STANJE OKOLIŠA SLOVENSKOG DIJELA JADRANSKOG MORA ENVIRONMENTAL STATE OF THE SLOVENIAN PART OF THE ADRIATIC SEA

Slovenski je dio Jadranskoga mora njegov najsjeverniji dio koji obuhvaća oko 200 km2 i dio je širega Tršćanskog zaljeva. Slovenska obala prostire se na 47 km uglavnom strme, abrazijske obale od lapora i pješčenjaka. Niska akumulacijska obala nalazi se samo kod ušća vodenih tokova i čini manji dio, a najmanji dio pripada vapnenačkoj abrazijskoj obali. Kopneni obalni pojas uglavnom je brežuljkast i reljefno jako raščlanjen, a zaravni se nalaze u manjoj mjeri samo u donjim dijelovima riječnih dolina. Slovensko more ulazi u kopno s dva veća zaljeva, Koparskim i Piranskim, pa je stoga veoma plitko. Prosječna dubina je oko 18 m, a najveća je kod piranskog rta Madona. Dno mora većim je dijelom pokriveno sedimentima koji su posljedica abrazije strmih stjenovitih obala i akumulacije riječnih nanosa. Zbog plitkosti more je izloženo velikim temperaturnim kolebanjima, a zbog dotjecanja slatke vode i promjenama saliniteta vode. Kretanje morske vode u najvećoj je mjeri posljedica morske mijene i vjetrova, poglavito bure, koja značajno utječe na vertikalno kruženje vode. Strujanje je slabo i promjenljiva smjera. Erozijom zemlje i površinskim dotjecanjem oborina, vodenim tokovima i neposrednim ispuštanjem otpadnih voda u slovensko more dotječu mnogobrojne hranjive tvari. Posljedica je spomenutih obilježja velika pokrajinska osjetljivost ekosustava obalnoga mora. More se ljeti intenzivno ugrije i uz slabo kruženje vode česte su pojave nedostatka kisika u dubljim slojevima vode, intenzivnog rasta algi i cvjetanja, što upućuje na premašen kapacitet samočišćenja (asimilacijski) morskog ekosustava. Glavni su izvori zagađenja obalni gradovi Kopar, Izola, Piran i Portorož, nautički turizam s marinama, pomorski promet te lučka aktivnost Luke Kopar. Zbog ljudskih aktivnosti još uvijek se povećavaju pritisci na morski ekosustav, i na kopnu, i na moru, unatoč pojedinim mjerama smanjenja onečišćenja. Slovensko je obalno more, prema ocjeni Mediteranskog akcijskog plana (UNEP-MAP), zbog svojih oceanografskih značajki i utjecaja gospodarske djelatnosti, uvršteno među najosjetljivije i ugrožene dijelove Sredozemlja. Stanje okoliša slovenskoga dijela Jadranskoga mora nastojalo se predočiti pomoću modela DPSIR, odnosno dopunjenoga Integralnoga geografskog modela proučavanja okoliša i njegovih komponenti. Ključne riječi: stanje okoliša, pokrajinska osjetljivost, faktori opterećenja, zagađivanje, Tršćanski zaljev, Jadransko more, Slovenija

Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea is its most northern part which occupies approximately 200 km 2 and is a part of the wider Gulf of Trieste.Slovenian coast consists of 47 kilometers of mostly steep, abrasive marl and sandstone coast.Low accumulation coast is located only at the mouths of the watercourses and represents but a smaller portion, whereas the smallest part is occupied by the limestone abrasion coast.Mainland coastal region is mostly hillside and has a very diverse relief, while plains, in smaller numbers, are located only in the lower parts of the river valleys.Slovenian sea indents the mainland by two larger gulfs: the Gulf of Koper and of Piran and is predominately very shallow.The average depth is around 18 m and the largest depth is 38 m at the Madona cape near Piran.Sea bottom is mostly covered by the thick layer of sediments deposited after the abrasion of the steep cliff coast and by the accumulation of the river alluvium.Due to its shallowness the sea is exposed to high temperature fluctuations and due to the fresh water influx also to the changes of its salinity.
