You are on page 1of 18

RHINE RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT

•1
•2
•3
•4
•5
•6
UPSTREAM
DOWNSTREAM
3rd biggest
European river

9 countries,
58 million
Inhabitants

Drinking water
supply for 30
million people
PROBLEMS

10-30 tons of highly toxic pesticides


flowed into the river

Chemical pollution
 From industries
 From agriculture

Salination (French salt


mines)

Climate change

Ecology of Rhine Ecosystem

Flooding issues
eliminate Improve water
phosphorous and quality to make
nitrates indigenous
species return to
the river

The Rhine
Action
Programme
Build industrial
wastewater Improve the
treatment plants entire ecosystem

Strengthened
flora and fauna

The first survey in 1992 already gave evidence of a considerable reduction of pollutants
The Flood Action Plan
During Christmas 1993 and in January/February
1995, disastrous flood events occurred

As a reaction, the ICPR adopted a Flood


Action Plan in 1998

Following that, a comprehensive


international water management
programme – Rhine 2020 – was
developed, integrating qualitative and
quantitative aspects of surface waters
and groundwater

All new and additional targets were integrated


into the new 1999 Rhine Convention
River Basin Management
(3 Ambitions)
1. Integrating Elements of the Water System
– Water quality- water quantity
– Flooding and drought
– Ground water – Surface water
– Water chain management

Internal integration  ONE RIVER


2. Water Management and Other Policy Fields
- Water management and land use
- Water management and recreation
- Water management and housing
- Water management and nature, etc.

Policy fields:
Spatial planning; agriculture; housing; nature conservation

External integration  ONE PLAN


3. Cross Border Water Management
- geographical borders
- administrative borders (regions, administrations)

“rivers are not impressed by geographical boundaries”


But
“Administrations do not always care much about rivers”

Cross Border Integration  ONE MANAGEMENT


Co-operation In Water Management
Why co-operation needed in water management?

– To investigate success and failure of regional cross-border co-operation


throughout Europe
– To improve scientific knowledge on the determinants of successful cross-
border co-operation
– To formulate policy advice on how to improve cross-border river basin
management
– To exchange experiences in cross-border river basin management and to
build networks of water managers
Partners in Rivercross

Netherlands-Germany:
• Water quality (Twente)
• River restoration (UDE)
• Flooding (Nijmegen)
THE 1999 RHINE CONVENTION

Contracting Parties:
• Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Netherlands,
• European Union
Cooperation Within The River Basin With:
• Austria, Liechtenstein, Wallonia (Belgium)
Observers:
• Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO's)
• Non-governmental Organizations (NGO's)
THE 1999 RHINE CONVENTION

Scope
• the Rhine itself
• ground water interacting with the Rhine
• aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems which interact or could again interact with the
Rhine
• the Rhine catchment area, in so far as its pollution by noxious substances
adversely affects the Rhine
• it is of importance for flood prevention and protection along the Rhine
THE 1999 RHINE CONVENTION

Mains tasks of the Commission


• prepare international monitoring programmes and studies and make use of their
results
• make proposals for individual measures and programmes of measures
• coordinate the Contracting States’ warning and alert plans for the Rhine
• evaluate the effectiveness of agreed actions
• inform the public as to the state of the Rhine and the results of its work
Challenges and Lessons learned
First Phase (50ties - 70ties twentieth-century)
– Building trust and mutual understanding
– Developing harmonised monitoring and data exchange
– Convincing society of the danger of continuous increasing water pollution
Turning Point: Sandoz Accident
– From short term detailed technical discussion to long termambitious goal setting
– Integration of all relevant policy fields
Challenges for the future
– How correct the impact of missing environmental management of the past
– How to take account of uncertainties regarding the socioeconomic evolution and the impact of climate
change
Conclusion
Co-operation is easier when differences between the countries involved are not too big (similar
arrangements)

Start with low profile co-operation


 Low level of engagement of politicians
 Priority for technical topics

Stress shared interests


 Try to contact organisations with a similar regional background
 Make knowledge, money and other resources available for organisations in the other country

Carefully create a discourse that stresses the importance of cross-border co-operation

You might also like