Geographically, the Danube begins in Swabia in southern Germany and heads east and south to meet the Black sea. En route, the mainstem passes ten countries, and the whole basin spans almost ten more. These are not countries that easily fit the definition of a classic nation-state either: the eastern reaches in particular show the patchy mix of ethnic minorities, languages and distinct language-groups, occasionally conflictual religions, and old power struggles and arguments that have shifted borders regularly. And promise to keep doing so in the future. Humans do not make the Danube basin any easier to support conservation or sustainable development.

From an ecological and management perspective, the basin presents some interesting gradients as well. The western regions should be receiving more precipitation from climate change, especially at higher elevations. Floods happen more often, and the last ten years have seen some massive destruction in the central and lower reaches as a result; 2006 was especially bad, causing hundreds of millions in damage. To the east in Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and in the Black sea delta, droughts are increasing in frequency and severity. Thus, the lower, eastern areas are being squeezed in a drought and flood vice: too much water, all at the wrong time.

Of course, there is also the political gradient: increasing cultural complexity and economic need as you move to the east. Inter- and intra-state conflict has been a big issue in the Balkans in the past 20 years with the dissolution of the Czeck Republic and Slovakia, the breakup of Yugoslavia in a violent war, the tensions around Kosovo, and the unease surrounding Macedonia’s relationship with Greece.

The Danube tries to cross this stage channelized through old flood-control measures, drained wetlands, many small and a few large dams, feeling the effects of poorly regulated pollutants. The upper river was long ago put under the firm thumbs of Germany and Austria, but in the Carpathian mountains -- particularly at the Iron Gates region -- large dams have substantially affected the health of the river. The communist era particularly saw a growth of ill-considered irrigation and water storage schemes. Pollution is a big problem here too, as is unconstrained development.

All of these issues are settling into the furrows of my brain. We met for few days in an old farmhouse in the Vienna Woods (the Vienerwald) above the city, sitting between the end of the Alps and the start of the Carpathians. People from all along the river: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, and Bulgaria, as well as a few stray people from outside of the basin like myself, a few other North Americans with close ties to Austria, and a Brit (as well as the Dutch in spirit). Good, interesting people, all. People who ranged from pounding the halls in Brussels for the EU on water issues to folks who traveled along the channels of the delta looking for dams and building projects by development pirates. People who strangely all spoke English.

Concerns were variable. Lots of people were worried about the path of economic growth in the east. There was also a lot of concern about the future of sturgeon (they don’t respond well to dams or large-scale water pollution, much less overharvesting), the development of hydropower in the Carpathians, and the bimodal problem of too little and too much water in the lower Danube.

I’ve seen in many cases a serious tension between being able to make a thorough list of the important challenges facing a system and the being able to match up the realistic capabilities and expectations of a small program; this event was no different. In the end, we endorsed an idea to press forward with flood control through very large scale wetlands restoration. Trying to move people out of the floodplain and then turning this land into functional, healthy wetlands seemed the best way to provide more room for flexibility and growth in the system as a whole — remedying some old wrongs, preparing for some new threats.

Tags: europe, policy, impacts, Danube