The circulation of the sea water is mainly induced by the tide and wind activities, mostly the Bora (strong north-easterly wind) which significantly influences the vertical circulation of the water.Water current is weak and unstable.There is a large influx of nutrients into the Slovenian sea, resulting from the soil erosion, surface water influx, watercourses and direct emissions of waste waters into the sea.The consequence of the mentioned sea characteristics is a great landscape sensitivity of the coastal sea ecosystem.During summer the sea warms

Introduction
Seas are nowadays regarded as very sensitive landscape ecosystems which is especially true for smaller, more closed or delimited marine environments, such as the Mediterranean Sea and its part, the Adriatic Sea.Burdening the water resources due to human activities is rising steeply in the world which is the consequence of the ever growing demands for water, the increase of the quantity of the waste waters (household and economic) and pollution of the environment.At the same time the self-cleaning capacities of the environment are decreasing because of the intervention into the sea and its joining mainland (water and river basins).
Self-cleaning is one of the most important natural sea processes, since it enables to maintain a certain quality of the water upon considerate (balanced) level of anthropogenic usage.The consequence of the growing burdening of the environment and the diminishing of its self-cleaning capabilities is the degradation of the maritime environments, reflected in lower water quality, poorer biotic diversity, lower productivity and the dying out of the living spaces.We are also witnessing many negative human influences on the coastal sea ecosystem in the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea.Humans interfered with the coastal area in the past breaking into the belt where sea and land join, by saltworks and the construction of coastal settlements with ports.Through time human interventions have spread to practically all coastal land and sea.No more than 25% of the natural coast has been preserved while the remaining percentage of the coast has been subject to more or less intensive changes (OkOlje na dlani, 2007).The density of population in the coastal area is extremely above the average with regard to Slovenian circumstances.Beside dense population there are also numerous intensely and when accompanied by the weak water circulation, we are often witnessing the lack of oxygen in the deeper layers of the water, intensive algae growth and sea blooming, which points to exceeded self-cleaning (assimilation) capacities of the marine ecosystem.
The major polluters are the coastal towns of: Koper, Izola, Piran and Portorož, nautical tourism with marines, naval traffic and the port activity of the Luka Koper.The pressures on the marine ecosystem due to the human activities are still increasing, both on the mainland and in the sea, despite some measures to reduce the pollution.According to the assessment of the Mediterranean action plan (UNEP-MAP), Slovenian coastal sea is, due to its oceanographic characteristics and the economic activities influence, ranked among the most sensitive and endangered parts of the Mediterranean.Environmental state of the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea will try to be presented through the DPSIR model or the amended Integral Model of Geographical Study of the Environment and its Components.

Research methods
Environmental state of the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea will try to be presented through the DPSIR model and the Integral Model of Geographical Study of the Environment and its Components (Plut, 2004).Methodological approaches for the preparation of the reports on the state of the environment in the EU region are deriving from the sustainability model and the study of the development and safeguarding aspects of the sustainable development.Studies of the European environment assign a lot of attention to the development of integral environment impact assessment methodologies (IEA) and the system of environmental indices for monitoring the state of the environment.At the end of the 90's the DPSIR (Driving forces, Pressures, State, Impact, Responses) has been established as a model for the study of the environment from the point of view of sustainable territorial development, designed as a system of causal relations.The driving forces are socio-economic factors and activities which cause the increase or limitation of the pressures on the environment, namely the population increase, economic growth, urbanization and intensification of farming.They are reflected in the emissions of pollutants and other burdens or pressures.The consequence of the pressures is the state of the environment and its components, present state and development of the phenomena in the environment (pollution of the environmental components, change of biotic diversity, availability of the natural resources and other).The effects of the altered environment state on the health of the people and living creatures have impact, and responses are the answers of the society regarding the environmental u razumijevanju uzročno-posljedičnih veza i odnosa u okolišu koji utječu jedni na druge.Oni nam omogućuju: 1. procjenu stanja i težnji u okolišu; 2. utvrđivanje uzroka i izvora pritisaka na okoliš; 3. određivanje temeljnih okolišnih problema te područja i načina rješavanja (euROPe ' s enviROnment, 1995.).
The Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia prepared the selection of the environmental indices as early as 2003, which are the basis for reporting and informing the Slovenian public on the state of the environment.The selection of the indices derives from the DPSIR model approach and has been adapted to Slovenian circumstances where required by the specific conditions (kazalci OkOlja 2003, 2004).In the amended Environment indices 2005 report, the driving forces were represented by 11 indices, burdens by 16, state by 14, impacts by 9 and responses by 9. Altogether 59 indices are included, which extend over the following fields: Nature, sea, waters, air, climatic changes, waste and material flow, energy, agriculture, traffic, industry, tourism and environmental policies instruments.Sea indices are comprised of 5 indices, namely 1 for the burdening (pollution from the ships), 3 for state Slika 1. Modelni pristup DPSIR Figure 1 DPSIR model approach Izvor / Source: kazalci OkOlja, 2005, 2006.specifične osobine komponenti okoliša koje u velikoj mjeri utječu na kapacitete samočišćenja okoliša.Naime, osobine komponenti okoliša značajno utječu na način na koji će okoliš odgovoriti na pritiske, odnosno opterećenja i time utječu na stanje okoliša.Integralni geografski model istraživanja okoliša i njegovih komponenti (Plut, 2004.)također uzima u obzir specifične osobine i posebnosti komponenti okoliša s indikatorima osjetljivosti.U istraživanju vodenih resursa kod osjetljivosti mora navedeni su volumen, plitkost i morske struje.
Plitkost je jedna od osnovnih osobina Tršćanskoga zaljeva pa i slovenskoga dijela mora, dubina kojega u prosjeku iznosi 18,7 m, 97% dubina ne prelazi 25 m, 60% mora pliće je od 15 m, a 40% mora pliće je od 10 m (navtični vOdnik slOvenskega mORja in Obale, 2005.).Maksimalna izmjerena dubina u slovenskom moru, poznata također pod nazivom "podvodni Triglav", manji je bazen ovalna oblika, koji se nalazi 300 m sjeverozapadno od rta Madona u Piranu i proteže se do dubine od 38 m.Uz rtove morske su struje jače i ometaju odlaganje sedimenata, zbog čega je more dublje.Na taj (sea level, chlorophyll level in the coastal sea and oxygen in the bottom layer) and 1 for the impacts (quality of the bathing water in the coastal sea) (kazalci OkOlja 2005OkOlja , 2006)).The disadvantage of the presented approach lies in the fact that specific characteristics of environment components which significantly impact the self-cleaning capabilities of the environment are not considered.Namely, environment components characteristics have a strong impact on the way the environment reacts to pressures or burdens and thus impact on the state of the environment.Integral Model of Geographical Study of the Environment and its Components (Plut, 2004) considers also the specific characteristics and particularities of the environment components with sensitivity indices.With respect to the sensitivity of the sea, the water resources studies state: volume, shallowness and circulation.
Landscape sensitivity of the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea will be presented considering the indices of the presented model approaches with reasonable amendments.The sea sensitivity will be pointed out by analysing physical-geographical features of the Slovenian part of the Adriatic.
The state of quality will be summarized according to the National monitoring of the sea quality which is mostly done by the Marine biological station in Piran and the major burdening factors and burdens or pressures to the marine ecosystem will be set out in the following.Some more important measures for reducing the burdens and protecting the sea already realized will be presented too.

Geographical characteristics and impact on the landscape sensitivity of the Slovenian part of the sea
Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea spans approximately 200 km 2 or one third of the Gulf of Trieste, a part of which it is.It consists of the mostly coastal sea between the Muggia and Savudrija peninsulas.It indents the mainland by two larger gulfs: The Gulf of Koper and of Piran, and two smaller: The Gulf of Strunjan and of Portorož.Slovenian coast, from the Gulf of Sv.Jernej on the border with Italy to the mouth of the river Dragonja on the border with Croatia, is 46.6 kilometers long.
