Chemical and biological samples were taken from different sampling points at the station cross sections, and screened for priority pollutants and hazardous substances selected by the EU Water Framework Directive.

On 26 September, two ships – the ‘Cyclone’ and the ‘Roua’ – carrying 23 researchers from Moldova, Romania and Ukraine set sail for the first joint survey of the Danube Delta. For ten days, researchers took and analysed water samples taken from waters covering the area from the mouth of the Prut River to the Black Sea, including the main branches, channels and inner lakes of the Danube Delta.

Next to hydromorphological assessments, chemical and biological samples were taken from different sampling points at the station cross sections. Samples were screened for priority pollutants and hazardous substances selected by the EU Water Framework Directive. The original data collected by the survey will help fill knowledge gaps and is a step towards a homogenous data set for the Danube Delta Sub-basin based on a single sample procedure and laboratory analysis of specific elements.

Bringing people together. The Joint Danube Delta Survey is just one element of an overall project with the objective of “improving cross-border cooperation in the Danube Delta and building capacities for introducing a river basin approach to the management of natural resources in the Danube Delta Sub-basin”.

The project is implemented by the ICPDR in the framework of the Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC) in cooperation with UNEP, UNECE and regional partners, including representatives of the three countries sharing the Danube Delta Subbasin: Moldova, Romania and Ukraine. The project is managed at the regional level by the Centre for Regional Studies in Odessa, Ukraine.

The project has also been working to promote public awareness of issues in the region. The monitoring exercise attracted media attention, and public information events were organised in all three countries as part of the survey.

The joint danube surveys as models of success. The project was modelled on the success of the two Joint Danube Surveys, and lessons learned from those surveys were used as the basis for the Joint Danube Delta Survey.

“The main organisation issues and the format for the cruise manual and monitoring programme, as well as the operational schemes from the second Joint Danube Survey, were used to prepare the Joint Danube Delta Survey,” says Oleg Dyakov, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Regional Studies.

The Joint Danube Delta Survey marks an important step towards harmonising the monitoring systems of the three countries. “The first joint Romanian – Moldavian – Ukrainian Danube Delta Survey has been completed successfully, which, taken into consideration the complexity of the organisational issues in the transboundary region, was a pleasant surprise,” says Marian Tudor, Senior Researcher at the Danube Delta Institute.

The first joint survey of the Danube Delta was undertaken by 23 researchers from Moldova, Romania and Ukraine. The project has been implemented by the ICPDR in the framework of the Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC) in cooperation with UNEP, UNECE and regional partners, including representatives of the three countries sharing the Danube Delta Subbasin: Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.

Laying the foundation for a future sub-basin plan. Preliminary results from the survey, completed on 5 October, will be presented and discussed at a working meeting in early December 2011, where the participants will meet again to discuss the results and plan the next steps. The meeting will also focus on work already under way on a Danube Delta Analysis Report, based on requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive.

The final results will serve as an important and necessary step to develop a River Basin Management Plan for the Danube Delta Sub-basin under the provisions of the Joint Declaration of the Heads of Delegations “Towards a River Basin Management Plan for the Danube Delta supporting sustainable development of the
region.”

To ensure the active involvement of the public and stakeholders, public consultations on the overall project are planned within the region in Kahul (Moldova), Tulcea (Romania) and Izmail (Ukraine). Furthermore, a summary of the analysis report, a collection of maps and electronic versions of the report will be available to increase the report’s impact among the public and decision-makers.

Building cross-border cooperation. Though final results are still to come, it’s clear that the project’s aim to improve cross-border cooperation in the Danube Delta has succeeded: “The most important result of the survey is the practice obtained in collaboration of specialists from many countries, and the organisation of surface water study at the international level,” says Victoria Luchinova, Engineer-Coordinator at the Surface Water Quality Monitoring Centre, Republic of Moldolva. “The exchange of information between specialists and the harmonisation of working methods is very important.”

Kirstie Shepherd is a freelance journalist living in Vienna and has called the Danube River Basin home since 2000.