Fishponds as an element of surface waters network – overview, history, function

Historically, fishponds are a part of our landscape and Christmas carp is also a part of our culture. This paper describes the history of fishpond management and the different functions of fishponds – the development of fish production as food, the influence on quality of surface waters, the influence on climate and on hydrological regime of the landscape, and the issue of fishpond sediments – their removal and further use. As there is no general pond register in the Czech Republic, so (as part of the DivLand project) we created the Map of water bodies and fishponds in Czech Republic, based on the ZABAGED (primary base of geographical data
in the Czech Republic). For water bodies with an area over 1.0 ha, a public database (xls) was created; bodies over 5.0 ha were classified into groups (fishponds, reservoirs, flooded areas, lakes). The database also contains accessible data on the quality of fishpond sediments. Fishpond sediments are a favourable material for improving the quality of agricultural soils; problems with their use are mostly technical and economical.

Assessment of the status of surface water bodies in the Czech Republic for 2019–2021

The article presents the results of the assessment of the status of surface water bodies in the Czech Republic for 2019 to 2021. The status assessment has been carried out by T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute, p. r. i. (TGM WRI), Biology Centre CAS, and the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI). The status of the water bodies was evaluated according to monitoring data from the River Boards state enterprises and – in the case of selected priority substances in biota – from the CHMI. The assessment procedures were the same as in the previous status assessment for 2016 to 2018, which was incorporated into the river basin management plans for the third planning period. The article focuses on presenting the results of the assessment, which was prepared by the TGM WRI. It is a summary assessment of the ecological and chemical status of water bodies, an evaluation of chemical and physico-chemical indicators and a comparison of the results of the assessment for 2019 to 2021 with the assessment for 2016 to 2018. In 2019 to 2021, good chemical status was not achieved in 57.6 % of water bodies; the problematic pollutants are mainly polyaromatic hydrocarbons; in the ‘biota’ matrix there was also mercury and brominated diphenyl ether. Good ecological status/potential has not been achieved in 92.3 % of water bodies; the problematic indicators are mainly biological quality elements and phosphorus.

Interview with Mrs. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Birgit Vogel, ICPDR Executive Secretary

One of the biggest international activities in water protection is the multilateral cooperation in protecting the Danube. It originally started in the 1980s in the form of the Declaration signed in Bucharest in 1985, which concerned the Danube River itself. In 1992, at the initiative of the European Communities, the internationally supported Danube Environment Programme was launched, covering the entire Danube basin including its tributaries. In parallel, work was underway to prepare a Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube. The Convention was submitted for signature in Sofia on 29th June
1994 and entered into force on 22nd October 1998. The Contracting Parties to the Convention are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Ukraine, and the European Union. In August 2022, for the first time, a woman became the Executive Secretary of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) – Prof. Dr.-Ing. Birgit Vogel.