Critical Linkage Between Danube River And Black Sea

mer ifti, Yalova University, Department of Energy Systems Engineering

There is critical linkage between Danube River and Black Sea. Black Sea is the most isolated sea from the World Ocean - connected to the Oceans via the Mediterranean Sea through Istanbul, Canakkale (Turk Straits) and Gibraltar straits and with Sea of Azov in the northeast through the Kerch Strait. For this reason, the Black Sea is very vulnerable to pressure from land based human activity and its quality is equally dependent on from the coastal and non-coastal states of its basin. (1) In terms of Black Sea region, Turkey has a significant role. As well as exclusively one link road between the other seas and Black-Sea is Istanbul Bosporus Strait, Turkey has the longest coast of Black Sea among the riparian states. In sight of this information, Turkey is one of the foremost countries effecting from the water quality and pollution of Black Sea. Every year, about 350 km of river water enters the Black Sea from land in over twenty countries: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine (2) and most of these countries locates on Danube River Basin. Danube River is the biggest tributary of Black Sea. It originates in Baden-Wurttemberg to south east of Germany, flows towards to Black Sea and discharges from the Romania territory to Black Sea. Its basin is in the heartland of South Central and South Eastern Europe. And basically agricultural practices, forestry, mining, natural areas, settlements and industries constitute land use in Danube River Basin. In this scope, Danube River as a second largest river after the Volga at Europe is main factor profoundly leading to pollution of Black Sea. (3) Human activities, agriculture especially in Romania which uses almost %69 of its land for agriculture and the country is almost entirely within the Danube Basin- and industrial sectors such as paper, iron, chemicals and mining are causing significant pollution and degradation of water quality in Danube River Basin. And correspondingly this situation, Black Sea is affected directly by pollution of its largest tributary, Danube River. To date, the main problems affecting water quality and causing pollution in the Danube include: high loads of nutrients and eutrophication (4), contamination with hazardous substances such as oils, microbiological contamination, and contamination with substances causing heterotrophic growth and oxygen depletion, and competition for available water. (5) The major cause of eutrophication in Danube River and Black Sea is excessive loads of nutrients to Danube from agricultural areas locating in Danube River Basin. Nutrients especially nitrogen and phosphorus- are vital for life in the rivers and the sea. Although the presence of excessive nutrients can seriously disturb the functioning of ecosystems, especially in lakes, in slowly flowing parts of rivers, and in the Black Sea. (6) In respect of contamination with hazardous substances apart from permanently discharging of hazardous compounds from the iron, paper and chemical factories, gold mining in Romanian and Ukrainian Carpathians constitutes considerable source of this

contamination. And gold mining industry represents a risk for the region due to spilling hazardous chemicals into river and accidents which have been occurring in storage areas. Australian, Canadian and British companies are currently taking over old, state-owned companies in the region, where cyanide leaching is used to extract the last residues of gold from the soil or from the remnants of previous mining operations. (7) On the other hand, organic pollution triggers the environmental degradation and the reduction of water quality in Danube River, its basin and Black Sea region. The most serious organic pollution problems occur in tributaries that regularly receive untreated or inadequately treated wastewater from industrial plants and municipalities. (8) In addition, Danube is classified as moderately polluted to critically polluted in the Saprobic system (9) due to increased organic pollution. (10) This clearly demonstrates us to act urgently to prevent water quality and environment of Danube River Basin and relatively Black Sea. To date, legally binding projects framework directives were implemented such as Water Framework Directive and The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). ICPDR was established in 1998 and since its creation in 1998 the ICPDR has promoted policy agreements and the setting of joint priorities and strategies for improving the state of the Danube and its tributaries. Improvement of basin management plans by this date is compulsory for all European Union (EU) countries as per the requirements of Water Framework Directive. WFD is very good example of for governing water resources. And most of countries on Danube River basin have been working to harmonize with WFD standards. And partial success was achieved. Additionally various governmental agencies and organizations were established to prevent Danube water resources, although there is no effective coordination between of these organizations and agencies. (11) And the fact that, apart from governmental organizations and agencies, it is required to good co-operation between NGOs and civil society. Because, above all things water users and citizens should be conscious about using of water sources they have got. For this reason, these NGOs should collaborate to raise awareness in Danube River basin and Black Sea region. And people who live in this region resist the mismanagement and harmful using on their water sources to preserve their agriculture livelihoods in Danube River basin and fishery potential in Black Sea. There was a saying in the 50s and 60s that had Johann Strauss lived up to our day, he would have changed the title of his popular waltz Blue to Brownish Danube . (12) Unfortunately, that saying is still current issue for this region. At this date and age, were living crucial times in terms of environmental degradation and pollution of water resources for Danube River, its basin and Black Sea. And now we should boost our collaboration between governments, agencies, organizations most particularly NGOs, urgently.

(1)The Commission on the Protection of the Back Sea Against Pollution, http://www.blacksea-commission.org ( 12.09.2011) (2)The Commission on the Protection of the Back Sea Against Pollution, http://www.blacksea-commission.org ( 12.09.2011) (3).Bilen, Turkey and Water Issues in the Middle East, 2009, Ankara, p. 142-144. (4)The process by which a body of water acquires a high concentration of nutrients, especially phosphates and nitrates. These typically promote excessive growth of algae. As the algae die and decompose, high levels of organic matter and the decomposing organisms deplete the water of available oxygen, causing the death of other organisms, such as fish. Eutrophication is a natural, slow-aging process for a water body, but human activity greatly speeds up the process. - Art, 1993

(5)Governance of transboundary pollution in the Danube River Jacqueline McGlade / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 5 (2002) 95110p (6)International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), http://www.icpdr.org/ (08.09.2011) (7)Governance of transboundary pollution in the Danube River Jacqueline McGlade / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 5 (2002) 95110 (8)International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River(ICPDR), http://www.icpdr.org/ (08.09.2011) (9)A system by which a body of polluted water is divided into zones characterized by the presence of certain organisms that are treated as indicators of the degree of pollution. (10)UNESCO, Water: A shared Responsibility, UNESCO, Roma, p.476 (11)UNESCO, s.476; T. E. Maden , EU Water Frame Directive and Example of Maritza , unpublished Phd Dissertation, 2010, p. (12).Bilen, p.144.