Land Cover Assessment for Hydrological Analyses of Shkumbini River Basin, in Albania

Shkumbini river basin is one of the seven biggest river basins in Albania, representing a considerable national economic growth potential, mainly related to tourism and industry sectors. However, Shkumbini River basin does not have an appropriate integrated management plan. The analytical work represented in this paper is part of the work performed during the implementation of an integrated management of the water resources model, making use of WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning) system, developed by SEI (Stockholm Environmental Institute) [8]. Though the main purpose of this study was to build a water management model for Shkumbini River, investigating and assessing a set of hydro-ecological and socio-economic scenarios to recognize the fundamental vulnerabilities to climate change between the years 2016-2050. Basin delineation was the initial step for the development of the hydrological model, as a crucial integral part of the Shkumbini WEAP model [2]. Eventually, assessing and processing statistical data related to natural conditions, including land use and land cover (artificial surfaces, agricultural areas, forest and semi natural areas, wetlands, water bodies, etc.) have been vital aspects during the implementation of the first version of the Shkumbini WEAP model. Basically, a reliable assessment of the water body status requires a decent knowledge of the seasonally and annually meteorological and hydrological conditions that continuously change [1]. The final goal of these evaluation was to identify and study the basic water system vulnerabilities with regard to future climate change and development scenarios.