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Vienna, 13 October 2008. Two Slovak children have won the ‘International Danube Art Master 2008’ competition. The International Master is selected from the winners of the national ‘Danube Art Master’ competitions in 14 Danube Basin countries.

Vienna, 10 March 2008 - The first international system for forecasting Danube floods and providing an early flood warning was launched today by the ICPDR and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission.
The new system will provide the national authorities of countries in the Danube River Basin with up to 10 days to prepare for large floods.

ICPDR Danube Watch: Youth parliaments held in Moldova go to the source

Accidental pollution in the Danube River Basin can cause widespread damage to the environment, and endanger the health of local people and the state of local economies downstream. This was exemplified by the effects of the Baia Mare cyanide spill in Romania in 2000 or by the Hungarian redsludge accident at Ajka in 2010. The ICPDR is working to prevent accidental pollution and to improve response capability by compiling an inventory of all relevant "Accident Risk Spots".

Floods are natural phenomena. They can, however, turn into disasters causing widespread damage, health problems and even deaths. This is especially the case where rivers have been cut off from their natural floodplains, are confined to man-made channels, and where houses and industrial sites have been constructed in areas that are naturally liable to flooding.

The best way to protect and manage water is by close international co-operation between all the countries within the river basin – bringing together all interests upstream and downstream. All countries of the European Union are using a river basin approach for water management since the adoption of the EU Water Framework Directive.