Freshwater - Why care? (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

The hydrographical territory of Macedonia is a unique natural basin in the Balkan Peninsula and wider area, due to 84 % of the available water being internal waters and only 16 % external. There are four river basins: Vardar, Crn Drim, Strumica, and Juzna Morava. The river basin areas of the River Vardar and River Strumica that flow towards the Aegean Sea cover 86.9 % of the total territory of Macedonia.

There are three major natural lakes: Ohrid, Prespa, and Dojran, all three of which are shared with neighbouring countries. Of the 4 414 springs that exist in the country, only three are located in the area of the middle flow of the Vardar, the others are in the western regions. Only seven springs with very small yields have been registered in the eastern part of the country.

The annual available water resource is about 3 150m³per person, putting the country in the middle category of European countries in terms of available water resources. This quantity is close to the limit threshold of water resources needed for sustainable development.

Water users are irrigation with 44%, then nature (minimum accepted flows) with 31 %, followed by industry with 14 % and drinking water supply for the population and tourists only 11%.

Current and estimated water demand for the year 2020 is presented in Figures 1 and 2.

Demand estimates by river basin for the 2020 are shown in Figure 3.

Total water demand is divided between the river basins: the largest current demands are in the main basin in the country – the Vardar basin, 79 %, then the Crn Drim basin, 12 % and Strumica basin 9 %. Similar assumptions are for the future (Fig.3)