This paper is an abstract of the operative program for water protection in the Republic of Serbia (Yugoslavia) for the next five-year period of time. There is a short review on the present water protection status, particularly status of wastewater treatment plants. It includes layouts of water protection solutions in different fields, by priorities, as well as assessment of necessary capital investments for their implementation.

In order to carry out the program of protection and rational exploitation of Kovilj Marsh (Serbia, Yugoslavia), which is a part of special natural reserve called the Marsh of Kovilj and Petrovaradin, we have done an ecological analysis of the fish community. The research was conducted during the period of "low water", in the autumn 2000, on the following locations: Slajz, Tonja and Arkanj, and we have established the presence of 12 species from 6 different families. The saprobic index of the majority of bioindicative species shows that the water belongs to the beta-mesosaprobic type (the saprobic index according to Pantle-Buck is 2.1). The presence and abundance of certain ecological groups of fish is examined in relation to migration, type of food and type of substrate on which the fish lay their eggs. The results of this examination point to main features of certain localities in this floodplain, as well as to the necessity of taking appropriate measures of protection of this valuable water resource.

Papers on Malaysia -- Thailand -- Australia.

Here are described three innovative and complementary methods for the characterization of polar organics in natural waters. A simple and rugged GC/MS procedure is shown to be well suited for the determination of sulfolane, (tetrahydrothiophene 1,1-dioxide, C4H8O2S; a water miscible chemical used in the sweetening of sour-gas) a compound that is known to be readily sequested by wetland vegetation. In contrast, LC/MS employing electrospray ionization is ideal for the quantification of two other classes of polar chemicals, namely (a) alkanolamines in vegetation and (b) mixtures of naphthenic acids in natural waters in oilsands regions of Northern Alberta, Canada. The modem techniques take advantage of quite simple extraction procedures, with no need for derivatization steps and exploit the polar nature of the chemicals to separate the analytes from high back ground non-polar components. For the alkanolamines, MS/MS is a prerequisite for obtaining diagnostic product ion scans of the molecular ion formed under soft-ionization conditions.