Inland waterbodies and wetland habitats are extremely important in terms of biodiversity conservation. Thanks to the abundance of water surrounded by karst-hilly terrain, the biological diversity in Vrana Lake in Croatia, Deran Lake in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Skadar Lake in Montenegro is extremely valuable. As exceptional habitats for numerous plant and animal species and areas of special specificity and biodiversity, all three lakes and the surrounding areas have been declared as protected areas - Vrana Lake and Deran Lake as Nature Parks, and Skadar Lake as National Park. SMART-Water intends to improve inland water quality monitoring and inspection procedures through the use of artificial intelligence models and multi-sensor integration with geospatial data. By developing a collaborative web GIS platform, all decision makers for research areas in Croatia,

Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro will be participating. By integrating various data sources and models into a unified platform and promoting joint crossborder cooperation and communication, SMART-Water takes a unique approach. SMART-Water also includes community engagement activities to raise citizen awareness and participation in water quality monitoring and protection.

Main SMART-Water outputs are:

1. Inland water quality monitoring database updated for three research areas

2. Joint activity plan for data collection and processing for inland water quality management

3. Online satellite remote sensing product - AI/ML predictive model for inland water quality

monitoring in near-real-time

4. Web GIS platform with geospatial data at three research areas

5. Guidelines for implementing climate change water monitoring techniques

6. Education for public and training for lake authorities for new monitoring and inspection procedures.

SMART-Water takes a novel approach by combining multiple data sources and models into a unified web GIS platform to provide comprehensive and real-time water quality data. SMART-Water addresses several common water quality challenges in the cross-border region, such as insufficient monitoring and data collection, a lack of stakeholders cooperation and communication, and the need to strengthen water management legislative and regulatory frameworks. SMART-Water will facilitate the exchange of data and information on water quality among the region's countries, allowing them to work effectively together to address the issue of transboundary and interregional water pollution. A variety of socioeconomic and environmental factors that affect the quality and management of water resources are unique to the SMART-Water karst region.