PREFACE

 

Antecedents

 

On April 19, 1995 Governments of the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Hungary signed an Agreement concerning certain temporary technical measures and discharges in the Danube and Mosoni branch of the Danube[1] (Appendix A.1) - hereinafter Agreement. The Agreement prescribes the monitoring of environmental impact of realised measures, increased discharges into the Danube and Mosoni branch of the Danube, and water supply into the right side river branch system. Activities of the Nominated Monitoring Agents connected with the realisation of environmental monitoring in the influenced area are described in the Statute[2], signed on May 29, 1995 in Gabčíkovo (Appendix A.2).

On October 23, 1997 the Slovak Republic, through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, informed the Republic of Hungary of its readiness to prolong the validity of the Agreement from April 19, 1995 until an agreement on implementation of the Judgement of International Court of Justice, declared on September 25, 1997, is reached. The Republic of Hungary accepted the proposed prolongation by the Governmental Resolution of Hungarian Government from December 17, 1997.

The Slovak Party, according to the intergovernmental Agreement, has undertaken to release an annual average discharge of 400 m³s^-1 into the Danube downstream the Čunovo dam and 43 m³s^-1 into the Mosoni branch of the Danube and the right side seepage canal, depending on hydrological and technical conditions described in the Appendices No. 1 and 2 of the Agreement. The Hungarian Party, according to the Agreement, constructed a submerged weir in the common section of the Danube at rkm 1843, and put it into operation in June 1995. This weir enables supply of water (up to 250 m³s^-1) into the river branches in the Hungarian inundation area. The water discharged into the Mosoni branch of the Danube ensures the water supply of the Mosoni Danube and branches in the Hungarian flood-protected area.

According to the Article 4 of the intergovernmental Agreement the Parties are obliged to mutually exchange and evaluate data obtained by the environmental monitoring on both, Slovak and Hungarian, sides of the Danube, which are necessary to assess impacts of the increased flow rate in the Danube and the water supply on the Hungarian side. Technical details of the environmental monitoring on both sides – the determination of influenced area, the sampling and measuring points, the frequency of measurements, the list of exchanged parameters, the frequency of data exchange, etc. – are described in the Statute (Appendix A.2) and relevant documents.

Observation results and measured data in tabular and graphical forms, together with their evaluation, create the National Annual Reports prepared by the Parties themselves, according to the Article 3 of the Agreement. This Joint Annual Report was elaborated jointly and it is based on the approved and mutually exchanged National Reports.

The present report is the ninth Joint Annual Report on the environmental monitoring and gives an evaluation concerning the hydrological year 2003. The evaluation of the Slovak side is based on the data collected by the Slovak Hydro-meteorological Institute, Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Comenius University, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Forest Research Institute, Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute, West Slovakia’s Waterworks Company, Bratislava’s Waterworks Company, Slovak Water Management Authority, Water Research Institute and Ground Water Consulting Ltd. The data exchange and the evaluation of the monitoring under the frame of the joint monitoring are co-ordinated by the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for the Construction and Operation of the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project.

The evaluation of the Hungarian side is based on the data collected by the North-Transdanubian Authority for the Environment Protection, North-Transdanubian Water Management Authority, Regional Waterworks Companies, Forest Research Institute, Pannon Agricultural University, Museum of Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Eötvös Lóránd Science University. The data exchange and the evaluation of the monitoring are co-ordinated by the Hungarian Ministry for the Environment Protection and Water management.

Goals of the Joint Monitoring

The main goal of the Joint Slovak-Hungarian Monitoring in accordance to the intergovernmental Agreement is to observe, record and jointly evaluate quantitative and qualitative changes of surface and ground water bodies and water related natural environment in connection to the realised measures and applied water supply. The water supply into the river branches on the Hungarian side is assured by the submerged weir, which is increasing the water level in the Danube upstream of the weir.

The evaluation includes changes in the hydrological regimes of the surface and ground water, changes in the surface and ground water quality, changes in the soil moisture and changes in forestry and biota.

The goal of mutual data exchange is to provide information on monitoring results, on progress of parameters included in the data exchange, and environmental changes on the influenced area of the respective Parties. The basic condition of data exchange is the use of equal or compatible methods of measurements and analysis and the application of agreed interpretation methods.

The final goal of the Joint Annual Report is to submit joint evaluation of monitoring results and joint recommendations for monitoring improvement and environment protection activities to the respective governments.

Joint monitoring activities in the year 2003

Monitoring activities in the hydrological year 2003 on both sides were carried out in accordance to the intergovernmental Agreement and the Statute. These consist of surface and ground water regime observations, surface- and ground water quality monitoring, measurements of soil moisture content, forest monitoring, fauna and flora observations.

Comparing to the previous year there were no changes in observation object composition. However, there were some changes in observation or evaluation methods. In the frame of surface water quality the classification of six quality groups changed to five quality groups. Besides this significant changes in limit value for several parameters were introduced as well. In the fame of biological monitoring the Slovak Party started to use the Kohler index method in macrophytes observations.

Joint surface water quality sampling was performed in 2003, together with joint sediment sampling in the reservoir and in the right side river branch system. Similarly joint sampling was performed in ground water quality.

At selected profiles the Parties carried out joint surface water discharge measurements.

The other activities remained unchanged.

Fulfilment of recommendations in the Joint Annual Report 2002

1.    Experts on surface water hydrology have started the negotiations on definition of the term “flood”. However, the discussion was not finalized yet and the negotiations will continue in next few months.

2.    Regarding the evaluation period of the surface water quality the hydrological year is proposed as the period for the evaluation. The period of hydrological year is given by hydrological characteristics of the Danube catchment area and this period is used in case of evaluation of surface water levels and flow rates and in case of ground water quality as well.

3.    Concerning the differences in analytical results of surface water quality data in samples taken on common sampling points in the same time it can be stated that the large part of applied measures was introduced at the beginning of 2004, however decrease in number of parameters with differences in analytical results were already noticed in 2003.

4.    In 2003 joint verifying surface and ground water quality and sediment quality measurements were carried out on selected sampling points on Slovak and Hungarian sides. Surface water samples were jointly taken from 5 Slovak monitoring sites and 4 Hungarian monitoring sites, sediment samples were taken from 6 monitoring sites in the reservoir and 3 samples in the right side inundation area. In case of ground water 5 samples were taken on both sides. Evaluation of analysis will be done in a separate report. The exact dates and sampling site are given in the following table: 

5.    Evaluation of forest observation results in 2003 was carried out according to the intergovernmental Agreement. Data of the actually evaluated year were used on both sides.

6.    The Slovak Party in 2003 introduced the same method for the macrophytes monitoring as the Hungarian Party uses. Henceforward the evaluation according to the Kohler index is used on both sides and the obtained results will be comparable.

7.    The high-power output electro-catching apparatus (10000 W) for fish sampling in the Danube old riverbed was experimentally used in the frame of biological monitoring by the Hungarian Party. Joint sampling in the Danube old riverbed is planned in August or September 2004.

8.    It is necessary to attempt to identify the reason of completely different results in monitoring of Odonata, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera. In monitoring of Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera the Parties applies different methods – the Slovak Party monitors larvae living in the water, the Hungarian Party monitors flying imagines.

9.    In case of monitoring area No. 2608 the Slovak Party carried out field investigation for finding more suitable monitoring site within the complex monitoring area for Odonata, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera observations. However, no new appropriate monitoring site was selected until now, because of bad accessibility of river arms in this area.

 

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