På ett poäng är ledtråden: "Så skön och blå, som titeln på en Straussvals hävdar, är floden tyvärr inte längre."
Rätt svar är naturligtvis Donau, och det fick mig naturligtvis intresserad av att få veta vad som hänt med floden sedan dess. Sökning på Donau tillsammans med olika miljöindikatorer gav mängder med träffar; de flesta dock från just runt 1999-2000, men det finns även en International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River. Ur deras årsrapport från 2006 (pdf):
"Priority and hazardous substances were generally low or not detectable. A new monitoring programme for pesticides has been implemented, and first results show that pesticides were detected mainly in small rivers exceeding quality standards during the pesticide application
period while during the rest of the year concentrations were frequently below detection limits."
"The assessment of rivers with a catchment area of >100 km2 (total length of river net 11.500 km) in 2005 proved that 88% have already achieved ‘very good’ or ‘good’ water quality (saprobiological water quality class I, I-II or II). Some 11% are between ‘good’ and ‘moderate’ quality (saprobiological class II-III), and less than 1% is classified with poorer quality due to organic pollution (saprobiological class III)."
"Most of the results, according to the Czech classification, fell into classes I and II. Some results for COD, Hg, NH4-N, NO3-N, SO4 and PAH were within class III. Fecal streptococus, BOD, Ptotal, Fetotal, AOX exes were in class IV and only chlorophyl was in class V. A number of parameters improved during 2006 relative to 2004: Hg Hg, Ni, Zn and Mn improved from class III to class II, AOX improved from class V to class IV, BOD and Ptotal moved from class
III to class IV."
"The worst situation regarding water quality is still aluminium concentrations and microbiological determinands (taking into account the national classification system), although an improvement is visible according to the lowered concentrations of both parameters."
Fokus verkar nu ligga på översvämningar snarare än föroreningar, och gällande framtiden så verkar de se ljust även på den:
"[E]xpected reductions of nitrogen emissions by 50 kilotonnes/year (kt/a) and of phosphorus emissions by 9 kt/a."
International Herald Tribune skriver i augusti 2007:
"The Danube's water quality improved greatly with the end of communism in early 1990s, which saw a pause in some of the region's heavy industry and large-scale agricultural ventures, both major pollutants of the river.
While many factories and farms have since resumed their activities, stricter environmental standards imposed by the European Union have noticeably dampened their negative effect on the Danube."
IHT:s tes om när förbättringarna började ske stämmer väl överens med ICPDR:s diagram gällande fosforutsläpp (ur 2006-rapporten) - synd bara att de inte lyckats få med 2005 i diagrammet (jag antar att det ska stå 1955 på stapeln längst till vänster):
Och slutligen en bild på återigen sköna, blåa Donau:
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