Za slovenski dio Tršćanskoga zaljeva znakovita su velika temperaturna kolebanja.Mjerenje temperature mora redovito se obavlja na mareografskoj postaji u Kopru i na oceanografskoj boji u Piranskom zaljevu.Godišnje temperature morske vode kreću se od približno 8 °C u siječnju i veljači, do 26 °C u kolovozu.Prosječna godišnja temperatura mora iznosila je 16,1 °C u razdoblju 1960.-2006.i bila je za 3,5 °C viša od srednje temperature zraka (Fatorić, 2009.).Jaka bura faktor je koji bitno smanjuje temperaturu morske vode i zimi i ljeti.Ona istiskuje površinsku vodu od obale i s kompenzacijskom strujom na površinu dolazi dubinska voda.Prosječna površinska slanost Jadranskoga mora iznosi 38,3‰, a uz povećan pritok slatke vode slanost se ljeti smanji do 30‰.Zimi kada je dotok slatke riječne vode manji, slanost se poveća, a vrijednosti su u svim dubinama konstantne. of the currents are closely tied to the momentary weather situation.Their speed and direction are influenced by the strong winds, and the entire water column is influenced also by the tide.The main sea current flows from Istria towards north with the average speed of approximately 0.8 knots (1.5 km/h) and returns along the Italian coast with the speed of 0.5 knots (0.9 km/h) (Plut, 2000).Before the Savudrija peninsula the current splits into two legs, one proceeds towards north to the Italian coast, where the majority of the water masses continues its path along the Italian coast towards west, and the second proceeds from the Savudrija peninsula towards northeast and enters the Gulf of Trieste along the Slovenian coast.Due to its shallowness it is manifested as a surface current which turns upon reaching the coast and connects to the current by the river Soča mouth (navtični vOdnik slOvenskega mORja in Obale, 2005).Opposite to currents, tide impacts in the Slovenian part of the Gulf of Trieste are stronger than elsewhere in the Adriatic.Tide is most prominent in the coastal region and, coupled with strong winds, can entice major changes in the distribution of the water masses, which also impacts the currents.The largest difference between the high and the low tide exceeds 180 cm (RichteR, 2005).The mareographic station Koper has regularly registered sea level changes since 1958, with the fixed mareographic "0" at 200 cm on the tide gauge.The average sea level in the 1960-2006 period was 217 cm, the lowest annual level was 211 cm and the highest average annual level was 223 cm (Fatorić, 2009).In the time of high sea levels which surpass 300 cm, there are also sea floods on the Slovenian coast and Piran is the most floods endangered coastal town in Slovenia.The area exposed to regular yearly floods extends over 220 hectares, the largest part of it lies within the saltpans of Strunjan and Sečovlje, while the extreme floods extend over 600 hectares of the lands (kOlega, 2010).The highest recorded sea level reached 395 cm in 1969, and there were 1 to 17 floods recorded in the individual years (MBS aRchive).
High temperature fluctuations are typical of the Slovenian part of the Gulf of Trieste.Regular measurements of the sea temperatures take place at the Mareographic station in Koper and on the oceanographic buoy in the Gulf of Piran.Annual temperatures of the sea water range from 8 °C in January and February to 26 °C in August.The average annual sea temperature in the 1960-2006 period was 16.1 °C and was 3.5 °C higher of the average air temperature (Fatorić, 2009).Factor that strongly lowers the sea water temperature, both in Slanost i površinska temperatura mora usko su povezane s gustoćom morske vode.Najniže su vrijednosti ljeti oko 1022 kg/m 3 , a zimi one najveće dosegnu i do 1030 kg/m 3 .Te ekstremne vrijednosti karakteristične su upravo za sjeverni Jadran (navtični vOdnik slOvenskega mORja in Obale, 2005.).

