Managing the world's most international river: the Danube River Basin

Abstract

Transboundary river-basin management is a challenging task emerging from lack of on-site expert knowledge, high administrative and socioeconomic complexity, various stakeholder interests, and difficulties enforcing international and national law. Therefore, an efficient ‘science–policy interface’ is a crucial ingredient for the successful development and implementation of adequate management strategies. The Danube River Basin (DRB) drains areas of 19 countries with different cultural, political, and environmental legacies. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) has provided the guiding legal instrument for DRB management since 2000, supported by several multilateral agreements. The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is responsible for the implementation of the WFD in the DRB. It stimulates management-oriented research and coordinates the various activities of the contracting parties and observers, including those of many NGOs and stakeholders. The development of the first DRB Management Plan in 2009 constituted a milestone of cooperation among scientific, political, and public organisations. Key stressors and pressures have been identified, a new basin-wide monitoring network has been established, and numerous conservation and restoration sites have been designated. A major challenge in DRB management will be to establish synergies among the competing interests of navigation, hydropower production, flood protection and nature conservation. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of DRB science–policy interactions and outlines future strategies for sustainable development of the DRB as a template for transboundary river basin management.

Assessment of the contamination of riparian soil and vegetation by trace metals — A Danube River case study

“…The DRB drains the areas of nine ecoregions (Illies, 1978). About 81 million people are connected by this complex hydrological system (Sommerwerk et al, 2010). The Danube flows through numerous industrial and urban centres and receives a significant amount of pollution due to the reception of urban and industrial waste, as well as agricultural land runoff (Schmid, 2004;Behrendt et al, 2005;Liška et al, 2008).…”

Harmonising the bioassessment of large rivers in the absence of near‐natural reference conditions – a case study of the Danube River

“…Effective water management needs to consider both the waterbody and the related catchment (Naiman, 1992). The Danube is the world's most international river with 10 riparian states and another eight countries sharing parts of its catchment (Sommerwerk et al, 2010). This poses challenges for effective water resource management, especially in multinational river catchments (Barrow, 1998).…”

Lower Danube 4D Reconnection—Strategic Framework for LU/Climate Change Adaptation

“…The development of the first DRB management plan in 2009, which constituted a milestone of cooperation among scientific, political and public organizations [9], integrated the REELD concept. …”