2. Integrated Rhine river basin management: the ICPR

## 2.1. Historical background

1. Introduction

Figure 1. States in the Rhine catchment.

The Rhine connects millions of people from the Alps to the North Sea. With a length of

tants as well as important cities and fascinating landscapes (Figure 1). Consequently, the Rhine

is culturally, historically and economically one of the most important rivers in Europe.

, 60 million inhabi-

1233 km, its catchment includes nine states, an area of about 200,000 km<sup>2</sup>

124 Achievements and Challenges of Integrated River Basin Management

For many centuries, the Rhine river has played an important role in the history and the social, political and economic development in Europe. Multiple uses, conflicting interests and particularly environmental and flood problems in and along the river have highlighted the importance of an integrated approach aimed at protecting the Rhine.

The foundation of the ICPR 5 years after the end of World War II was a first political success. On 11 July 1950, the ICPR began its discussions on issues of Rhine protection and monitoring with a view to finding joint solutions. Mutual confidence had to be carefully created in the international working groups of the ICPR. The high pollutant loads and the contamination of the Rhine with salt were of great concern for the downstream users.

Thirteen years after its foundation, the ICPR was given a status under international law. In 29 April 1963, the envoys of the German, French, Luxembourgian, Dutch and Swiss government signed the "Convention on the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine against Pollution" in Berne [2]. One year later (1964), a permanent international secretariat was established in Koblenz, Germany, to coordinate the cooperation of the contracting parties in the working languages German and French, since 2003 also in Dutch.

#### 2.2. A real step-by-step approach

At the beginning of the activities of the ICPR, between 1950 and 1970, the first challenge was to establish a common Rhine water quality monitoring from Switzerland down to the Netherlands. However, there was no improvement of water quality to measure. On the contrary, by the end of the 1960s, the Rhine water quality was worse than ever. In 1972, the ministers in charge of environmental protection in the Rhine catchment met for their First Conference of Rhine Ministers. In their next meeting in 1973 in Bonn, they charged the ICPR to draft a Chemical

Convention and a Chloride Convention [3]. Both Conventions were signed in 2 December 1976 in Bonn together with an additional protocol to the Berne Convention of 1963 which confirmed the European Economic Community becoming a contracting party to the ICPR.

assemblies and in working expert groups [2]. The observer status offers public participation to a certain extent and enables information dissemination to a larger public. Further ways of informing the general and specialised public are the website of the ICPR (www.iksr.org),

Transboundary Cooperation and Sustainable Development in the Rhine Basin

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.73260

127

In addition, the cultural importance of the Rhine river must be highlighted. Landscapes, many old Roman towns as well as preserved floodplains and lakes are attracting tourism and leisure activities. Many examples prove that sustainable recreational uses of the Rhine and its environment are possible. The Upper Middle Rhine Valley between Bingen and Koblenz is classified as UNESCO World Heritage Site, and therefore there is an obligation to find the right

To sum up, integrated river basin management was developed within the ICPR step-by-step: the ICPR has been dealing with the reduction of water pollution since 1950, with ecosystem improvement since 1987, with water quantity issues since 1995 and with groundwater issues since 1999. Now, all topics are integrated into the two European Directives (Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000, several daughter directives and the Floods Directive (FD) 2007), and the ICPR is coordinating the basin-wide implementation of both directives within the international river basin district Rhine (IRBD Rhine) [8, 9]. The special ICPR programme is called "Rhine

As mentioned in Part 2, water quality improvement has been a main ICPR task since the Commission's establishment in 1950. The Rhine has had to face tremendous pollution. Flowing through densely populated and industrialised areas, it had to cope with huge loads of untreated wastewater in the past. Additionally, there was some accidental pollution as, for

Between 1950 and 1970, the ICPR established a uniform monitoring programme from Switzerland down to the Netherlands (Figure 2). This required a comparison of the different national monitoring stations and an agreement on an international monitoring programme, the substances to monitor, monitoring frequency, sampling dates and analytic methods. Due to a joint approach of the authorities in charge, the Rhine water quality could and can still be assessed

During the last 40 years and following the many measures taken, the water quality of the Rhine and of many of its tributaries has considerably improved. At an early stage, in the beginning of the 1980s, the ICPR recommended its member states to include a third treatment stage (elimination of phosphates) when planning new wastewater treatment plants. One of the results of this recommendation is that the Rhine water quality steadily improved, in particular

The improved water quality is also reflected by the development of oxygen concentrations at the monitoring stations Rekingen (High Rhine, Switzerland), Koblenz (Middle Rhine,

with respect to heavy metals, total phosphorus and ammonium nitrogen (Figure 3).

balance between landscape conservation and tourism development.

