Geography
The Republic of Slovenia (Slovenia), a European country with a total area of 20,271 SqKm, ranks 154th among the largest countries in the World. It lies between latitudes 45° and 47°N and longitudes 13° and 17° E and is the convergence point for four major European geographical regions: the Alps, the Dinarides, the Pannonian Plain, and the Mediterranean. Outside the coastal region, Slovenia’s terrain consists of plateaus and ridges, Alpine peaks, narrow sub-Alpine valleys, and alluvial floodplains in the central, north-eastern and south-eastern part of Slovenia.

Population and land use
The population of Slovenia is 2.1 million as per Population Reference Bureau (2019). The population density is 103.1 inhabitants per Sq.Km. The agricultural area is 4,946 Sq.Km. (23.7% of the territory) while forests uptake 11,823 Sq.Km. (58.3% of the territory), making it one of the most forested countries in Europe.

Climate and rainfall
The largest part of the territory is mountainous terrain with a continental climate. The exceptions are Slovene Littoral with a sub-Mediterranean climate and the Julian Alps in the northwest, which has an Alpine climate. Central and northern parts have a continental “cool summer” climate. The eastern part has warm summers. Monthly summer precipitation in the cool belt is more than 80 mm, and the high temperatures average 23°C, although there are frequent hot spells. In the east and northeast of the country, there is much less rainfall and temperatures in the height of summer are over 21°C. From November to February temperatures drop below freezing, but the snow cover melts quickly. The precipitation peak is located in the western mountainous part of the country and exceeds 3,000 mm, the rainfall there is abundant, ranging from 1,000 mm to 1,500 mm per year in the plains and hills, while only 900 mm are observed on the plains in the northeast. Climate change causes strong warming in summer and spring, which is almost twice as high as the trend observed in neighbouring countries. Together with decrease in winter precipitation, it is expected to result in drier agricultural soils in Slovenia.

Food and agriculture
The total area of agricultural land has decreased in recent decades due to urbanization and natural afforestation. Fifty-eight percent of the utilized agricultural area is permanent grassland, 37% arable land, 3% vineyards, while 2% is represented as orchards and olive groves. The five most important arable crops are corn, wheat, spelt, barley and triticale. The five main fruit crops are apples, olives, walnuts, peaches and cherries. There is a long tradition of hop production, which accounts for 2.7% of world hop production. Livestock farming predominantly focuses raising cattle (for both meat and dairy products), pigs and poultry.

Irrigation and drainage
The irrigation area amounts to 6,673 ha (1.4% of the utilized agricultural area). In 2019, about half of the area equipped for irrigation was used, for which 3.2 Mm3 of irrigation water was consumed. The largest part of it, 73%, came from accumulations, 11% from groundwater, 10% from running waters and 6% from the public water supply system and other sources. More than half of the irrigated area (64%) consisted of arable land and gardens, 17% of orchards, olive groves and nurseries, 8% of sports fields, 7% was snow making on ski slopes and only 4% of greenhouses, vineyards and meadows. All irrigation systems are pressurised. A large part of the development in the irrigation sector is currently dedicated to the construction of new and modernisation of existing irrigation systems and, importantly, the introduction of a public irrigation decision support system. The latter provides daily irrigation advice to farmers in order to increase the efficiency of water and energy consumption and reduce CO2 emissions in response to climate change adaptation and mitigation. The drainage systems were implemented on approximately 74,000 ha in the period 1969-1999. Most are maintained at the level of primary and secondary open channels, while tertiary drainage needs to be replaced. For the maintenance of the open drainage ditches, nature-based solutions are applied wherever possible.

Water resources
Slovenia is abundant in natural water resources. On average, the territory receives about 1,600 mm of precipitation annually and more than half, 850 mm, runs off into the rivers. The rivers Sava, Kolpa, Mura and Drava drain the water from 81% of the territory toward the Black Sea, while the rest is discharged to the Adriatic Sea, mostly by the rivers So'a and Reka. The steep topography leads to rapid runoff and indirectly to high infiltration rates. The density of the river flow network may locally exceed 3.0 Km/Km2. However, more than 40% of the landscape is karstic, where hardly any surface water is present. Approximately 10% of the total runoff is available through dynamic groundwater storage in alluvial and karstic aquifers. Groundwater is the most important source of drinking water in the country.

Water policies
The Environmental Protection Act and the Water Act include the implementation of regulations to control water pollution from point and diffuse sources from different economic activities (agriculture, industry, sewerage systems). It sets out the principles of (i) control by State bodies, local authorities and polluters, (ii) liability for pollution and damage, and (iii) public access to relevant information. Although the majority of groundwater bodies are in good state, in many parts of the country they are threatened by both point and diffuse pollution due to human activity.

ICID and National Committee
Slovenia joined ICID in 1992 and formed its national committee Slovenian National Committee - ICID (SINCID). Late Dr. B. Mati'i' was Vice President of ICID from 1994-1997. The 6th ICID International Drainage was held in April 1996 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.