Aqua fons vitae – water as a source of life and irreplaceable component of the nature environment

Though the planet we inhabit is called Earth, what makes the third planet of our solar system unique is water. Most of this water (97.5 %), however, is saline, not directly available for human life. Only negligible amount of freshwater occurs in form of rivers, lakes or groundwater aquifers, systems that represent the main water source for all human well-being.

These ecosystems are continually threatened by various sources of anthropogenic pollution, water abstraction, and by climate changes which influence primarily the global water cycle and cause unpredictable fluctuations in water level and discharges into rivers. The number of temporary watercourses that naturally cease to flow and run dry came as the first warning from our Mediterranean colleagues, while an increasing number of drying systems is now also apparent in Central Europe. All these impacts interact and enhance uncertainty about the availability of freshwater for human life in the near future; at the same time, changes in water quality and quantity might influence all aquatic life.

Our crucial aim is to ensure a sufficient supply of good-quality water for future generations. However, the maintenance and management of freshwater ecosystems require the close cooperation of scientists, politicians and stakeholders, and must arise from the best available knowledge and experience provided by ecologists and limnologists. We hope that the 10th European Symposium for Freshwater Sciences (SEFS10) will offer an opportunity to bring together experts from various freshwater disciplines and contribute substantially to increasing our knowledge of the theoretical and practical aspects of freshwater sciences.