Synergies and Conflicts Between Water Framework Directive and Natura 2000: Legal Requirements, Technical Guidance and Experiences from Practice - Wetlands and Water Framework Directive: Protection, Management and Climate Change - page 21

Regarding activities in Natura 2000 sites, the Austrian National RBMP covers
the necessary management in a context of supervision, integrated into the more
basic obligations under WFD implementation and measures for enhancing water
policy, especially for developing regional planning programmes. The best example
and the largest regarding area are the activities in the Danube National Park, which
cover the river reach between Vienna and Bratislava. In this reach the regulation of
the Danube carried out in the late 19th century caused still progressing riverbed
incision (long-time average 2 cm per year; J

ger 2013 , Fig. 5.3 ), which results in
groundwater level reduction in the adjacent riparian forest and oxbow ensemble
along ca. 60 km of river course. This phenomenon threatens the hydrological basis
of the National Park as well as several aspects of commercial navigation. Stopping
or at least substantially reducing this deepening process is the goal of the technical
solution sought, which has to be achieved without impounding the river, and
without causing detrimental effects to the benthic life in the river bottom. Promising
solutions have been worked out so far and a pilot study is in full progress. Special
legal and environmental requirements effective for this river reach called for special
ways of consulting and clearance, and extensive stakeholder involvement, including
NGOs. The needs of integration between HD (comprising the substance of BD, too)
and WFD are met by a sensitive step-by-step approach. This procedure links
ecological, conservation and technical expertise from universities, as well as a
special ' consulting citizens forum ' , and the relevant units of provincial and federal
government (G. Janauer, K. Reiter, I. Korner, 2011, FFH-Lebensraumkartierung.
Endbericht, Bauabschnitt 1. Flussbauliches Gesamtprojekt. viadonau und Bundes-
ministerium f

ä

sterreich), Unpub-
lished report). The status of the Danube River as the assigned European Transport
Corridor VII is also respected and technically integrated in all planning steps. Every
single step of executing the present pilot project needs full agreement by govern-
mental bodies responsible for conservation issues, navigation aspects, details of
material to be used in the construction of groynes and the re-granulation of the river
bottom, etc., as well as clearance by the

ü für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie (bmvit/ Ö

. Following this
line, and by cross consulting of the different bodies involved in the decision sup-
porting process

' consulting citizens forum '

finally a consensus is worked out which allows the basic balance
between ecological, hydrological, and navigation needs.
Another example is the Austrian/Hungarian cross-border National ParkNeusiedler
See/Fert To, where water management under the regulation of the WFD and con-

sidering the needs of the HD is an integrated task for the two responsible federal water
management organisations, the Austrian Federal Agency for Water Management and
the Hungarian North-Transdanubian District Environment and Water Directorate
(Pannonhalmi and Rojacz 2012 ; Pannonhalmi 2013 ). The process of working out
sustainable solutions for lake management was based on many years on fact

ö

nding
and collection of environmental and hydrological data. This informationwas analysed
and commented during of

cial meetings of experts and governmental representatives
assigned to the Austrian/Hungarian Border-Water Commission. Speci c require-

ments of habitats ranging from the shallow lake water body, the extensive reed belt to
the soda

fl flats, ponds and wetlands in the closer surroundings and their complex and