The project is part of the ISPA pre-accession programme for which Croatia qualified after acquiring the status of candidate for European Union membership and which funds projects relating to environmental protection.
The project is worth EUR36 million, of which 22.5 million accounts for non-repayable funds from the ISPA programme, 3.5 million will be earmarked from the national budget, while the remaining 10 million is a loan which Karlovac County has obtained from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The deadline for completion of the project is the end of 2010.
Ratification of the memorandum was supported by all parliamentary parties, which said that water was Croatia's greatest natural resource which needed maximum protection.