Water Quality Monitoring Design of the Danube River Basin

Abstract

The following study focuses on Danube River water quality issues of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) Danubian region, which is under great pressure from a diverse range of human activities. Urban populations are generating pollution due to the legacy of past policies that favored water supply over sewer construction and treatment. This led to inadequate wastewater treatment and solid waste disposal facilities causing serious water pollution problems. Modernization and intensification of agricultural practices and animal husbandry produces major surface water nonpoint source pollution. Inadequate attention to the environmental impacts of industry, agriculture and urbanization has resulted in significant Danube River water pollution not only at the local level, but at the international level as well. All this requires a basin-wide approach to water quality management, beginning with an adequately designed international monitoring program. The Central and Eastern Danubian countries have been collecting water quality data for some time, but it is often inadequate to be used as information in formulating related policies. The goal of this research is to increase the informational content of the available water quality assessment data leading to the design of an improved monitoring network, capable of supporting better water quality management in the Danube region. The following study consists of five chapters including final conclusions and recommendations. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the Danube River in terms of geography, climate, hydrology and economy. Also it summarizes the progress of the most significant international environmental Danube River activities. The main focus is on the Danube Action Plan, including water quality management, standards and monitoring. The international water quality information data base INFODANUBE and the Danube Emissions Management Decision Support System, DEMDESS are introduced. The second chapter describes and compares several water quality management alternatives, with an attempt to identify the ones that are most suited to the Danubian CEE countries. Special attention is given to the feasibility of applying water quality management alternatives based on emission standards as opposed to management options based on ambient standards. These management options seem most appropriate for the Danubian region. They do not rely on the application of water quality models, but instead require routine monitoring, assessment of the existing levels of pollution and trend analysis. This leads to the evaluation of the existing monitoring data in chapter three. The baseline water quality information presented with the help of box- and-whisker plots focuses on oxygen content and nutrients in an effort to identify river reaches of environmental concern. The oxygen content category includes dissolved oxygen, dissolved oxygen saturation, and biochemical oxygen demand. Total phosphorus and several forms of nitrogen, comprise the nutrient category, together with the evaluation of the nutrient growth limiting factor. Several ancillary parameters, such as water discharge and temperature, pH, specific conductivity, and chlorides are also discussed. In chapter four, the analysis of the existing Danube River data focuses on trend assessment as anticipated by the most feasible management alternative. The observed trends provide a better means for understanding the river water quality status and at the same time provide an unbiased indication of the effectiveness of the established pollution abatement programs in the Danubian region. If a deteriorating trend is observed, then it is clear that better management alternative is needed. Water quality trend assessment is provided for ten selected Danube River water quality parameters, identifying river reaches with deteriorating water quality conditions. Chapter five investigates the implications for monitoring as related to the most feasible management alternative. The Danube River monitoring design in terms of location of sampling stations, frequency of sampling, and water quality parameters are addressed in an effort to design an improved monitoring network capable of detecting long term water quality trends. This is illustrative of what the Danubian CEE countries must do to implement the most preferable water quality management alternative for Danube River Basin. The research results will be of immediate use for the environmental policymakers, managers and researchers in the whole Danubian region. It is hoped that such investigations can improve our understanding of complex systems such as the Danube River and result in better water quality management and environmental policy making.