Water quality of the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea
The program of constant monitoring of the coastal sea quality has been taking place uninterruptedly since 1989 and is a component of the national sea monitoring which takes place within the activities of the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia which is a part of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.
Monitoring is conducted by Marine Biological Station Piran (National Institute for Biology, University of Ljubljana) and Institute of Public Health Koper.They monitor mainland sources of pollution (emissions of communal and industrial waste waters, quality of the water at the mouths of the watercourses), quality of the water at the bathing resorts and shell cultivation areas, trophic status of the sea and the quality of the coastal sea (PROgRam vaRstva OkOlja za slOvenskO istRO, 2001).
Activities within the regular annual monitoring on national level and monitoring of the quality of the coastal sea waters for the purposes of Barcelona convention are taking place at the measuring and sampling locations showed in the Fig. 3.The measuring points 000K, 00MA and 0024, which are located close to the coast, make feasible the monitoring of the coastal sea quality.The point 00TM is located in the Koper marina, and the points 00RI, 00BA, 00DN and 00DR are sample points located at the mouths of water streams.Measuring points 00KB, 00IA, 00DE and 00PA monitor the discharges from the treatment plants, and the points 00PO and 00IO monitor the underwater discharges.The point 00CZ, which is Sadržaj klorofila prati se kao indikator prekomjerne opterećenosti vode hranjivim tvarima, i to ljeti, od svibnja do rujna, kada je primarna proizvodnja fitoplanktona najveća.Sadržaj klorofila u ljetnom razdoblju dobar je indikator unosa hranjivih tvari iz ljudske djelatnosti, jer su prirodni unosi zbog manje količine oborina zanemarivi.Efekti su prekomjerne opterećenosti vode različiti.Ako je more opterećeno hranjivim tvarima, mogu se pojaviti štetna cvjetanja fitoplanktona i cvjetanja algi, koji uzrokuju promjenu boje vode; često dolazi i do pridnenog nedostatka kisika, karakterističan je pomor bentoskih organizama te divlje i uzgojene ribe.
Opterećenje hranjivim tvarima također dovodi do pojavljivanja toksičnih algi, stvaranja sluzavih located farthest from the coast, makes feasible the monitoring of the sea quality in the Gulf of Trieste.
Location 000F represents the comparison values for the entire Slovenian marine port aquatorium with the purpose of the several years set of data (OkOlje v slOveniji 2002,2006).The program monitors ecological and chemical state of the coastal and territorial sea and gives assessments on reaching environmental goals for water body of the surface waters.Sea quality is regularly determined by sampling and analyses of water, sediments and flesh of the sea organisms.
An important index of the ecological state of the sea is also the quantity of the oxygen in the deep water, which has been systematically monitored in the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea since the 90s of the past century.Because of the reserve and shallowness of the sea and the stratification of the water, the quantity of the dissolved oxygen in the deeper layers of water substantially reduces during the period from late summer to autumn.Extreme lack of oxygen in the Gulf of Trieste in the years 1974, 1983, 1987 and 1990
Procjena opterećenja područja iz izvora onečišćenja pokazuje da u obalnom području the gulf (depth 22 m), where the lowest value in 1995 was 0.29 ml/l.At the measuring spot in the southwest part the quantities of dissolved oxygen in the bottom layer (depth 24 m) were under 2 μg/l only in the years 1989and 1990(kazalci OkOlja 2005, 2006)).Trophic index (TRIX) is a synthesis index of the burdening of the water, considering the quantities of the nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll, oxygen saturation and transparency.In the 2005 the values of the trophic index were between 4.5 and 6 which is a sign of moderately eutrophic waters.Chemical state of the water for the year 2005 was assessed as good; also adequate was the quality of the water for the existence of sea shells and snails (OkOlje na dlani, 2007).
