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ICPDR Danube Watch: Searching for heavy metals behind the Iron Gates

Vienna, 27 January 2009. Slovakia takes over the Presidency of the ICPDR for the year 2009 at a ceremony held today. Olga Srsnova, General Director of the Division of Waters and Energy Sources at the Slovak Ministry of Environment will serve as President and guide the activities of the ICPDR. “During my presidency, I am committed to promoting development that meets the needs of both the people and the environment”, said Ms. Srsnova.

The Secretariat of the ICPDR is located at the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV). A team of approximately 10 staff members support the work of the ICPDR and its expert & task groups, assist with project development and implementation, and maintains the ICPDR's 'DANUBIS' information system.

The ICPDR comprises 15 Contracting Parties who have committed themselves to implement the Danube River Protection Convention.

The final goals are to co-operate on fundamental water management issues and to take all appropriate legal, administrative and technical measures to maintain and improve the quality of the Danube River and its environment.

The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) works to ensure the sustainable and equitable use of waters in the Danube River Basin. The work of the ICPDR is based on the Danube River Protection Convention (DRPC), the major legal instrument for cooperation and transboundary water management in the Danube River Basin.

Water quality in the Danube has improved over the years, but there is still much work to be done to meet the region’s goals for water status. To improve the water quality, an ambitious programme of measures for the whole Danube River Basin District has been agreed under the EU WFD. To assess trends in water quality, the ICPDR oversees the TransNational Monitoring Network (TNMN). The network carefully monitors physical, chemical and biological conditions in the Danube and its tributaries, and provides in TNMN Yearbooks an annual overview of pollution levels as well as long term trends for water quality in the basin.

19 countries share the Danube River Basin, which makes it the world’s most international river basin. 79 million people of different cultures and languages call the Danube Basin their home. For centuries they have been interconnected through the widely ramified water system of the Danube. All countries sharing over 2,000 km² of the Danube River Basin, as well as the European Union, are contracting parties of the ICPDR.