Water quality changes in the Elbe River basin, Czech Republic, in the context of the post-socialist economic transition
Abstract
This paper analyses the temporal dynamics and spatial trends in water quality changes in the Elbe River basin in the context of the post-socialist economic transition of the Czech Republic (Czechia). During the 1990s, the Czech portion of the Elbe River Basin underwent significant changes in the quality of surface waters.
The classification of the spatial distribution of water quality trends revealed that the majority of streams in the Czech Elbe River basin displayed improvement of surface water quality. However, the decrease in pollution levels was spatially concentrated mainly in the Elbe River and its main tributaries, where was the centerpoint of investments, while the most of small streams displays unchanged or deteriorated quality of water.