Giving the Drava River Room to Move Again

Decades of regulation — bank revetments, groynes and a deepening riverbed — cut the Drava off from its side arms and floodplain. Side channels dried out and became overgrown, the gravel and sand habitats used by species such as the little tern and sand martin shrank, and the river had less room to absorb high water.

Rather than holding the river in place, the project set out to “re-dynamise” it: buying land for restoration, removing barriers, reconnecting old side arms and digging new initial channels the river could then shape itself. The work was designed to serve several EU directives at once — water, floods, birds and habitats — across Natura 2000 sites. Within the formal project, works were completed at two locations: at Donja Dubrava–Legrad two side arms (1.9 km and 2.3 km) were restored, and at Novačka a 1.3 km side arm was reconnected and a new 1.2 km channel excavated.

The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) reported in March 2026 that the project restored and created about 9 km of side channels, excavated more than 150,000 m³ of sediment and restored 320 hectares of floodplain habitat. The project’s own ecosystem assessment reports smaller sediment volumes for the two locations completed within the project period, so the EU figure may include works prepared under it; we cite CINEA’s figure as stated. The project’s planned scope was also larger than what was delivered: restoration was completed at only two of its locations. The formal LIFE project has ended, but restoration developed through it has continued: the Stara Drava side channel near Varaždin, built on DRAVA LIFE designs, opened in May 2026.