Success and sustainability of nutrient pollution reduction in the Danube River Basin: recovery and future protection of the Black Sea Northwest shelf

2021 ◽  
pp. 41-59
Author(s):  
A. Kovacs ◽  
I. Zavadsky
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Black Sea ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Pollution Reduction ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Nutrient Pollution ◽  
The Danube River ◽  
Danube River Basin

The environmental programme for the Danube River Basin

1994 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Rodda
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Danube River ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Regional Approach ◽  
The Danube River ◽  
Danube River Basin

The Programme has the objective of providing a regional approach to environmental management in the Danube River Basin where there is great pressure from a diverse range of human activities. Serious pollution problems exist from urban populations, from industry, and from intensive agricultural practices. Although the water quality of the main Danube river is probably better than the Rhine because of its greater flow, the same is not the case in the tributaries where there the problems are more serious. A factor which makes a compelling case for a regional approach is the deterioration of the Black Sea into which the main Danube river discharges significant loads of nutrients and a range of non-degradable contaminants. The application of limited financial resources will require fine judgement about the high priority pollution sources that will lead to cost-effective improvements. This action, and other technical assistance, also requires a considerable effort to strengthen the organisations having responsibility for environmental management, and to develop effective public participation. The paper emphasises the water pollution problems in the river basin.

Identification of nitrate sources, hot spots, and dilution in the Danube River Basin using a multitracer approach

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Halder ◽  
Yuliya Vystavna ◽  
Cedric Douence ◽  
Christian Resch ◽  
Roman Gruber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Main Stream ◽  
Water Quality Data ◽  
The Danube River ◽  
Danube River Basin

<p>The Danube is Europe`s second longest river, stretching from Germany to the Black Sea. Water quality in the Danube River Basin is regularly monitored by the national authorities of all riparian countries and in addition for specific water quality data during the Joint Danube Surveys (JSD), which is organised by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River every 6 years.</p><p>This study presents the results of water stable isotopes and stable isotopes (<sup>15</sup>N and <sup>18</sup>O) of nitrate as well as major ion analysis from 3 JDS (2001, 2007, 2019). Results indicate that water stable isotopes allow to trace differences in the amount of snowmelt contribution to the Danube and hence the dilution effects of pollutants e.g. nitrate. The oxygen and nitrogen isotope compositions of nitrate are clearly indicating that nitrate in the Danube main stream mainly derives from waste water effluents, which input is increasing along the stream. This can furthermore be confirmed by results of micropollutant studies that demonstrate an increase of widely consumed pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, diclofenac and caffeine) at different sections of the Danube River affected by tributary inflows and discharge from urban settlements.</p><p>In summary, this study is an example of combining isotope techniques, hydrological methods but also emerging compounds in order to approach the fate of anthropogenically derived nitrate within the Danube Basin. The results of this study aim to support the 2021 update of the Danube River Basin Management Plan as well as water monitoring practices across the Danube countries.</p>

Enhancing River-Sea System Understanding by providing insights into headwaters– the Upper Danube Austria Supersite of DANUBIUS-RI

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Feldbacher ◽  
Stefan Schmutz ◽  
Gabriele Weigelhofer ◽  
Thomas Hein
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Study Region ◽  
The Danube River ◽  
Danube Catchment ◽  
Danube River Basin

<p>Austria has a share in three international river basins (Danube, Elbe, Rhine), but by far the most of its territory (> 96%) drains into the Danube. This Austrian territory accounts for 10% of the total area of the Danube River Basin and belongs entirely to the Upper Danube Basins, which extends from the source of the Danube in Germany to Bratislava at Austria’s eastern border to Slovakia. Austria contributes approx. 25% (ca. 50 km³/a ) to the total yearly discharge of the Danube into the Black Sea (ca. 200 km³/a).</p><p>Human activities have severely altered the Upper Danube catchment, impacting both the main stem and the main pre-alpine tributaries. Due to the Upper Danube’s considerable natural gradient and mountainous character, this part of the Danube is extensively used for hydropower production. Ten large (> 10 MW) hydropower plants are situated along the Austrian Danube (out of a total of 41), and only two Danube stretches can still be characterized as free-flowing (Wachau, Nationalpark Donau-Auen).  Besides energy generation, other human activities such as agriculture, shipping, industrialisation, urbanisation and tourism, have been and still are changing the process and system dynamics of the Upper Danube.  Climate change is additionally affecting this already heavily impacted River System.</p><p>The Upper Danube Austria and its pre-alpine network of tributaries is therefore an ideal case study region to investigate the multiple effects of human activities on riverine systems and was chosen as a “supersite” within Danubius-RI, the “International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems”. Danubius-RI is being developed as distributed Research Infrastructures with the goal to support interdisciplinary and integrated research on river-sea systems. DANUBIUS-RI aims to enable and support research addressing the conflicts between society’s demands, environmental change and environmental protection for river -sea systems worldwide and brings together research on freshwaters and the interface to marine waters, drawing on existing research excellence across Europe.</p><p>The supersite “Upper Danube Austria and its pre-alpine network of tributaries” covers the freshwater spectrum within the river-sea continuum, ranging from alpine and pre-alpine headwater streams along major Danube tributaries to the Danube River, including adjacent floodplains in the Upper Danube catchment. The research focus lies on the interactive effects of climate change, land use pressures, and hydromorphological alterations on the biodiversity, ecological functions, and the ecosystem service provision of streams and rivers in the Upper Danube basin and their role within the catchment.</p><p>The Supersite “Upper Danube Austria and its pre-alpine network of tributaries” joins forces of eight Austrian research institutions and is led by WasserCluster Lunz and the Institute for Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management (IHG) at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU). Research on sustainable management and restoration of riverine landscapes (WFD, FD, HD, Biodiversity  Strategy) in the Upper Danube Catchment is an important contribution to a healthy River-Sea System of the Danube River Basin as a whole.</p>

Examples of Floodplain Restoration Evaluation Studies in the Danube River Basin

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Perosa ◽  
Marion Gelhaus ◽  
Veronika Zwirglmaier ◽  
Leonardo F. Arias-Rodriguez ◽  
Aude Zingraff-Hamed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Floodplain Restoration ◽  
The Danube River ◽  
Danube Catchment ◽  
General Benefit ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Restoration Measures ◽  
Danube River Basin

<p>Countries located in the Danube River Basin (DRB) are in danger of being affected by major catastrophic floods along the Danube and its tributaries. Floodplain restoration measures are among win-win nature-based solutions (NBS) for flood risk reduction but practitioners see their limitations in comparison to technical measures, when looking at their effectiveness and profitability. Within the framework of the EU Interreg Danube Floodplain project, this presentation shows the benefits of floodplain restoration in terms of monetized ecosystem services (ES). Our work focused on multiple ES groups for four study areas in the Danube catchment, located in Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. This was done with the help of stakeholder engagement, hydrodynamic models results, and the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-Based Assessment (TESSA). Moreover, the approach was complemented with alternative methodologies (e.g. surveys on social media). Results show positive annual combined benefits of floodplain restoration measures, suggesting the helpfulness of evaluating these NBS through ES assessment. The work done will help increasing the knowledge on floodplain and their ES, and on how to rapidly evaluate them. Moreover, it will bring decision-makers further evidence in favor of floodplain restoration measures to be implemented for a general benefit of the communities.</p>

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