Session E5: The Iron Gate Dams in the Danube River and Their Importance for Endangered Sturgeons

Abstract: Danube sturgeons are highly threatened (IUCN Red List) and two out of six native species are already extinct. The Sturgeon Action Plan enforced in 2005 in the framework of the Bern Convention signed by all Danube countries, lists 72 actions for sturgeon conservation. First priority is the reopening of the Iron Gate I and II hydropower dams, as these disrupt sturgeon spawning migration from the Black Sea to the Middle and Upper Danube. The situation in the region of the Iron Gate dams is extremely complex (navigation locks, transboundary between Romania and Serbia, sturgeon fishery bans, habitat degradation), and monitoring of migrating sturgeons is just in the beginning. Therefore, in view of limited experience, the design, construction and implementation of fish passages for sturgeons will be very difficult and demanding. The first steps for the necessary feasibility study were done by a FAO-Mission in 2011 and a Pilot Study performed by a Dutch Consortium during 2013/14. The respective reports will be outlined by Wilco De Bruijne in the sister presentation of this special session introduction. The political background has been prepared by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR, Danube River Basin Management Plan), and the Danube Sturgeon Task Force (DSTF) is coordinating sturgeon activities in the frame of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (Strategy/Program “Sturgeon 2020”). This special session, in particular, the Round Table discussion, is aimed at gathering state-of-the-art knowledge on sturgeon behavior related to crossing fish passes (upstream and downstream)

The International Association for Danube Research (IAD)—portrait of a transboundary scientific NGO

Introduction: The International Association for Danube Research (IAD), a legal association (Verein) according to Austrian law, presently consists of 13 member countries and 12 expert groups covering all water-relevant scientific disciplines. IAD, founded in 1956, represents a traditional and significant stakeholder in the Danube River Basin, fulfilling an important task towards an integrative water and river basin management requested by the EU Water Framework Directive. Discussion: IAD, stretching between basic and applied research, adapted its strategy after the major political changes in 1989. IAD fosters transdisciplinary and transboundary projects to support integrative Danube River protection in line with the governmental International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) in which IAD has had observer status since 1998. Recent scientific outputs of IAD encompass, amongst others, a water quality map of the Danube and major tributaries, the Sturgeon Action Plan, hydromorphological mapping of the Drava, a macrophyte inventory, and a Mures River study. Further information about IAD can be found on our website http://www.iad.g

The International Association for Danube Research (IAD)-portrait of a transboundary scientific NGO

ISSN:0944-1344ISSN:1614-749

Managing the world's most international river: the Danube River Basin

Transboundary river-basin management is a challenging task emerging from lack of on-site expert knowledge, high administrative and socioeconomic complexity, various stakeholder interests, and difficulties enforcing international and national law. Therefore, an efficient ‘science–policy interface’ is a crucial ingredient for the successful development and implementation of adequate management strategies. The Danube River Basin (DRB) drains areas of 19 countries with different cultural, political, and environmental legacies. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) has provided the guiding legal instrument for DRB management since 2000, supported by several multilateral agreements. The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is responsible for the implementation of the WFD in the DRB. It stimulates management-oriented research and coordinates the various activities of the contracting parties and observers, including those of many NGOs and stakeholders. The development of the first DRB Management Plan in 2009 constituted a milestone of cooperation among scientific, political, and public organisations. Key stressors and pressures have been identified, a new basin-wide monitoring network has been established, and numerous conservation and restoration sites have been designated. A major challenge in DRB management will be to establish synergies among the competing interests of navigation, hydropower production, flood protection and nature conservation. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of DRB science–policy interactions and outlines future strategies for sustainable development of the DRB as a template for transboundary river basin management.Marine and Freshwater Research, 2010, 61, 7, 73

The Danube River Basin District

It was July 10 in 1648 when Pope Innocent X approved the construction of the ‘Four-Rivers-Fountain’ at the Piazza Navona, probably the most beautiful square in Rome. He asked the famous sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini to finish the fountain by 1650, a Holy Year. The four rivers were the Nile of Africa, the Ganges of Asia, the Rio del la Plata of the Americas and the Danube of Europe (Weithmann 2000). The Danube is the European river par excellence; a river that most effectively defines and integrates Europe. It links more countries than any other river in the world. The Danube River Basin (DRB) collects waters from the territories of 19 nations and it forms the international boundaries for eight of these (Figure 3.1). The river’s largely eastward course has served as a corridor for both migration and trade, and a boundary strongly guarded for thousands of years. The river’s name changes from west to east from Donau, Dunaj, Duna, Dunav, Duna˘rea, to Dunay, respectively. The names of the river (Danube, as well as Don, Dnjeper and Dnjester) most likely originate from the Persian or Celtic word Danu, which literally means flowing. It also may stem from the Celtic ‘Don, Na,’ or ‘two rivers,’ because the Celts could not agree on the source of the Danube (cited in Wohl in press). In this chapter, we provide an overview of the DRB, including the three main sections (Upper, Middle, Lower Danube), the delta and 11 major tributaries (Figures 3.1 and 3.2, Table 3.1). This chapter builds upon several textbooks on the Danube, including Liepolt (1967) and Kinzelbach (1994) and, among many other sources, on information derived from the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR).Tockner K, Uehlinger U, Robinson CT, editors. Rivers of Europe. Londres: Academic Press; 2009. p. 59–112