## 2 The Geo-Hydrological Framework of the Study Area
The Shkoder lake catchment area covers 5631 km\({}^{2}\), and a percentage of about 81% belongs to the territory of Montenegro, while only the remaining 19% to Albania. Permeable limestone and dolomite occupy around 73% of the basin surface. They are also distributed below the other outcropping rocks, like the impermeable flysch and clastic sediments of the karst depressions with a total thickness over 3000 m [9]. Consequently, this area is characterized by alteration and erosion phenomena, spelogenetic processes, and landscape structures that are distinctive of holokarst areas and includes the most typical forms of karst relief. A karst aquifer is also well developed and is mainly recharged by diffuse infiltration of rainwater (autogenic recharge). The average annual precipitation on the area is relatively high (approximatively 2500 mm/year of which 80-85% of rainfall occurs between November and March [14]) due to its geographical position in relation to the Adriatic Sea and its terrain configuration. Despite that, there is no abundant surface water on this area neither a well-developed hydrographic network [15]. Almost all rainwater infiltrates rapidly into the permeable ground, percolating vertically until the water table, and the surface drainage network is poorly developed (limited to the abovementioned situations), with a small number of local watercourses that flow only in the rainiest period of the year [9]. The Kir River is the widest seasonal watercourse in the study area. It flows roughly from north to south by touching the easternmost neighbourhood of Shkoder and the suburban areas of all the crossed floodplain (just over 1/4 of the total length, which is 43 km). This watercourse has a catchment area of 264 km\({}^{2}\)[16] and a mean annual flow of 18.36 m\({}^{3}\)/s based on data collected from 1948 until 2000 [17]. The annual distribution of flows is closer to the snow and rainfall regime with maximal amounts in winter and early spring and one minimum in late summer (August). At the highest water levels, the Kir River is characterized by a torrential regime, sometimes with turbulent flows that contribute to forming a braided channel with a lot of detrital material in bars of different elongated shapes and sizes. Its direction, partially fixed by local hydraulic interventions, is parallel to the shore of the lake up to its confluence with the Drin River, just upstream of the conjunction with the Buna River (hydrographic node). Therefore, the Shkoder city develops on the southern edge of a flat plain which is bordered on three sides by significant water elements: The lake (west), the mouth of the Buna Rive and the hydrographic node (south), and the Kir River (east). Regarding the microclimate conditions of the entire basin, the temperatures in summer are high (hot and dry days), providing high evaporation, while in winter the temperature is low, rarely going down below freezing point (humid and cold days). Under the Koppen and Geiger classification [18] this particular summer state can be summarized with the _Cfia_ subtype, while generically the Shkoder area is considered with a Mediterranean climate (_Csa_ subtype). This aspect and the achieved degree of geo-hydroological development allow to grow an exceptional aquatic and wetland ecosystem within the Shkoder lake, that currently represents the basis for a series of lasting protection actions and sustainable management plans. In Montenegro, the Lake was classified as a \"National Park\" (IUCN--International Union for Conservation of Nature Management Category II) since 1983, with a surface area of 40,000 ha. In 2005 the Albanian government proclaimed, through a Ministers' Decision, the Albanian part of the Shkoder lake a \"Managed Natural Reserve\" (IUCN Category IV). At the international level, the lake is considered one of the largest European reserves of wading birds and a resting place of migratory birds; for this reason, it was designated an important bird area (IBA) in 1989 [19].