UNW-DPC International Workshop Institutional Capacity Development in Transboundary Basins

Lessons learned from practical experiences

10 – 12 November 2008Bonn, Germany

From the most Romantic Sewer in Europe to a Living River

- The Rhine Case -

Dr. Fritz HolzwarthDeputy Director General

German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

Rhine river basin in Europe

Characteristics of the river and the basin

• 3rd biggest European river– after Volga and Danube– 1320 km length of the Rhine stream– navigable length: 825 km

• Glacier and snow fed • 9 countries in the catchment

– Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, Netherlands and EU

• Catchment area: 200.000 km²• 58 million inhabitants• Drinking water for 20 million people

Countries in the river

basin

1838

1872

1980

Development of the Rhine hydromorphology

Situation in the 1970s

• In the midth of the 20th century the chemical and ecological status of the Rhine had deteriorated dramatically– industrial development– increase of agricultural production

• more fertilizers

• 1935 the salmon had disappeared– only 20 fish species left

• Since the 1950s it had been more and more difficult to use the Rhine as drinking water ressource– phenol pollution– too salty

First steps

• 1948 international salmon conference– too late

• 1950 establishment of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine

• 1976 Chemical and chloride conventions– reduction of cadmium, mercury etc.– reduction of salt discharges from the salt mines

• 1970 – 1990 more than 40 billion € invested to build waste water treatment plants

Water Quality in the 1970s and its

development

at the monitoring stations

Weil (yellow)Coblence (red)

Bimmen/Lobith (violet)

1986: Fire at Sandoz, Schweizerhalle (CH)

• Fire in a chemical storage facility

• 15.000 l of water for firefighting were discharged in the river– 20 tons of mercury and

pesticides• Nearly all fishes,

especially eels died• Drinking water facilities

were shut down for 18 days

• Ca. 90 million € damages

Sandoz follow up: First Rhine Action Programme

• 1987 – 2000– new or improved waste water treatment plans

• 95 % connected municipalities and industrial sites, 10% improvement– storage facilities for firefighting water at all industrial sites– secure storage of dangerous substances– warning and alarm system– around 13 billion € invested, mostly for waste water treatment

• Results– considerable improvement of water quality

• 70 – 100 % reduction of the problematic substances– considerable reduction of accidents– recovering of the Rhine fauna

• with 63 species the fish fauna is nearly restored • the salmon as „Rhine Symbol“ is back due to the salmon 2000

initiative

Fishes in the River Rhine1950 - 2000

1950 1969 2000without

treatmenttreatment and

monitoring

Current tasks in the Rhine basin• Second Rhine Action programme

– 2000 – 2020– sustainable development of the river

• improvement of ecosystems– e.g. self-sustaining salmon population

• improvement of water quality• groundwater protection• flood prevention

• EC Water Framework Directive– good status of all water bodies in principle until 2015– first international river basin management plan until

December 2009– national programmes of measures– transboundary coordination and cooperation

Today’s water management issues in the Rhine basin

• To restore free migration – through the rivers and to increase the habitat diversity

along the waters• To reduce diffuse pollution

– in particular from nutrients, plant protective agents, metals, dangerous substances derived from historic pollution

• To further reduce point source pollution– in particular due to industrial and municipal inputs

• To harmonize water uses and environmental objectives– navigation, hydropower, flood protection and others

Rhine flood action plan

• Targets– reduce damage risks

• 2005: 10%, target: 25% (2020)

– reduce high-water levels• 2005: 30%, target: 70% (2020)

– increase flood awareness• e.g. via flood risk maps, Rhine flood atlas

– improve flood forecasting system

• First evaluation report– it is difficult to achieve the targets– new EC flood directive has to be taken into account

Rhine Flood Atlas

• Flood risk maps• From Lake Constance

to the North Sea• 34 maps, 1:10.000• Information on

damage risks• Awareness raising

Thank you for your attention!