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

The Accident Emergency Warning System (AEWS) of the Danube River Basin is activated whenever there is a risk of transboundary water pollution, or threshold danger levels of certain hazardous substances are exceeded.

Slovenia covers a territory of 20,273 km² and is home to just over 2 million people. It is a diverse country in terms of its landscape and climate, since it is located at the meeting point of four major European geographical regions: the Alps, the Dinaric Mountains, the Pannonian Basin and the Mediterranean. 81% of the country lies in the Danube Basin, making up 2% of the entire Danube catchment area.

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".

The Sava is the Danube's largest tributary of the Danube in terms of discharge and the second largest in terms of catchment area. The Sava is shared by Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro. The joint management arrangements acted as a pilot for the implementation of the European Union's Water Framework Directive for the Danube and Europe.