Liepolt’s primary aim was to establish a strong national foundation for the International Association for Danube Research (IAD) in Austria. In 1975 he held exploratory discussions with leading experts from science, industry, and administration, seeking to unite these three sectors in a single association — an approach later echoed by other institutions under the concept of “ecology–economy.”

Under the name “Austrian National Committee – International Association for Danube Research” (ÖN-IAD), Liepolt drafted statutes defining the association’s main tasks, including:

-Representing Austrian interests within the IAD and contributing to its work

-Promoting progress and exchange in Danube limnology

-Supporting and conducting limnological research in the Danube basin, in cooperation with relevant institutions

-Collecting and documenting specialist literature

-Sending delegates to IAD meetings and other scientific events

-Cooperating with relevant scientific associations

-Organizing lectures, discussions, and publications

-Forming committees and working groups and coordinating research projects

-Providing public information

The founding meeting of the ÖN-IAD took place on 25 February 1976, successfully bringing together science, industry, and administration. Liepolt was elected founding president. His initial priorities were to secure the administrative and financial foundation of the association and to strengthen interest in research on Austrian running waters, especially the Danube and its tributaries. At the time, Danube research had been largely neglected, which later proved problematic during the intense debates about hydropower use near Hainburg, where essential scientific data were missing.

Liepolt managed to stabilize the association financially by encouraging public institutions and economic sectors to join as members. He also initiated Danube research in Austria by developing a research concept on the limnology of river impoundments within the ÖN-IAD. After seven years, and with strong support from the Ministry of Science and Research, an expanded interdisciplinary project — the “Ecosystem Study Danube Reservoir Altenwörth” — was submitted to the MaB Commission. Approved in 1984, it ran for four years, and the results were later published in 1985, 1989, and 2000.

Having achieved these major objectives for Austrian limnological research, Liepolt considered his mission complete and stepped down as president in 1983

During Kohl’s presidency, the main importance was not individual activities but the general approach the committee followed. A multidisciplinary way of working became essential: it made it possible to get more reliable information about the state of the river and to create a better basis for management decisions by combining expert knowledge, practical needs, and system-oriented thinking.

The two central areas—research and information—were continued, expanded, and strengthened. These areas relate to almost all tasks listed in §2 of the ÖN statutes.

At the start of Kohl’s term, good financial conditions allowed the committee to take part, both scientifically and organizationally, in the large “Ecosystem Study Danube Reservoir Altenwörth,” carried out within the MaB programme and partly funded by DOKW. For the first time, important issues could be studied jointly by different scientific fields, showing how valuable this approach was for assessing the river’s condition and possible uses. The ÖN-IAD also played an important role in discussions about the planned Hainburg hydropower plant, using results from this study. After the project was stopped, the ÖN focused on researching the free-flowing section of the Danube.

In 1989, MaB approved another interdisciplinary project, “Ecotone Danube–March.” The committee also supported more than 30 smaller research projects, which provided important detailed knowledge and helped ongoing investigations. A notable initiative was the publication of identification keys for major Danube animal groups—necessary for ecological studies and useful for training young researchers.

Training courses, symposia, workshops, excursions, and publications helped to strengthen professional development and raise awareness. Support for participation in scientific events in Austria and abroad also improved information exchange and encouraged system-oriented thinking.

At the beginning of the 1990s, political changes in the Danube region limited the activities of the IAD, so the Austrian committee (ÖN-IAD) began working even more independently. In spring 1995, the international congress “Large Rivers” was held in Krems with strong international participation. Topics even included the Amazon and rivers in New Zealand, and support came from the Freshwater Biological Association (UK). The conference papers were published in the international journal Archiv für Hydrobiologie, Supplement Large Rivers. In autumn 1997, the annual IAD meeting took place at the Biology Centre of the University of Vienna.

In 1998, the Reinhard Liepolt Prize was awarded for developing a caddisfly identification key. In 2000, the prize was given for limnological studies of Danube side arms and for a book on the grayling.

A symposium organized together with the Austrian Academy of Sciences presented ten years of research results on the New Danube, a flood-relief channel that also serves as a 21-km recreation area—unique in the world in this combination. All presentations were given by ÖN members from research and administration. At the same event, the final report of the “Ecotone Danube–March” project was presented and the main results were published.

During this period, the ÖN-IAD supported many further research projects, for example on eutrophication and macrozoobenthos. Important activities included:

• 1998: Support for the “Pilot Study Danube,” a feasibility study on macrophytes and their habitats along the entire Danube, involving participants from almost all Danube countries.
• After its successful completion, the large follow-up project MIDCC (“Macrophytes, river corridor, land use, habitats: a multifunctional integrative study in the Danube basin”) was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Research from 2001 to 2005.

In a phase when the association began redefining its direction, Schiel stepped down from the presidency at the end of 2002.

Janauer took over the presidency of the association during a period of intense discussion about internal structure and the need to thoroughly revise the statutes, which had long been outdated. A drafting committee worked in numerous meetings to produce a fully reorganized version of the statutes, aligning them with the requirements of the new association law. The association’s name was changed to “Austrian Committee for Danube Research – IAD – SIL”. This reflected the fact that the Austrian IAD group had long-standing international scientific connections with other Danube countries, which it had supported financially and intended to continue. The acronym was simplified to “ÖK – IAD” (for technical reasons, the website continues to use the old designation).

In 2006, the ÖK – IAD was recognized as a “non-profit association under the Federal Finance Act”, allowing sponsors to claim tax deductions for donations.

Key research accomplishments during this period included:

• “Ecotone Danube–March” project: Successfully completed after a long layout process, published as a volume in the MaB series of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, providing insights into previously unexplored aspects of floodplain ecology.
• “Pilot Study Danube”: Results published in a special volume of the Large Rivers supplement of Archiv für Hydrobiologie, covering 18 chapters on aquatic vegetation across multiple Danube countries.
• Since 2002, several further research projects were successfully supported by the ÖK – IAD.

Members of the ÖK – IAD also contributed actively to the preparation of the IAD statutes, which from 2004 were established as a legal association under Austrian law, giving the parent organization a solid legal foundation.

On 25 June 2012, Thomas Hein took over the presidency of the association following the long and successful tenure of Georg Janauer. Under his leadership, the association was opened to additional scientific fields, and an annual professional conference with special thematic focuses was established.