Abstract
Among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in the 2030 Agenda, goals 6.3, regarding clean water and improve of water quality, and 6.5, regarding integrated water resources management, highlight the need for the implementation of successful environmental water quality monitoring programs of transboundary river waterbodies. In the present study, the designation of high priority areas for water quality monitoring of Drin transboundary watershed is performed using a suitability model, a GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA) approach that takes into consideration the most important conditioning factors that impose pressures on rivers. Based on the results, the methodological approach used manages to sufficiently delimit the areas with increased need for water quality monitoring in the Drin watershed, and the validation procedure produces a correlation coefficient of 0.454 (statistically significant at a 0.01 level). Limitations arise in the case of a lack of detailed information or inaccurate input data and due to the inconsistency among the input data and the different methodological approaches regarding the information collection of each country involved. These restrictions foreground the need for cooperation between the countries involved regarding the exchange of scientific knowledge and common legislation, so as to achieve integrated, effective, and sustainable management of water resources of the area.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
The Drin river basin is shared among five countries: Albania (39%), Kosovo (This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.) (23%), Montenegro (21%), North Macedonia (15%), and Greece (2%) (Figure 1)
It should be noted that mental protection, Goal 6.6 aims to protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including a high suitability score does not necessarily imply water quality degradation, since an rivers, and to monitor progress, while the sub-indicators of 6.6.1 dictate the need for water quality monitoring of rivers [5]
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in 2015 by the United. Nations (UN) and established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, aiming to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all people [1]. In 2017, the SDGs’ targets were followed by 231 unique indicators developed by the global indicator framework for SDGs and adopted by the General Assembly of the UN [2]. SDGs succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to complete what the latter did not achieve and focused on and reconciled all aspects and dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental [1]. Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, New York, NY, USA, 13–15 August 2012.
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