Quality index of the bathing waters of the coastal sea gives us an insight into the microbiological and physical-chemical quality of the water.Monitoring of the bathing waters of the Slovenian coastal sea until 2003 included 32 measuring locations and since 2004 the hygienic adequacy of the 6 bathing waters areas and 13 natural bathing areas is regularly being monitored according to the requirements of the Bathing Waters Directive.Overall quality state of the bathing waters in the period from 1996 to 2003 can be described as good since most of the water samples had suited the physical-chemical requirements and 72-90% of all the samples were microbiologically adequate.Data after 2004 is not comparable to previous data due to the changed methodology, but the quality of the bathing waters was also good in the years 2004and 2005(kazalci OkOlja 2005, 2006)).In the year 2006 the quality of the bathing waters at all 19 locations was in accordance with the obligatory requirements, 16 bathing waters even corresponded to more strict recommended requirements (OkOlje na dlani, 2007).
Assessment of the burdening of the area due to the polluting sources shows that there are predominately mainland burdening impacts in the coastal area (agriculture, tourism, urban areas, industry) and cross border impacts in the open sea area (rivers Po and Soča) and impacts of the naval transport.Burdening impacts deriving from the mainland are less pronounced in the open sea area (PROgRam sPRemljanja ekOlOŠkega in kemijskega stanja mORja, 2007).
The main source of the coastal sea pollution are communal waste waters which are being wasted into the sea partially purified or even not purified and bring nutrients, toxic organic and inorganic material, microorganisms and undissolved particles.Waste waters significantly contribute to the eutrophication of the sea and endanger the human health and the sanitary quality of the sea (PROgRam vaRstva OkOlja za slOvenskO istRO, 2001).In the past years there has been an daily influx of 1680 m 3 of partly purified or not purified waste waters into the coastal sea, the majority into the Gulf of Koper.Due to the tourist activities the quantity of the waste waters during the summer months increased dramatically.During the years 2001-2006 there was an annual average of 146 tons of nitrogen, 22 tons of phosphorus and 581 tons of suspended particles admitted into the sea by the sewage treatment plant "Koper" (MBS aRchive).
A great potential threat for the pollution of the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea is represented by the naval transport and fuel leakage.The 2009 annual transshipment in the port of Luka Koper surpassed 13 million tons, while at its highest in 2008 it amounted to 16 million tons (luka kOPeR, 2010) and the port activity alone, with departures and arrivals of the ships, ship supply, transshipment of the goods and discharge of ballast waters, represents a great threat for the pollution of the sea.But there is also the threat of the accidental spills and leakage.The Gulf of Trieste is namely daily traversed by a large number of ships whose target or ports of origin are on the Italian coast of the Gulf of Trieste (Trieste, Monfalcone, Venice).In the port of Koper the cargo of petroleum products in the year 2005 amounted to 1.9 million tons and to 37 million tons in the port of Trieste (tRObec, 2007).In the years 1977 to 2004 656 pollutions were recorded, of this 47% of the oil pollutions.The highest number of pollutions was recorded in the years 1997 to 2001, when there were around 50 pollutions annually, most in the year 1998.The causer was known in 29% of the pollution cases (kazalci OkOlja 2005OkOlja , 2006)).Potential sources of oil pollution of the sea are the tourist vessels, fishing boats and recreation boats and vessels.In the Koper, Izola and Portorož marinas there are 1370 berths in the sea, additional vessels in the town ports and there are daily over 100 recreation vessels in the Slovenian sea during the tourist season.

Measures for reduction of the burdening of the environment
Among the most important measures for reducing sea burdening with communal waste waters one must mention the upgrade of the communal infrastructure and purifying of the waste waters.The conditions were radically improved in the 2009, when renovated and upgraded sewage treatment plant "Koper", where most of the waste waters of the urban area of Koper and Izola are admitted, started the trial operation.The capacity of the new sewage treatment plant amounts to 84.500 PE.The data on its efficiency show significantly lesser pollution of the sea in comparison with the past.The discharge from the new treatment plant, compared to the discharge from the old treatment tvari i ostalih onečišćujućih tvari koje u more donose vodeni tokovi, bit će potrebno širenje kanalizacijske mreže i odvođenje otpadnih voda iz bližih suburbanih naselja koja su se u zadnje vrijeme povećala izgradnjom većeg broja individualnih kuća.
