News

Salinization is a global threat to freshwater habitats that has been intensified by climate change. In our work in Austrian waters, we repeatedly encounter algae and animals that actually belong in brackish or saline water and not in freshwater. But how is salinity actually assessed?

A contribution to the topic of salinity criteria for the protection of freshwater ecosystems. (Download)

DWS provides experts in an EU program (EU4Environment) on behalf of the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt) in Vienna and this time Wolfram was in the South Caucasus. We train our colleagues from Armenia and Georgia in sampling, evaluation and interpretation for phytobenthos and macrozoobenthos.

Two articles from that journey in the local press:

http://env.am/news/news-hidro-monitoring-haj-vrac

http://armmonitoring.am/post/1174

At the discussion event (YouTube-Link) “Lake Neusiedl – a Region in Transition” the expert opinion of our managing director Mag. Dr. Georg Wolfram was asked.

more [in GER]…

The expert opinion on the effects of water supply from the Moson-Danube to the Neusiedler See region with contribution from DWS is ready for download [GER]:

Gutachten über die Auswirkungen einer Wasserzufuhr aus der Moson-Donau in die Region Neusiedler See

The Maldives? No – Lake Neufeld! Corals? No – Characea.

These colorful pictures were taken during the last macrophyte survey.

We are very happy to welcome Judith Streimelweger to our team. After completing her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Vienna, she is in the master’s program at the UAS Technikum Wien for Ecotoxicology and Environmental Management and actively supports us with water analytics in the chemistry team. We’re glad your way led you to us!

Last week we started the fishing season 2022 at river Lafnitz successfully!

This year, the World Water Day proclaimed by the United Nations has the motto “Groundwater – making the invisible visible”

World Water Day 2022
Wasseraktiv – BMLRT

° Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere.

° Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater, supporting drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farming, industry and ecosystems.

° What we do on the surface matters underground. We must only put harmless, biodegradable products on the soil and use water as efficiently as possible.

° Groundwater crosses borders. We must work together to manage transboundary groundwater resources.

° We cannot manage what we do not measure. Groundwater must be thoroughly explored, analyzed and monitored.

° Groundwater will play a critical role in adapting to climate change. We must protect and explore groundwater, balancing the needs of people and the planet.

We took these peaceful pictures in and around Donetsk in 2014. Since then, we were determined to make a contribution to improving the ecological state of waters in this Danube riparian state during several projects. Now, we are committed to the people in this country who are experiencing unbelievable suffering. We will shift our shock and dismay into action. In addition to the private effort of our employees to help, we will also do our utmost as a company to support and to express our solidarity.

Last week we started with the phytobenthos and macrozoobenthos sampling season 2022! We look forward to more days in the field 🙂