2020 – Programme on the sustainable development of the Rhine" [10].

3. Water quality improvement and challenges

example, the severe Sandoz accident in 1986.

reliably and on a scientific basis.

various brochures, reports and workshops.

In the 1970s and 1980s, successful programmes were developed to reduce inputs of polluted municipal and industrial wastewater, with the focus on "end-of-pipe" techniques, that is, wastewater treatment, rather than on preventive measures within the industrial enterprises. As a result of these measures, the concentrations of toxic substances also dropped.

The Sandoz accident in 1986 clearly illustrated the disastrous impact accidental pollution can have on the whole river. Due to a fire in a Swiss factory producing chemical and pharmaceutical products, between 10 and 30 tons of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides flushed into the river with the fire extinction water and killed almost all aquatic life between Basel and Koblenz (approx. 400 km downstream). Citizens from Switzerland downstream to the Netherlands demonstrated solidarity with the Rhine and its protection. The considerable public pressure exercised on the governments of the states in the Rhine catchment contributed to the increasing influence of the ICPR. The riparian states of the Rhine were forced to act. The governments triggered by two Rhine ministerial meetings after the accident—charged the ICPR to draft a plan aimed at saving the river. One year later the Rhine Action Programme (RAP) was ready for approval [4]. It was designed to thoroughly rehabilitate the Rhine by the year 2000.

When adopting the RAP, the ministers agreed on very challenging and ambitious targets like the return of the salmon by the year 2000 and a 50–70% reduction of inputs of dangerous substances between 1985 and 1995. All along the river, measures were taken to prevent pollution (see Part 3). Since 1970, more than 80 billion Euros have been invested into constructing municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants; today, about 96% of the population in the Rhine catchment are connected to municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Almost all reduction targets were achieved by 2000. Inputs of most priority substances were reduced by 70–100% or were no longer detectable. The success of the Salmon 2000 and Salmon 2020 programmes is evident [5]. Although completely extinct in the 1950s, by 2016, almost 8900 adult salmon returned to the Rhine basin for spawning (see Part 4.5). Further measures are required to achieve a self-sustaining salmon population in the Rhine catchment. The ongoing reactivation of parts of the former floodplain areas will lead to more room for the river, higher biodiversity and a more natural river system (see Parts 4 and 5).

The concept of further integration of policies received an extra impetus and stronger political commitment after the extreme floods in 1993 and 1995 (see Part 5). Two floods were needed to convince the Rhine states that flood prevention measures had to be taken. In 1998, the ICPR adopted an Action Plan on Floods [6]. By 2010, important action targets were achieved after implementing different measures entailing costs of 10.3 billion Euros [7]. With the aim of reducing extreme flood levels, retention areas for 229 million m3 of flood water along the main stream have been created.

Since 1998 and in order to integrate the main uses and functions within the Rhine basin in the working process, the ICPR grants an observer status to non-governmental organisations (NGO) and stakeholders, thus giving them the possibility to participate in the plenary assemblies and in working expert groups [2]. The observer status offers public participation to a certain extent and enables information dissemination to a larger public. Further ways of informing the general and specialised public are the website of the ICPR (www.iksr.org), various brochures, reports and workshops.

In addition, the cultural importance of the Rhine river must be highlighted. Landscapes, many old Roman towns as well as preserved floodplains and lakes are attracting tourism and leisure activities. Many examples prove that sustainable recreational uses of the Rhine and its environment are possible. The Upper Middle Rhine Valley between Bingen and Koblenz is classified as UNESCO World Heritage Site, and therefore there is an obligation to find the right balance between landscape conservation and tourism development.

To sum up, integrated river basin management was developed within the ICPR step-by-step: the ICPR has been dealing with the reduction of water pollution since 1950, with ecosystem improvement since 1987, with water quantity issues since 1995 and with groundwater issues since 1999. Now, all topics are integrated into the two European Directives (Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000, several daughter directives and the Floods Directive (FD) 2007), and the ICPR is coordinating the basin-wide implementation of both directives within the international river basin district Rhine (IRBD Rhine) [8, 9]. The special ICPR programme is called "Rhine 2020 – Programme on the sustainable development of the Rhine" [10].
