Vanishing Veins of Water
Kosovo is one of the driest countries in the Balkans and Europe. We are a landlocked republic with low rainfall, scarce lakes and few rivers. Yet, we behave towards our water with complete disregard.
Politics prevails in the writings about Kosovo. My own scribbles and tweets included. But covering politics ought not to be only about political parties. It touches us in more ways than the next dinar drama (or demagogues’ dramatics). Opinion polls consistently put economy, healthcare, education on the top of people’s concerns. One can say that the environment and the environmental degradation is also crawling up in the list of worries and fears we have about the future of our country.
I visited Brezovica national park a week or so ago, and saw several small streams of water in the lush green, beautiful setting. Getting closer, a different, uglier picture emerged, one that is all too frequent in our rivers and streams: garbage, plastic bags and bottles, styrofoam, remains big and small from construction materials, clog the river banks. Even in the most isolated valleys of Kosovo, rivers have become polluted beyond recognition or safety for humans.
An older report by the European Commission noted that only about 35% of Kosovo’s rivers are considered to be in good ecological status, highlighting the widespread nature of water pollution. According to the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency (KEPA), water pollution levels in major rivers like the Ibër, Drini, Sitnicë, and Morava e Binçës are extremely concerning. These rivers exceed permissible levels of pollutants, making the water completely unsafe for human consumption and harmful to aquatic ecosystems.
Situation has probably deteriorated now, with very little attention being given to major pollutants such as industrial discharge, municipal wastewater, agricultural runoff and mining activities. Kosovo’s main rivers are “so polluted that water cannot be used as a source of water supply, and in some places even for irrigation,” — was reported in Democratic Institute of Kosovo’s report “The Black Rivers of Kosovo.”
What’s the solution? Experts have put forth many ideas. Important projects are planned. Some solutions are clearly impacted by politics. A brand new water factory and water piping for bigger Prishtina region, as well as smaller water-focused projects worth over 100 million Euro, have been blocked due to EU sanctions against Kurti government. It seems unfair that people have to pay due to government’s gaffe-prone and tone-deaf diplomatic outreach with our key allies, but the reality is that these projects will only be a drop of the water in ocean without a far more systematic and fundamental policies focused on behavioural change, combined with mitigation and cleaning. Change has to start from education and schools, to national recycling strategy, to infrastructure investments.
In the meantime, the photos in this little note of liquid lament, are all water-inspired images taken by Kosovans in the national competition #InstaKosova, which we used to organize annually while I served as Deputy Foreign Minister (2011–2017). Rina Meta led the team behind this little project in public diplomacy.
Another interesting project documenting water and pollution is by photographer Ferdi Limani, called Project Drini. Throughout 2022, Ferdi travelled on foot and canoe to photograph the most important and polluted parts of the 122 kilometer long river in Kosovo and a bit in Albania. Project Drini was funded by a KCSF program co-financed by the SDC, Sweden and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
LINK OF THE ARTICLE AT MY SUBSTACK PAGE HERE.
