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ICPDR Danube Watch: Danube Day 2006: River of Life

Vienna, 21 January 2008 – Serbia today took over the Presidency of the ICPDR for the year 2008. The handover was made during an official ceremony hosted by the outgoing Presidency, Romania, at the premises of the Permanent Mission of Romania in Vienna, Austria. The Minister for Environmental Protection of Serbia, Saša Dragin, will serve as ICPDR President and guide its activities in 2008.

ICPDR Danube Watch: The Danube goes to school

Vienna, 19 January 2007. Romania will take over the Presidency of the ICPDR for the year 2007, on Monday, 22 January. The handover will take place at an official ceremony hosted by the outgoing Presidency, Moldova, at the Palais Pallavicini in Vienna, Austria, at 1700 hours. State Secretary of Environment and Water Management of Romania, Lucia Varga, will serve as President during 2007 and will guide the activities of ICPDR.

daNUbs was a mulitnational EU research project carried out under the leadership of the Technical University of Vienna. The results from this project include estimates of nutrient inputs into the river network (MONERIS), as well as an assessment of the loads of nitrogen, phosphorus and silica transported via the river network. These results indicate that the nutrient status in the Black Sea has significantly improved since the 1980s.

The nutrient levels, notably phosphorus and nitrogen, found in the Danube River and its major tributaries hold significant international importance. This is because they directly contribute to the phenomenon of eutrophication in both the river itself and the Black Sea. Historical trend analysis of nutrient river loads over the past decades shows a significant reduction in the transported nutrient fluxes to the Black Sea. Overall nutrient emissions declined by 30% (nitrogen) and 50% (phosphorus) in the last 15 years. However, the current long-term fluxes are still considerably higher than those of the early 1960ies which represent river loads under low pressures, indicating a further load reduction potential that might be exploited for the benefit of the Black Sea. Nevertheless, in the last 5-10 years the measured loads are rather low and close to the Black Sea targets indicating significant water quality improvement.