Journal of Geography and Earth Sciences

Water Balance and Water Loss Implications in Badovc Lake, Kosovo
Skender Bublaku S, Arjan Beqiraj

Abstract
This paper aims to evaluate the water balance and possible water losses for Badovc Lake – Kosovo based on the hydrological monitoring made during the year 2014. A decrease of 1,000,000 m³of the lake physical volume, due to the sedimentation on the lake bottom, was revealed by the recent bathymetric survey which found that the current maximum volume (corresponding to height 649.75 mabove sea level (a.s.l)) of the Lake is 25,590,000 m³. The average annual rainfall of the basin was 860.7 mm, whereas the overall water inflow into the Lake was 22,577,663 m³. The annual amount of the calculated evaporation from the Lake surface was 849,535 m³ (or 644.50 mm), while an annual infiltration rate of 94,608 m³ through the clay screen was reported. A quantity of 10,550,615 m³ water was abstracted from the lake during 2014. A residual water volume of 11,082,905 was evaluated considering the above cited inflow and outflow quantities (22,577,663 m³ and 11,494,758 m³, respectively). On the other hand, the positive volume (7,344,000 m³) of the Lake in 2014, calculated according to water level variations, was3, 682, 905 m³ less than the above residual water volume. This difference between the above water volumes is considered as “water loss” from the Lake and it represents about 17% of the total volume of Lake, or 35% of its current water abstraction. This water loss from the lake was attributed to water infiltration through cracks that involved geological formations of the lake bottom and beneath its dam, possibly towards the nearest Hajvalia mine.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jges.v3n1a5