Poor wastewater management decisions can have a lasting impact on people, economic activity and the environment. Developed in the frame of the GEF Drin Project, the Wastewater Management Decision Support Tool (WEMDST) is a decision support tool that can assist the planning of new wastewater treatment plants and solutions on catchment or city level. Modelled on the case of Shkodra city, it is designed to help city planners identify environmentally efficient and cost-efficient wastewater treatment solutions.
The WEMDST offers information on the current state of river quality in the Drin river and predicts river quality and indicative investment and operating infrastructure costs for various preset or custom scenarios. It aims to empower key decision-makers to make the right technical and investment choices, to build capacity to ensure sustainable and affordable wastewater related services and to promote the increase in resource recovery from wastewater.
In the process of the development of the WEMDST, an online consultation with local and national-level planners and stakeholders, hosted by the Municipality of Shkodra and GWP-Med, will provide key input to help render the WEMSDT readily usable as a tool for Shkodra Municipality planners.
The WEMDST was developed as part of the pilot project addressing wastewater related issues in the Drin river basin, in the frame of the Global Environment Facility Project “Enabling Transboundary Cooperation and Integrated Water Resources Management in the Extended Drin River Basin” (Drin Project). It is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med). United Nations Economic Commission (UNECE) is a partner in this process.