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Expert Groups (EGs) are the backbone of the operation and the success of the ICPDR. They are composed of national experts from the Contracting Parties and representatives from ICPDR observer organisations. Eight different Expert Groups deal with a variety of issues and make recommendations to the ICPDR.

The Accident Emergency Warning System (AEWS) of the Danube River Basin is activated whenever there is a risk of transboundary water pollution, or threshold danger levels of certain hazardous substances are exceeded.

The floodplains and wetlands of the Danube basin are uniquely valuable ecosystems in global terms, although few areas are still in their natural or near-natural state.

Since the 16th century, people have been changing the natural course of the rivers in the Danube River Basin, mainly for flood defence, hydropower generation and navigation. All these changes affect the ecological quality of the rivers. Changes in the depth or width of a river typically reduce flow rates, interrupting natural sediment transportation as well as the migration routes of animals.

Water quality in the Danube has improved over the years, but there is still much work to be done to meet the region’s goals for water status. To improve the water quality, an ambitious programme of measures for the whole Danube River Basin District has been agreed under the EU WFD. To assess trends in water quality, the ICPDR oversees the TransNational Monitoring Network (TNMN). The network carefully monitors physical, chemical and biological conditions in the Danube and its tributaries, and provides in TNMN Yearbooks an annual overview of pollution levels as well as long term trends for water quality in the basin.