RIVER CHERAVA WATERSHED:
STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT

Oliver Avramoski, ALLCOOP, Macedonia

The people in the Cherava River watershed face many challenges for managing natural resources in a socially acceptable, environmentally sustainable and economically efficient manner. To achieve sustainable development in the watershed it is necessary to understand the environment, how people use it, and what impact that use has on their own livelihoods and on the livelihoods of others. They have to recognize the links between different parts of the environment and the need to manage it in an integrated way. Moreover, it means thinking more broadly than just of the value of natural resources but must also include social and developmental needs, not only of the people living in the watershed but also of their neighbors and the wider community in the Lake Ohrid region.

Water uses and pressures on the water resources

Water is a vital factor for the socio-economic development of the Cherava River watershed. Water is fundamental for health, food production and industry. Unfortunately, the water situation in Cherava River watershed is generally difficult because water resources are scarce, unevenly distributed, used by a wide range of users and not managed in an integrated manner. In general, there are not sufficient data on the quality and quantity of available surface or ground waters or water use. There are no hydrologic stations, on either the Albanian side nor the Macedonian side of the Cherava River watershed. For example, the data on the average discharge of Cherava River are only estimation based on hydrological observations in the region and on morphometric data about the catchment area. There is no regular monitoring system for the Cherava River and its tributaries, though some data are available from recent scientific studies of the Hydrobiological Institute (HIO) in Ohrid, Macedonia (1996 through 1998 - only for the Macedonian part) and the Lake Ohrid Monitoring Program (LOMP) of the joint Albanian/Macedonian Lake Ohrid Conservation Project. In the frame of the LOMP, starting in 2000 through 2002, in monthly intervals, the following parameters were measured for the water samples from Cherava River and Lake Ohrid, near its mouth: dissolved oxygen, dissolved biodegradable organic mater, total phosphorus (see Figure 1), and total nitrogen. The content of some heavy metals was also measured in the river as well as in the littoral zone around the mouth of Cherava River (see Table 1).

Most of the population in the Albanian part of the watershed is connected to local public water supply systems, though in some villages (e.g. Dardhas, Stropcka, Peshkepi) up to 60% of the households rely on individual water supply systems such as standposts and wells. In the Albanian part of the watershed the local governments do not have sufficient money to maintain and improve the infrastructure for which they are responsible. The existing water-supply network, however, needs to be rehabilitated as most of the infrastructure is underdeveloped and obsolete and has been poorly maintained or was damaged during the 1991- 1992 civil unrest. On average pipes now 30 years old and made of cast iron are corroded. All public water supply networks rely on spring water that is either not disinfected or disinfected irregularly and unevenly. The intermittent water service and the lack of proper treatment increase the risks of contamination in the supply pipes by external biological, chemical or microbial agents. Villagers often dig their own wells without any monitoring of the water quality or regard to standards of sanitation.

The problem of untreated sewage is critical throughout the watershed. Because of the economic crisis, the waste-water collection and treatment infrastructure has not been developed quickly enough to cope with the increasing flow of discharged sewage. Water resources are relatively clean in their upper course, but they rapidly worsen in their middle and lower courses, mainly because of the untreated waste-water discharged from the human settlements, but also because of agriculture and industry (particularly mining). Some parts of the Cherava River have been turned into de facto sewers. On the Macedonian part of the watershed the two car camping areas have built portable waste-water treatment facilities (biodiscks), however due to poor maintenance they are currently damaged and inoperative. Most of the households in Macedonia and some in Albania have septic tanks for collection of the domestic waste waters. However, most of them are failing because of improper construction (stony, porous wall) or poor maintenance. Though the hotel complex at Saint Naum has a relatively suitable septic tank, the sludge is improperly and illegally disposed of in the watershed, usually near or into the Cherava River.

Tailings sitting on the banks of the Cherava River near the mine of Dardhas

The mining industry in the Albanian part of the watershed was an important source of pollution of water (and also of soil and air) due to outdated and inefficient processes, lack of sufficient abatement and treatment techniques and inappropriate waste handling. Poor regulation of mining and industrial effluents render the waters inappropriate for irrigation. The content of metallic ions (Fe, Mn, Cu) or acidic compounds in the irrigation water was never fully assessed, though the studies in 1980s showed high acidification of the soils on the Albanian part of the watershed. However, because of the economic decline and the collapse of industrial output, pollution from mining activities has drastically diminished and currently is not considered a priority concern. However, the abandoned sites are still sources of pollution due to the presence of toxic wastes.  Resources to clean them up are not currently available. 

Inadequate sewerage provision and lack of waste-water treatment have a detrimental effect on the water quality and the livelihoods of the people in the watershed. The degradation of water quality in rivers affects underlying aquifers, and the risk is particularly high in the karstic zones in the watershed, where the surface water penetrates quickly in the ground through fissures and then feeds the aquifers without being filtered by layers of soil. The rapidly deteriorating water quality is also affecting the development of tourism, particularly on the Macedonian side of the watershed.  Due to high phosphorus concentrations (up to 76 μg L-1) and despite the moderate discharge of the river, the Cherava River each year brings about 1.27 tons of phosphorus to Lake Ohrid, causing serious eutrophication in the littoral area near its mouth. According to measurements of chlorophyll concentrations taking in 1999-2000 the zone around the mouth of Cherava River is mesotrophic. The impact on Lake Ohrid by the tourist facilities in the Macedonian part of the watershed is also significant, particularly during the summer season when many tourists greatly increase the flow of untreated waste-water into the river and the lake.