait for the rain to fill their reservoirs. With over two months without serious rainfall and with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s water supplies are in a critical condition. Thousands are facing days or even weeks of water shortages. Parts of Banja Luka, Tuzla, Bijeljina, Sarajevo, Gorazde, Gacko, Mostar, Berkovici and Siroki Brijeg have been dealing with water supply problems. Laktasi Mayor Miroslav Bojic posted on Facebook a few days ago that the extent of the drought “is best shown by the fish die-off at the confluence of the Turjanica into the Vrbas [River] where there is no water at all! The Turjanica, that’s the river that flooded all the villages in its basin this spring.”