Managing an International River Basin Towards Water Quality Protection: The Danube Case

Nineteen countries share the Danube catchment area, making it the world’s most international river basin. Given the number of the countries and the diversity of social, political and economic conditions, the transboundary river basin management is of supreme importance in the Danube River Basin. The Danube River Protection Convention signed in 1994 is the legal instrument for cooperation and transboundary water management, and it led into establishing the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). In reaction to the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive and of the EU Floods Directive, the Contracting Parties of the ICPDR committed themselves to use the ICPDR as a platform for implementing these directives in the Danube River Basin District and for coping on a basin-wide level with the key pressures related to organic pollution, pollution by nutrients and hazardous substances, hydromorphological alterations, flood protection, navigation, hydropower, sediment management and groundwater management. The ICPDR established the Transnational Monitoring Network which regularly monitors water quality in the Danube River Basin as well as the Danube Accident Emergency Warning System which alerts the Danube countries in case of transboundary pollution accidents. The first Danube River Basin Management Plan was published in 2009, and it set the programme of measures with the view of reducing the pressures on the surface and groundwater. At present the first Danube Flood Risk Management Plan is under finalization focusing on flood prevention, protection and preparedness taking into account the environmental objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive. Of high importance is also the cooperation with the other sectors such as navigation and hydropower aiming at sustainable economic development while avoiding the adverse effects on the water status. Using a synergy between implementing the Convention and the current EU legislation, a significant progress has been achieved in ensuring the protection and improving water quality in the Danube River Basin.