PREFACE
AntecedentsOn 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 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, both discharges 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 Annual Reports. The present report is the twelfth Joint Annual Report on the environmental monitoring and gives an evaluation concerning the hydrological year 2006. 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, National Forest Centre, 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 Inspectorate for the
Environment and Nature Protection and Water Management, North-Transdanubian
Environment Protection and 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 dependent natural environment in connection to the realised measures and water supply. The water supply into the river branches on the Hungarian side is assured by the bottom 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 forest stands 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 on environmental changes in the influenced area of the respective Parties. The basic condition of data exchange is the use of equal or similar 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 2006
Monitoring activities in the hydrological year 2006 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, and measurements of soil moisture content, forest monitoring, fauna and flora observations. National Annual Reports on
environment monitoring in 2006 were mutually exchanged on July 13, 2007 in
Budapest. The approval and signing of the Joint Annual Report on environment
monitoring in 2005 was done on December 12, 2006 in Gabčíkovo. During the
hydrological year 2006 negotiations were held on modification of the STATUTE on the activities of the Monitoring Agents
envisaged in the intergovernmental Agreement signed in 1995, including the list
monitoring sites, objects and monitored items. Concerning the sediment quality evaluation mutually agreed “Canadian Sediment
Quality Guideline for the protection of Aquatic Life” from 1999, revised in
2002 was used. The other activities remained unchanged. Fulfilment of
recommendations in the Joint Annual Report 2005
1. The Parties suggest a modification of the Statute, reflecting the
changes essential for realisation of monitoring tasks in the frame of the Water
Framework Directive, and results presented on Danube Monitoring Scientific
Conference, held in Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary. The Hungarian Party will submit the
first proposal for the modification, taking into account the experiences and
presented results from 10 years monitoring as well as the rationalization of
the monitoring system. The Hungarian Party submitted its first proposal for the modification on February 28, 2007. Following the common discussion and adjustments the Parties on April 25, 2007 in Győr signed the Protocol on modification of the Statute and its Appendices. 2. The Slovak Party in relation with negotiations of Expert Working
Groups, carried out in the frame of negotiations on implementation of the ICJ
Judgement, will submit a proposal for monitoring extension on the Danube
stretch between Sap and Budapest. The
Slovak Party in relation with negotiations of the Governmental delegations on
implementation of the ICJ Judgement elaborated an “Proposal on Methodology of
the joint environmental monitoring, which should be performed on the Danube
stretch between Bratislava and Budapest, which in case of mutual consent of the
Parties should serve as a basis for Strategic Environmental Assessment”. The
proposal of the methodology was handed over to the Hungarian Party at
negotiation of the Working Group for the preparation of Strategic Environmental
Assessment on July 2, 2007 in Budapest. [1] Agreement between the Government of the Slovak Republic and Government of the Republic of Hungary concerning Certain Temporary Technical Measures and Discharges in the Danube and Mosoni branch of the Danube, signed on April 19, 1995. [2] Statute on the Activities of the Nominated Monitoring Agents envisaged in the “Agreement between the Government of the Slovak Republic and Government of the Republic of Hungary concerning Certain Temporary Technical Measures and Discharges in the Danube and Mosoni branch of the Danube”, signed on May 29, 1995. |