Karst springs of Albania and their management

Albania is situated in the western part of Balkan Peninsula, on the eastern coast of the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea. The karst landscape in Albania co- vers nearly 24% of the countries territory. The to- tal renewable karst water resources represent 80% of the groundwater resources of Albania. Nearly 70–80% of the population of the cities, including the capital Tirana, and other important are cities like Korça, Pogradec, Berat, Vlora and Gjirokastra are supplied by karst water; important resources are used for the production of the electricity, also. The massive use of karst waters in Albania is related to their abundant and mostly very good quality, as well as of the prevailing inexpensive gravity dis- tribution systems and their relatively simple main- tenance. The sustainable management of karst wa- ter resource is difficult due to the high heteroge- neity of karst aquifers in terms of type and deve- lopment of hydraulic porosity, flow velocity, hydra- ulic head, recharge type and quantity, karst water quality, as well as to the high vulnerability to the human impact