From a total of 201 potential sites, in the initial screening phase of the project, through a detailed and comprehensive selection process, the expert team made a choice of twenty sites with high potential for building small irrigation systems.

The initial list of 201 locations, spread throughout the country, was compiled according comprehensive data from various official sources: Action Plan 2015 – 2025 of the Water Management Directorate at Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy (MAFWE), Study of Small Reservoirs from 1984, from MAFWE, Feasibility Studies for Irrigation Locations 2017, municipal plans data, interviews with representatives of water management sector, interviews with municipal representatives, as well as field visits. You can read more about potential locations at the following link.

From the total number of locations, in the following project stage, through advanced more rigorous set of criteria, 85 potential locations entered the pre-selection phase. When selecting these sites, consideration was given to: potential irrigation areas to be of less than 300 hectares spread in one or more villages, but all in one municipality; the irrigation system is not part of a large hydro-melioration system; a sufficiently critical mass of farmers (over 50 percent) at the location chosen can take responsibility for managing the irrigation system; socio-economic factors: number of farmers, income per hectare, unemployment and migration rates, as well as equal distribution of locations throughout the country.

The pre-selection process continued with twenty-four technical field visits and more than twenty meetings with farmers from different locations. From the field data collected, the final selection of twenty sites with potential for the construction small-scale irrigation schemes was made: Zajas and Kolibari (Southwest Region), Slavishko Pole, Dovezence – Jance – Klechovce and Konopica (Northeast Region), dams Mavrovica and Pishica (Eastern Region), dams Selemli, Chausica, Konche 1 and 3, as well as Gradishte, Drazhevo and Vasilevo-Dobrejci (Southeast Region), K36 and Dabnichka river (Vardar Region), Suvodolsko, Gabalavci and Desovo (Pelagonija Region), and Tearce and Banjicko Pole (Polog Region).

For these locations the project will prepare pre-feasibility studies, based on which the final 6-8 locations will be selected, for which the project will, in its further implementation, prepare feasibility studies, projects and tender dossiers.