Archives of Biological Sciences 2014 Volume 66, Issue 2, Pages: 667-681
https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS1402667S
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Nutrient inputs, trophic status and water management challenges in the transboundary Lake Skadar/Shkodra, western Balkans
Skarbøvik Eva (Bioforsk - Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, Еs, Norway)
Perović A. (University of Montenegro, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Podgorica, Montenegro)
Shumka Spase (Agricultural University of Tirana, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food, Tirana, Albania)
Nagothu Udaya Sekhar (Bioforsk - Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, Еs, Norway)
A transboundary water quality-monitoring program was conducted in 2007-2009
to investigate the trophic status and nutrient budget of Lake Skadar/Shkodra,
which is a large, shallow lake shared by Albania and Montenegro. The
parameters included, amongst others, total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen
(TN), suspended particulate matter, chlorophyll a, phytoplankton,
transparency, temperature and oxygen levels. In addition, hydrological data
were scrutinized. The results show that inputs from the tributaries amounted
to 176 tons of TP and 3 200 tons of TN, with annual area specific loads of
50-70 kg/km2 of TP and 950-1100 kg/km2 of TN. Despite relatively high inputs,
data from the lake indicate that it is presently in a mesotrophic condition,
probably due to its large volume and low water residence time. It is assumed
that water bodies in the Western Balkans are under increased environmental
pressure due to the economic and societal development in the region. In our
study, interactions with stakeholders revealed that this also applies to Lake
Skadar/Shkodra, but at the same time, the stakeholders suggested a number of
mitigation options that can improve the situation. In addition, harmonized
transboundary monitoring and increased data transparency were deemed
important to improve future decision-making.
Keywords: Eutrophication, monitoring, Skadar/Shkodra, Western Balkans, transboundary water management