The renovation of the sewage treatment plant in Piran will also be finished in the following years which will significantly reduce the burdening of the Slovenian sea by the communal waste waters on the most important tourist area of the Slovenian coast.By efficient tertiary treatment of the waste waters from the densely populated urban areas where there is also the majority of the economic sources of waste waters, the influx of nutrients into the sea will reduce significantly.In order to reduce the influx of nutrients and other pollutants which are admitted into the sea by watercourses, an expansion of the sewerage network and drainage of the waste waters from the nearby suburban settlements, which have vastly increased by the construction of individual housing during the last years, will be necessary.
Drainage and treatment of waste waters remains unresolved in the hillside mainland where dispersed settlement is predominant.Smaller sewage treatment plants were constructed only in the settlements which are located in the influential area of the water resources for drinking water supply.Some of the industrial sources of waste water emissions also have their own waste water treatment plants.Due to the global economic circumstances some of the once big and employment wise important companies went broke or are reducing their activities, the fact that has influenced both the water consumption and the emission of the waste waters and burdening of the sea (Cimos, Tomos, Mehano, Delamaris, Droga etc.).There are further changes coming in the future, such as chemical industry in Koper and waste dumps.The existing ones in Koper, Izola and Piran were regulated in accordance with the requirements but waste management for the future has not been resolved.
An important measure for the maintaining of natural or less changed areas of the coastal region is protection.There have been some important areas protected in the past, such as Regional Park Sečoveljske soline, Regional Park Strunjan and national monuments: Cape Madona, the lakes in Fiesa, Posidonia Oceanica meadow near Žusterna, Sv.Nikolaj and Debeli rtič.Most recently, Škocnjanski zatok natural reserve was founded.It was almost totally degraded in the past due to the port activity (sea silt waste) and influx of the polluted water.By gradual revitalizing,

Concluding thoughts
The assimilation capabilities of the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea cannot be influenced on and great landscape sensitivity of the coastal sea ecosystem, conditioned by the natural causes is a constant to which the use of space must adapt to, with all the possible negative impacts and burdens.Natural influx of nutrients and suspended particles into the coastal sea, which is conditioned by the rock formation of the coastal area and geomorphologic processes, will also be present in the future, thus it is even more important to reduce the anthropogenic influx of material into the sea.Maintaining natural coast with coastal vegetation is very important since it works as a protective area which reduces the influx of mainland pollutants into the sea.Intensive farming areas with vineyards, fruit and vegetable plantations are mostly located in the flat lower parts of the valleys and on gentle slopes near the coast.Once cultivated terraced slopes and ridges in the mainland are mostly in the process of being overgrown.Due to the regulations in the lower parts of the courses the watercourses were mainly transformed into drainage canals and their self-cleaning capabilities are greatly reduced.Waste water, released into their riverbeds, thus burdens the sea much more.By building sewage systems and sewage treatment plants, the burdening of the sea deriving from the urban areas will without doubt reduce, but the growth of the mainland settlements will require new constructions.The main source of the burdening of the environment and the sea remains the land and sea transport which is increasing.Due to the growth of Luka Koper turnover, the burdening of road and railway network with cargo transport is increasing.With the planned construction of the passenger terminal and the development of the port, there will be further increase of the transport.Due to the development of the port activity (3 rd pier), new land properties for construction of buildings and infrastructure will be needed and it will cause additional burdening of the environment.Due to the daily migrations of the employees each day the coastal towns are facing marikultura i turizam.Zbog urbanizacije obale, intervencija u obalnom moru i regulacije vodotoka, asimilacijski kapacitet okruženja