ABSTRACT
In the 1980’s a drying process of the floodplains on the middle Danube reach became evident. The statistical analysis of the waterlevels took place first 1992 and later in the 2000’s, and showed that the riverbed of the Danube was lowering, the reason for which was thought to be river regulation.Revising the data series analysis in 2020, the incision process of the riverbed seems to have not changed significantly compared to previous periods. If we look at the sediment loads and parallelly dredging activities on the reach, it seems that these also play an important role in this extensive deepening, while the water regime of the river has not changed substantially. If traditional regulation activities will continue and riverbed erosion will persist or increase in the future, the drying process of the floodplains, constituting very important nature conservation areas, will speed up, leaving the majority of floodplain reconstruction works’ effects negligible, while navigation problems will still not be solved. According to the Water Framework Directive the „good status” of the Danube reach must be achieved. As the river and its floodplains constitute a complex ecological system, this can only be done through the harmonisation of the nature protection aspect reconstruction projects, WFD programmes of measures and navigation development.
