Vízügyi Közlemények, 2021 (103. évfolyam)
2021 / 1. szám - Introduction by the editor
10 Introduction by the editor the reason of neglecting them. The author explains why this topic will be frequently on the agenda in the future and why the government should deal with water scarcity as a high priority issue. The reason for this is that the issue concerns the whole society and all sectors, although many request or even demand the solution solely of the water sector. A wide selection of measures is available and offered by water professionals, but the sector itself cannot and do not want to implement them. Experiences from the past reminds the sector that its task only to focus on presenting options and show the consequences of suggested measures on the basis of scientific considerations and to make them clear for the society. The implementation can be made only through reaching consensus within the society, through cooperation of the interested sectors with consequently accomplishing their relevant subprograms. This is what we call integrated water resources management. The paper „50 years of water quality investigations of the Hungarian water management service (through the example of the Danube river) ” by co-authors Miklós Pannonhalmi and Pál Varga provides an overview of the half century long history of the regular water quality investigations related to the water management, the milestones of the dynamic development of the field. The progress of the monitoring network is demonstrated as well as the water quality components, the protocol of investigation and the methods of evaluation. Through the example of the Danube, a transboundary water course, the authors provide details of the measurements carried out at national, transboundary and international levels. They put forward proposals for the further development of the monitoring network. Based on the data it can be stated that the water quality of the Danube is determined by the actions taken upstream; the domestic pollution load was lesser even in the 1960s and 1980s when the level of pollution control in Hungary was below international standard. Although changes related to the economy within the basin, the investments in wastewater treatment and the introduction of cleaner technologies resulted in improved quality of the river, good ecological status of water bodies along the whole Hungarian Danube section is not yet achieved. The agreement on the creation of Tisza-valley water management association was signed 175 years ago on 26 January 1846. On the occasion of this anniversary and on the ground of the informative historical example of the Tisza-valley water management association Gyula Reich publishes his thoughts as invitation for discussion on the one-time role of the water associations and the reason for their existence today. The author states clearly that one of the major dilemmas of managing water in our era is that the definition and the order of completion ofpublic water management tasks of local significance is missing. The conclusion is that local stakeholders should deal again with local water issues according to local interests.