za ljudske zahvate znatno je smanjen, a zabilježeno je i zagađenje vodotoka i mora.Opterećenje mora hranjivim tvarima, cvjetanjem i nakupinama sluzi pokazuje da opterećenje okoliša povremeno premašuje sposobnosti asimilacije.To su polazišta na kojima bi trebao temeljiti prostorni razvoj područja.Do sada su u prvom planu uglavnom bile kurativne mjere za ograničenje opterećenja mora, uključujući pročišćavanje komunalnih otpadnih voda na kanalizacijskim postrojenjima, gospodarenje otpadom, mjere u Luci Koper za smanjenje negativnih utjecaja na okoliš, sanitarne i ekološke mjere u poduzećima, i slično.Zaštita prirodnih vrijednosti i područja jedna je od najvažnijih mjera za trajno održavanje prirodnog slovenskog mora i obale što je, zahvaljujući istaknutim antropogenim promjenama većine područja, od velike važnosti.traffic jams and the shortage of parking lots, and the circumstances are drastically degraded during the summer when the tourists stays and tourist transit traffic increase.By growing marine capacities, burdening of the sea has substantially increased and daily visits of the bathers at the anchorages are also endangering the protected areas of the Slovenian coast.Denser naval transport increases the chances of accidents and related pollutions which could have severe negative consequences for the natural environment and economic activities, such as fishing, mariculture and tourism.Due to the urbanization of the coast, interventions into the coastal sea and the regulation of watercourses, the assimilation capabilities of the environment for human interventions have been substantially reduced and the pollution of watercourses and the sea has been recorded.Burdening of the sea by the nutrients, blooming and excrete mucus show that burdening of the environment occasionally exceeds the assimilation capabilities.These are the starting points on which the sustainable spatial development of the area should be based upon.Up to now, mostly curative measures for limiting the burdening of the sea have been in the foreground, including the treatment of the communal waste waters at the sewage treatment plants, waste management, measures in Luka Koper to reduce the negative impacts on the environment, ecological sanitations in companies, etc. Protecting natural values and areas is one of the most important measures for permanent maintenance of the natural Slovenian sea and coast environment which has, due to the very prominent anthropogenic transformation of the majority of the area, a very great importance.
vOdnik slOvenskega mORja in Obale, 2005).The largest measured depth in the Slovenian sea, also called the "underwater Triglav" is a smaller oval shaped basin, which is located 300 m northwest of the Madona cape in Piran and is 38 m deep.Sea currents along the capes are stronger and obstruct the sedimentation, thus the sea is deeper.The mentioned basin is supposed to have been formed in that way (Orožen adamič, 2002).Sea bottom consists mostly of flysch, partly limestone and river alluvium sediments.Waters from the mainland bring large quantities of clayey and clay-silt sediments into the Slovenian coastal sea (RichteR, 2005), and this strongly impacts the transparency or muddiness of the sea water.The average visibility is between 6 m and 8 m and rarely surpasses 10 m (Rejec bRancelj, 2003).In comparison with the rest of the Adriatic Sea the surface sea currents in the northern Adriatic and thus also in the Slovenian part of the sea are substantially weaker.Due to the shallowness of the Gulf of Trieste, the direction and the speed Slika 2. Slovenski dio Jadranskoga mora s područjem uz vodu Figure 2 Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea with its waterbasin Izvor / Source: mOje tvOje mORje, 2002.
caused the death of benthic organisms in the various extents of the central part of the gulf.Southwestern part of the gulf has better conditions and there was no critical lack of oxygen in the depths below 20 meters.Data from two measuring spots in the central and southwest part of the Slovenian sea for the period from May to November, during the years 1989-2006 show, that only occasional biologically critical low values under 2 ml/l were recorded.Low values were more frequent at the bottom layer in the central part of ocijenjeno kao dobro, a odgovarajuća je bila i kakvoća vode za život morskih školjki i puževa (OkOlje na dlani, 2007.).OkOlja, 2005OkOlja,  , 2006..).U 2006. godini na svih 19 lokacija kakvoća vode za kupanje bila je u skladu s obvezujućim zahtjevima, dok je 16 uzoraka vode za kupanje zadovoljavalo i strože, preporučene zahtjeve (OkOlje na dlani, 2007.).