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Gabčíkovo River Barrage System: The Ecological Disaster and Economic Calamity for the Inland Delta of the Middle Danube

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Abstract

The Gabčíkovo Water Project (GWP), a major construction of damming and canalizing on the upper part of the middle Danube was completed and put into operation in October 1992. It destroyed most of the 230 km2 of wetlands. Two-thirds of the wetlands are becoming dry, discontinuous or severely changed which will ultimately destroy the original ecosystem and lead to a decline in biological diversity. Based upon detailed knowledge of the limnology and fish biology of this section of the Danube River the effects of the GWP were predicted as early as 1964. All the recent post-construction impact studies of the GWP report few negative effects and so the planners and builders defend the project. It is difficult to believe that all sides in the current GWP legal controversy have overlooked the most important point. Any effects immediately after construction are purely transitory. A large body of published empirical and theoretical information clearly shows that the mostly negative effects of such large water projects become apparent only several years or decades after construction. The value of the destroyed wetland and river floodplain is at least US $ 520 million per year, and clearly incriminates the VV (Vodohospodárska výstavba) of fraudulent representation of 'benefits'. The enormous flood of devious publications glorifying the work of the VV in recent years should be interpreted as a cover up for the bad conscience of the builders. The International Court of Justice in the Hague delivered its judgement on the GWP case on 25 September 1997. There were no winners in this case as both Slovakia and Hungary were said to have acted inappropriately: it was illegal for Hungary to stop its part on the project according to the treaty of 1977, and Slovakia had no right to put Gabčíkovo into operation unilaterally. As the Court dealt little with the social, environmental and economic aspects of the GWP, the true losers became the inland delta of the Danube, the last large wetland of Europe, and the local inhabitants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Axelrod Institute of Ichthyology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada (e-mail

    Eugene K. Balon

  2. Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 842 06, Bratislava, Slovakia (e-mail

    Juraj Holčík

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  1. Eugene K. Balon
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Balon, E.K., Holčík, J. Gabčíkovo River Barrage System: The Ecological Disaster and Economic Calamity for the Inland Delta of the Middle Danube. Environmental Biology of Fishes 54, 1–17 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007576103855

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