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Environmental flows and demands for sustainable water use in protected karst areas of the Western Balkans

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Abstract

Karst terrains cover some 30% of the Western Balkans, where rich karst aquifers represent the main source of potable water supply and ensure the development of local economies and tourism. In this “classical karst” region, there are also numerous sites or areas under different forms of protection—from those that are included in the UNESCO World Heritage list to natural monuments and landscapes that are protected by national legislation. In and around them are specific representatives of flora and fauna that largely include endemic species. Although the area is relatively rich in surface and groundwater resources, demand for water is permanently increasing as a result of tourism expansion, intensive agriculture and urbanisation especially along the Adriatic Coast. Improper solid waste management and lack of wastewater treatment plants are the main threats to the quality of water and biodiversity. Establishing a proper balance between the extraction of water and its provision to dependant eco-systems is one of the main challenges, and appropriate requests have been included in many recently prepared River Basin Management Plans of concerned countries. Based on collected and evaluated data from 26 selected protected areas and sites located in 6 countries of the region, this study evaluates the situation and pressures on water quantity and quality on existing ecosystems. Some experiences from current legislation imposed in the study area enable to distinguish two main groups of pressure on water quantity and quality: natural (intrinsic) and anthropogenic, each with the three levels of pressure: low, medium and high. The high pressure from water abstraction has been established at six studied protected sites, while high pressure on water quality resulting from human activity is present at nine of them. There is also a discussion about possible measures that could enable further sustainable development of the aquifer systems, and some measures to protect the local ecosystems.

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Notes

  1. *This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

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  1. Centre for Karst Hydrogeology, Department of Hydrogeology, University of Belgrade—Faculty of Mining and Geology, Djušina 7, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Zoran Stevanović & Veljko Marinović

  2. Natural History Museum, Njegoševa 51, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Aleksandra Maran Stevanović

  3. Croatian Waters, Ulica grada Vukovara 220, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Želimir Pekaš

  4. Tirana, Albania

    Romeo Eftimi

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  1. Zoran Stevanović
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  2. Aleksandra Maran Stevanović
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  3. Želimir Pekaš
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  4. Romeo Eftimi
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  5. Veljko Marinović
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Stevanović, Z., Stevanović, A.M., Pekaš, Ž. et al. Environmental flows and demands for sustainable water use in protected karst areas of the Western Balkans. Carbonates Evaporites 37, 3 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-021-00754-1

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