Hidrológiai Közlöny, 2017 (97. évfolyam)
2017 / 3. szám - TRANSNATIONAL EFFORTS - Kovács Ádám: Agricultural development and good water status in the Danube River Basin - A contradiction?
14 Hidrológiai Közlöny (Hungarian Journal of Hydrology) 2017. 97. évf. 3. sz. CONCLUSIONS Nutrient pollution is one of the significant water management issues identified for the DRB. Although nutrient fluxes have significantly dropped in the last decades due to the measures implemented as well as to the declined intensity of agriculture, the nutrient pressure of a number of surface waters within the DRB and that of the Black Sea is still higher than the environmental objectives. Implementation of measures should therefore continue inter alia in agriculture by applying agri-environmental measures and best management practices. However, water policies to reduce nutrient inputs should be better aligned with the agricultural ones. They should combine the traditional approach of regulative enforcement with the perspective of safeguarding farmers1 economic situation in order to reach good water status in the DRB in a sustainable way. In this respect, the ICPDR guidance document on sustainable agriculture will provide Danube countries with a consistent policy framework with a set of recommended tools to facilitate national water and agricultural decision makers to identify common goals, to set up targeted policies and to implement joint actions and cost-effective measures. Implementing the guidance will lead to a sound economic development in agriculture and to further nutrient pollution reduction in the DRB. This will be a significant step towards the ICPDR’s vision of a balanced nutrient management in the DRB, which ensures that neither the waters of the DRB nor the Black Sea are threatened or impacted by eutrophication. REFERENCES EC (2017). Agriculture and Sustainable Water Management in the EU. Commission Staff Working DocumentSWD(2017) 153, 28.4.2017, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium. httpl. https://oceanconference.un.org/commitments/?id=14991 ICPDR (2009).The Danube River Basin District Management Plan. Final Report, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, Vienna, Austria. ( http://www.icpdr.org/main/activities-projects/danube-river-ba- sin-management-plan-2009 ). ICPDR (2015).The Danube River Basin District Management Plan - Update 2015. Final Report, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, Vienna, Austria. ( http://www.icpdr.org/main/activities-projects/river-basin-man- agement-plan-update-2015 ). ICPDR (2016a). Water Quality in the Danube River Basin - 2014. TNMN Yearbook 2014, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, Vienna, Austria. ( http://www.icpdr.org/main/publications/tnmn-yearbooks ). ICPDR (2016b). Water Management in the Danube River Basin: Integration and Solidarity in the Most International River Basin of the World. Danube Ministerial Declaration, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, Vienna, Austria. IWAG (2005). Nutrient Management in the Danube Basin and its Impact on the Black Sea (daNUbs). Final Report, Institute for Water Quality and Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria. OJ (1991). Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. Official Journal of the European Communities,L 375, 31.12.1991, 1-8. 0,7 (2013a). Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy. Official Journal of the European Union, L 347, 20.12.2013, 608-670. OJ (2013b). Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 ofthe European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Official Journal of the European Union, L 347, 20.12.2013, 487-548. OJ(2013c). European Parliament legislative resolution of 19 November 2013 on the draft Council regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (11791/2013 - C7-0238/2013 - 2011/0177(APP)). Official Journal of the European Union, C 436, 24.11.2016, 49-51. Venohr, M, Hirt, U., Hofmann, J., Opitz, D., Gericke, A., Wetzig, A., Natho, S., Neumann, S., Hürdler, J., Matranga, M., Mahnkopf J., Gadegast, M. and Behrendt, H. (2011). Modelling of Nutrient Emissions in River Systems - MONERIS - Methods and Background. International Review of Hydrobiology, 96(5), 435-483. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I appreciate the great cooperation and substantial contribution of the national experts and guests of the ICPDR Pressures and Measures Expert Group and Nutrients Task Group. I am also grateful to Markus Venohr and An- deasGericke for their excellent work on nutrient modelling. Special thanks to Franz Überwimmer, Dietrich Schulz and Joachim Heidemeier for their useful inputs and wise advice. THE AUTHOR ADAM KOVÁCS is a civil engineer with specialization in water quality management. He graduated from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.He received a PhD in water resources management from the Vienna University of Technology. He worked in the academic sector as professor and research assistant for 12 years focusing on water quality modelling and management. Since 2013 he has been working asthe Technical Expert on Pollution Control at the Permanent Secretariat of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River.He coordinates the technical work of the Pressures and Measures Expert Group, Accident Prevention and Control Expert Group and Nutrients Task Group.
