TNMN - TransNational Monitoring Network
The TransNational Monitoring Network, in short “TNMN” was established to support the implementation of the Danube River Protection Convention in the field of monitoring and assessment utilizing monitoring data assessed at national level. The TNMN was formally launched by the ICPDR in 1996, although the history of international monitoring of the Danube River is much older. The DRPC requires:
- Harmonising monitoring and assessment methods, particularly concerning water quality in rivers
- Developing co-ordinated or joint monitoring systems applying stationary or mobile measurement devices, and shared communications and data processing facilities
- Elaborating and implementing joint programmes for monitoring riverine conditions in the Danube catchment area, including flow rates, water quality, sediments and riverine ecosystems, as a basis for the assessment of transboundary impacts
The main objective of the TNMN is to provide a structured and well-balanced overall view of pollution and long-term trends in water quality and pollution loads in the major rivers of the Danube River Basin.
The collected data is published annually in the TNMN Yearbooks.
In 2006, the TNMN is revised to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).
The TNMN monitoring network derives from national surface water monitoring networks and includes at present 101 monitoring stations with up to three sampling points across the Danube and its main tributaries. The minimum sampling frequency is 12 times per year for chemical determinands in water and twice a year for biological parameters.
The assessment of loads in the Danube River also provides estimates of the influx of polluting substances into the Black Sea, which is a vital information to support policy development. This special load assessment programme was started in 2000, with pollution loads calculated for:
- Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)5;
- Inorganic nitrogen;
- Ortho-phosphate-phosphorus;
- Dissolved phosphorus;
- Total phosphorus;
- Suspended solids;
- And - on a discretionary basis – chlorides.
The assessment of loads into the Black Sea is based on a larger set of substances including heavy metals.
Related
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Through the TransNational Monitoring Network (TNMN), the contracting parties of the ICPDR monitor water quality pollution and long-term trends in water quality and pollution loads in the major rivers in the Danube River Basin. The collected data is published annually in the “TNMN Yearbooks”, which you can download here.
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The Joint Danube Survey 2001 was carried out by the ICPDR and is the most homogenous analysis of the water quality and the ecological status of the Danube River. Over 140 chemical and biological parameters were analysed and over 40.000 laboratory results were generated.
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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.
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In cooperation with ICPDR, VITUKI performed the Study on Bioindicators the River Danube and its tributaries. The aim was to learn more about the accumulation of organic and inorganic micropollutants in sediments and biota and to analyze the macrozoobenthos. The study was carried out as a response to the assumption that the Kosovo conflict had an impact on the aquatic life in the Danube and its tributaries.
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Inventories and databases are fundamental requisites to assess the human influences to the environment. The ICPDR has been empowered by the Danube countries to organise data collection and to process the recieved information to serve the decision making processes.
Links
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TNMN water quality data from 1996
