Skadar Lake

The shores of Lake Shkoder, the largest on the Balkan Peninsula, are entirely protected areas and Ramsar wetlands. This body of water, divided between Albania and Montenegro, used to be part of the Adriatic Sea, but now it is completely fresh.

The length is 43 km.
The maximum width is 26 km, but on average it is much smaller due to the winding shape of the coastline.
The area is 475 km2.
The maximum depth is 44 m.
The average depth is 6 m.
The coastline is 168 km long.

The amazing and most valuable reservoir of the Balkans, Lake Skadar, or Lake Shkoder, was formed in a huge tectonic depression about 2.5 million years ago or even earlier. There is debate about its exact age in scientific circles, but it is quite obvious that the reservoir is so ancient that its shores are overgrown with reeds and other aquatic vegetation and look more like a swamp.

Lake Skadar is separated from the Adriatic Sea, whose bay used to be Lake Skadar, by an alluvial isthmus that has been washed over many thousands of years. Due to the fact that the lake is constantly replenished with fresh waters from the rivers Moraca, Crnojevica and several other tributaries, atmospheric and groundwater, and also has a flow into the Buna River, Shkoder today has a completely different water composition than its "parent" – the Adriatic. Another hydrological feature of the reservoir are the so–called "eyes" - depressions in the bottom part, from which springs spring. There are about 30 such "eyes" in Lake Skadar, the largest of them, Radus, is the lowest point of the bottom. The height of the water column above it is 60 meters.

Lake Shkoder has an interesting shape in the form of a ship or a dolphin with its nose turned towards Albania. Somewhere along the central line of the lake is the state border between the two countries. Moreover, Montenegro, a very young state, owns 110 kilometers of coastline out of 168. Even the capital of this country, Podgorica, is located near the reservoir.

By dividing the lake into two parts, both states shared the mutual responsibility for the preservation of its resources. So, in 1983, in the then united Union of Serbia and Montenegro, a huge national park was created, the area of which reached 40 thousand hectares of wetlands. Many rare bird species nest here, on the low marshy northern shores, not far from the Dinaric Highlands massif. During spring floods, when the level of the Shkoder mirror rises significantly, almost the entire northeastern coast is flooded, creating an excellent habitat for waterfowl. Particularly important bird nesting and fish spawning sites have been identified in the national park – 5 ornithological and several ichthyological reserves. The Albanian side allocated 23,000 hectares for protected areas in 2005.

Valuable macrophytes of the lake have also come under close attention: water walnut (chilim), white water lilies, reed and reed beds, and fauna ranging from zooplankton to higher forms of wildlife.

The Great Balkan reservoir and its shores, which are swampy meadows, have become home to 26 species of birds, the most common of which are the great and small cormorants, as well as various representatives of the ichthyofauna. Representatives of the carp, salmon, and herring families make up the bulk of the fishery. Fishing generally plays an extremely important role in the economy of this region, perhaps second only to tourism (on the shores of Lake Skadasi, there are monuments of medieval architecture among the picturesque landscapes). And both types of activities — tourism and fishing — are highly dependent on the quality of lake waters.

Shkoder is considered a biogenetic reserve of pan-European importance. The geographically and ecologically diverse area of the lake is home to so many species of flora and fauna that many European organizations monitor its condition. I must say, close attention is rewarded. Now the Skadar reservoir and the rivers of its basin are in fairly good condition. This is partly due to the fact that the water in the lake completely changes in 2-3 years, and the coastal countries are forced to comply with the standards of the European space and keep the sewage treatment plants in working order. However, this does not guarantee complete ecological safety for the lake, because not only direct runoff worsens the ecosystem of the reservoir. It is noteworthy that the karst rocks that predominate in this region contribute to the pollution of groundwater entering the lake, and it is much more difficult to deal with such a danger. In addition, in both countries, the process of their own disposal of solid waste is just getting better, which in the recent past fell directly into the rivers of the Shkoder basin.

However, the situation in the Ramsar lands of Lake Skadar has been improving significantly recently. In 2008, Montenegro and Albania signed an agreement on joint actions to protect Shkoder. A year later, a special commission was established to monitor the main biological indicators of the reservoir and its surroundings, as well as the rational development of tourism and water resources management. The two countries still have a lot of work to do to stabilize the ecosystem of Lake Skadar, because many indicators of this reservoir change from year to year, and for various reasons, the countries cannot ensure constant and complete monitoring of all surface and groundwater that the lake is replenished with.