Proposals for the Protection of Water Resources in the Prespa Lake Basin, Greece

Year 2016, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 26 - 37, 11.01.2016

Romanos – Vasileios Aravıadıs

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the region of Prespa in northwestern Greece, a disadvantaged mountainous region, whose natural environment is protected by numerous international treaties (Ramsar, Natura 2000) and which depends heavily on its surface water resources for most of its socio-economical activities. The study area’s primary surface water bodies are the trans-border lakes Small and Great Prespa, which, over the years, have witnessed a decline in both the quality and the quantity of their waters. Therefore, the paper’s main objectives are to investigate the pressures that the water resources are under and to propose ways to counteract the current negative quantity and quality trends. The research methods employed in the present research include: review of relevant literature and the implementation of a set of methodological tools, namely SWOT Analysis, Stakeholder Analysis and the Logical Framework Approach (LFA). The literature review showed that activities of the primary sector are responsible for the largest percentage of water use in the study area, agriculture being the top consumer of water. Therefore, the paper discusses new irrigation-related technologies, aimed at achieving higher water efficiency and lower levels of agrochemical pollution of the aquifer. The implementation of the methodological tools results in an overall schematization of the factors that can affect water resources in the study area and in probable policy making axes. The research concludes, among others, that the region can exploit several developmental and financial programs in order to achieve the goals of enhancing water quality and quantity and achieving sustainable economic development.

Keywords

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