Photo: Rita Newman
“Active for our water”
Tell us what you think about Austria’s rivers and lakes and answer the questions around their status!
At www.wasseraktiv.at you can post your comments on the measures proposed along individual river sections, you can upload water photographs or simply inform yourself about the national water management plan. There is also a new brochure, entitled “Aktiv für unser Wasser” (Active for our water), which comprises all details of the Water Framework Directive.The basis is the draft of the First Austrian Water Management Plan, a joint document prepared by many experts from the Federal Government, the Provinces, NGOs, operators of power plants, but also stakeholders such as fishermen. It comprises numerous concrete measures along individual river sections. As these projects are important for the sustainable maintenance of water as a basis of life, also the population must be integrated.
In recent years the Ministry of Life has paid great attention to offering Austrians excellent drinking and bathing water quality. These efforts have been successful in many of Austria’s lakes, and Austrian rivers have become clearly cleaner. The chemical status of Austria’s waters is all right. Nowadays there are actually no cases of exceeded limit values for chemical pollutants. Also in terms of nutrient pollution the status of 80 percent of the running waters and of all Austrian lakes is very good. Moreover, the pollution of the groundwater by nitrate and pesticides has markedly decreased over the past few years.
Also from the ecological point of view, the great majority of Austria’s lakes are completely o.k. 65 percent of them have a very good status, 35 percent have a good status. Less satisfactory, however, is the situation with hydro-morphological aspects of running waters. Only one third of Austria’s running waters have a very good or good status in terms of ecology. 67 percent of the Austrian rivers and brooks do not show a good status, with the largest share - 49 percent - having moderate quality. This is due to the intensive use of water power and the comprehensive flood control measures of recent years. The most serious problems are regulated river banks, dammed-up water, or lack of passability.
The Water Framework Directive of the European Union shows which direction enhancements of the ecological status should take. By the year 2015 a first step towards reaching a good status is to be made; in 2027, at the latest, all natural running waters are to have a good or very good status. To Austria, this means in concrete terms that passability has to be achieved and that near-natural water structures have to be developed. As a first step, hydropower stations and flood control buildings are to be made passable again by 2015 in order that fish can migrate to their spawning grounds and their habitats are interlinked. For these and other measures on Austrian running waters the Federal Government will grant subsidies of totally 140 million to communities and operators of power plants by 2015.
05.06.2009, Lebensministerium Öffentlichkeitsarbeit