By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE, Sep 11 2007 (IPS)

The biggest river research expedition of the year is on its way to see if the Danube can be the Blue Danube again.

The Danube research ships at Belgrade port. Credit: Vesna Zimonjic

The survey will build on the results of the Joint Danube Survey 1 (JDS1) back in 2001.

The scientists are collecting thousands of water and sediment samples at 95 points to see what they can do to clean up the river, so it could again be called by the name that the Vienna composer Johann Strauss gave it in his 19th century waltz. But maybe that was just a romantic name.

"It&#39s hard to say that the Danube was ever blue," research team leader Bela Czany from Hungary told IPS. "It&#39s rather greyish or brownish, and at some confluences such as here in Belgrade with the Sava, one can see that two different rivers are merging."

The Danube carries multiple problems. Apart from organic and microbiological pollution, its waters carry heavy metals, oil from ships, pesticides and as many as 250 chemicals.

The research aims to provide comparable data for all countries of the basin in order to bring down pollution levels. The concerned governments have promised to abide by the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive by 2015 to cut pollution.

Experts call the Water Framework Directive the strongest water legislation in the world. Seven of the basin countries are EU members (Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria). Others are aspiring to become members.

"All the countries are working seriously together now," Phillip Weller of the Vienna-based International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) told IPS. "The Danube is the most international river in the world, it binds together diverse natural areas, the Alps, the central Hungarian Plain, the Danube Delta and the Black Sea; it also connects diverse cultures and peoples all along.

"People from all these regions have become aware how important it is to manage and improve the water quality of the river they depend upon, be it for fish, everyday use, or simple swimming. This goes particularly for the young, who are keen to protect the Danube."

Nikola Marjanovic, head of the Serbian Directorate for Waters, says comparison of the 2001 and 2007 research will point to the course the Danube basin countries must take.

"The JDS1 in 2001 gave us a mix of positive and negative results," Marjanovic told IPS. "On the positive side, the research found high levels of biodiversity and rare species. On the negative side, there is concern over organic, heavy metal and chemical pollution. However, what is important is the significant awareness that has arisen among people living along the Danube, who see it as vital that the river becomes as healthy as possible."

The situation is not similar all along the route.

"There are different problems and different hotspots along this river, which does not recognise borders and represents a world of its own," Csany says. "In the upper sector (from Germany to the Hungarian capital of Budapest) we have noted hydro-morphological changes (water-related relief changes), but from Budapest downstream there is a dramatic change in a bad direction when pollution is concerned."

This is mostly due to the enormous amounts of organic pollution from Budapest with a population of 2.1 million, and downstream of Belgrade, with a population of two million. Budapest is due to install a new wastewater plant on the Danube by 2010; Belgrade has no such plans.

Serbia was exempt from taking any international action over the Danube in the 1990s, because the country was under strict international sanctions. These included a ban on other countries to transport goods along the Danube.

The 600 km path through Serbia was blocked for years after the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) bombing in 1999. Many bridges were destroyed, and their remains were finally removed only in 2003.

"But that is all past now," Czany says. "We are glad that so many people along our route, 10 ports of call, know what the expedition is all about. Simple people are well informed on the Danube pollution issues, and I&#39m happy to see them so interested, and to answer their questions. To many, the river is simply their home regardless of what country they live in."

(*This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS – Inter Press Service, and IFEJ – the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.)

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