Overall assessment of surface water quality in the Lower Danube River

Water is an important receptor of environmental problems generated by anthropogenic activities, the water quality being affected by their magnitude and impact as well as by climate change. Given the international and cross-border nature of the Danube River and being aware that the pollution risk assessment is one of the key elements of the ecology and health of the people in its region, this paper assessed the state of water quality in the Lower Danube River in accordance with Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC). The intensive monitoring program applied by the National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection (INCDPM) took place during the period 2011–2017, in which approximately 1500 samples were taken and processed from 10 monitoring sites and the quality indicators stipulated in M.O. 161/2006 were analysed according to the standards in force. In this monitoring area (km 375–km 175), hydrotechnical works have been done in order to improve navigation conditions. Therefore, on the basis of the data obtained from the monitoring campaigns, multivariate statistical methods of water quality assessment were applied on the complex set of data, and at the same time, the multiparametric quality index (ICPM) was applied, an index of global comparative assessment of water quality over historical trends, developed by INCDPM. Following the evaluation of the results, the water quality in the Lower Danube River was characterized as moderately polluted and corresponds to Class III of surface water quality. The ecosystem approach indicates that the values of the monitored indicators did not correspond to the target values according to the Water Framework Directive.