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What is Watershed Integrity? How is the Watershed Integrity in the Western Balkans? How does the IWI apply to my community? How can we Use the IWI to Manage River and Lake Basins? (Kosovo)
Citation:
Aho, K., J. Zambrana, AND A. Lan. What is Watershed Integrity? How is the Watershed Integrity in the Western Balkans? How does the IWI apply to my community? How can we Use the IWI to Manage River and Lake Basins? (Kosovo). Sub-Regional Drina and Drini Workshops, Boge, N/A, KOSOVO, May 14 - 15, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
The Regional Environmental Center of Central and Eastern Europe was established by the United States and European Commission in 1990. WED is adapting the Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) for Building Local Community Resilience for the Sustainable Development of Watersheds in South Eastern Europe project (CRESSIDA, more info at http://www.rec.org/project-detail.php?id=30). The EPA’s Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) is used to visualize stress to natural watershed infrastructure that provides services to society. As a living laboratory, the Western Balkan IWI (W.B. IWI) pilots the use of local stressors (e.g., cattle density). Since the W.B. IWI covers a significantly smaller area than the U.S. analysis, we are able to apply it to 6 countries. As a conclusion to CRESSIDA, Sub-Regional Workshops on May 8-9 in Montenegro and May 14-15 in Kosovo will gather approximately 40 municipal officials and local community representatives from six beneficiary countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo (this designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence), Montenegro, and Serbia. The local communities will share their project results and the EPA will share the W.B. IWI results. Kelsey Aho will present the following topics at the workshops: What is Watershed Integrity? How is the Watershed Integrity in the Western Balkans? How does the IWI apply to my community? and How can we Use the IWI to Manage River and Lake Basins? This work will also contribute to SSWR 3.01B (Assess, Map, and Predict the Integrity, Resilience, and Recovery Potential of the Nation’s Water Resources) by providing a case study of how the IWI is being used in actual management applications.
Description:
The Regional Environmental Center of Central and Eastern Europe was established by the United States and European Commission in 1990. WED is adapting the Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) for Building Local Community Resilience for the Sustainable Development of Watersheds in South Eastern Europe project (CRESSIDA, more info at http://www.rec.org/project-detail.php?id=30). Characterized spatially by the boundaries of river and lake basins, the EPA’s Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) is used to visualize the downstream accumulation and attenuation of stress to natural watershed infrastructure that provides services to society. The IWI is based on six functions that watersheds with high integrity are hypothesized to provide: hydrologic regulation, regulation of water chemistry, sediment regulation, hydrologic connectivity, temperature regulation, and habitat provision. To assess the integrity of these six component functions, the IWI considers the occurrence of stressors, or risk factors (e.g., agricultural land cover, road-stream intersections, impervious surfaces). As a living laboratory, the Western Balkan IWI (W.B. IWI) pilots the use of local stressors (e.g., cattle density). As a conclusion to CRESSIDA, Sub-Regional Workshops on May 8-9 in Montenegro and May 14-15 in Kosovo will gather approximately 40 municipal officials and local community representatives from six beneficiary countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. The W.B. IWI results and management applications will be shared with the partner communities during the four following sessions: What is Watershed Integrity? How is the Watershed Integrity in the Western Balkans? How does the IWI apply to my community? and How can we Use the IWI to Manage River and Lake Basins?