Toward Improved Water Quality Management in Central and Eastern Europe

Water quality management has become a core environmental issue in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This article outlines the state of water quality in the pre-transition period and analyses the impacts of the transition process on water quality. It also assesses the current reform efforts in water quality management and identifies issues which need to be addressed in the short and longer term for sustaining or extending water quality improvements.The focus is on five CEE countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Other countries in the region, which may have followed a different transition path, are likely to face similar challenges in water quality management in the near future.