Ecological Status of Surface Waters

Comparison of the Results of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River’s (ICPDR) Joint Danube Surveys on Ecological Status 2001–2020

Abstract

The aim of the author is to gain insight into the results of the survey expeditions carried out on the Danube and its catchment area every 6 years. In order to maintain the good status required by the Water Framework Directive, the methods for assessing the status of waters include an overview of the methodology of ecological indicators. The article also presents methodologies and developments resulting from water quality analyses and related international conventions and collaborations. Most importantly, it aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of the Danube River Basin, which can be deduced from research data from the last 20 years. After the introduction, the author examines the results of the International Danube Commission’s survey of the entire Danube every 6 years in terms of improving the ecological status, with particular reference to technical or methodological developments between surveys.