12 and 13 September 2013 OECD Conference Centre Paris, France

The role of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine in the Prevention and Mitigation of Disruptive Shocks Ingwer de Boer Special advisor for the Minister of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment

Structure of the presentation

• Geography and Historical Background

• Rhine Action Programme 1987-2000

• Master Plan „Rhine 2020“

• Flood Action Plan

• The Netherlands Room for the River Programme

• What makes the ICPR effective?

2

The River Rhine – small but important

The River Rhine

Karte BfG

• length: 1,320 km

• basin area: 185,000 km²

• draining off: 2,290 m³/s

(D-NL boarder)

• inhabitants in c.a.: > 50 Mio.

• drinking water for: 20 Mio inhab.

• shipping: ca. 11,000 ships

ca. 200 Mio. tons

20 % hazardous!

• 50 % of whole Europe‘s

chemical industry in river basin

The source in the Swiss Alpes

Rhine journey from source to mouth

Basel, http://www.visumsurf.ch/images/rhein_basel.jpg

Upper Rhine near Breisach www.kaiserstuhl-breisgau.de

Upper Rhine near Ingelheim

Middle Rhine

(UNESCO World Heritage) Lower Rhine in Düsseldorf

Rhine Delta in the Netherlands

The River Rhine: two faces

Romantic Valley

(UNESCO World Heritage) Industrialization

The Sandoz Accident

November 1st, 1986: stockroom 956 of the chemical company SANDOZ near Basle (Switzerland) is burning down. 30 tons of pesticides are discharged into the river Rhine.

The Rhine Action Programme 1987-2000

Targets:

Fauna species which had vanished (Salmon etc.) should again return.

Drinking water production from Rhine water should continue.

The pollutant contents of river sediments should be reduced.

Means:

Inventory of „priority substances“ and intensive monitoring

Reduction of point source inputs

Prevention of accidents and enhancing security of industrial plants.

Warning and Alert Plan Rhine

Establishing of fish passes

1991 „Ecological Master Plan Rhine“ habitat patch connectivity.

etc.

Success of Rhine Action Programme I

Expense of 40 Bill. € (20 Bill. communal, 20 Bill. industrial) in the river basin area for advanced waste water treatment between 1986 and 2000

The loads decreased

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

t

1985 1992 1996 2000

AOXindustrial u. communal discharges

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

t

1985 1992 1996 2000

Trichloromethaneindustrial u. communal

discharges

Success of Rhine Action Programme II

The concentrations decreased

Ammonium Nitrogen

0,0

0,3

0,6

0,9

1,2

1,5

19

66

19

71

19

76

19

81

19

86

19

91

19

96

20

01

20

06

mg

/l

Cadmium (Cd)

in suspended solids

1973-2006

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

19

73

19

76

19

79

19

82

19

85

19

88

19

91

19

94

19

97

20

00

20

03

20

06

mg

/kg

Rhine 2020 Programme On The Sustainable Development Of The Rhine

Targets:

Rhine ecosystem improvement:

esp. habitat connectivity and up- and downstream migration

Flood prevention and flood protection

risks of flood damage must be reduced by 25 % by 2020

extreme flood peaks must be reduced by up to 70 cm.

Water quality

production of drinking water should be possible

no adverse effect on the biocoenosis

fish must be apt for human consumption

disposal of dredged material must not have any adverse impact.

Groundwater protection

good groundwater quality

balance between abstraction and recharge

Means: Continuation of Rhine Action Programme ... and more!

Floods of the river Rhine

The Flood Action Plan – 5 measures 1998-2020

Categories of measures Cost

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Water storage in the Rhine basin 9 Bill. US $

-> Reduce extrem flood stages for 10 cm

2. Water storage along the Rhine 3 Bill. US $

-> Reduce extrem flood stages for 45-60 cm

3. Technical flood protection 2 Bill. US $

-> Reduce damages

4. Preventive measures in the area of planning 100 Mio. US $

-> Reduce the potential risks

5. Flood Forecasting 15 Mio. US $

-> Prolong the forecasting periods

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reduce extreme flood stages 60 – 70 cm 14 Bill. US $

Possible methods for restoring flood protection on the Rhine

Expansion of dykes

Construction of flood plains

(polders)

Setting back the dykes

Increasing the size and raising the height of the dykes

Construction of measures for holding back floodwater

POSSIBLE METHODS

FOR RESTORING

FLOOD PROTECTION

• Expansion of dykes

• Construcion of measures for

• Holding back floodwater

Polder

Rhein

Vorland

Existing dyke

Inflow

structure

New

dyke

Outflow

structure

Existing

dyke

removed

Reactivated

flooding area

New dyke

Existing

dyke

Setting back the dyke

Flood protection measures on the Upper Rhine

• Agreement between Germany and France

56 million m³ in France

170 million m³ in Germany

• Administration agreement in Germany

126 million m³ Baden – Württemberg

44 million m³ Rhineland-Palatinate

Baden-

Württemberg

Rheinland-

PfalzFrankreich

fertiggestellt

in Betrieb

in Betrieb

STATE OF FLOOD

PROTECTION

MEASURES

The Netherlands below sea level

• 16 million people

• More than 50% of Dutch citizens live below sea level

The Netherlands without flood defences

Dike Breaches 1700-1950

Dike breach near Nijmegen 21 February 1799

Flood in Deventer, 1914 and 2011

Dike Rings in the Netherlands Legal safety standards

depend on: - economic importance - population density

Near Floodings, evacuations 1993 and 1995

Flood safety standards

• Discharge at Lobith

(border NL)

• Average:

2,200 m3/s

• Highest level (1993/1995):

12,000 m3/s

• Discharge 1/1250 yr:

16,000 m3/s

1. Safer Dutch river areas by 2015.

Safety for 2-4 million inhabitants

2. Give local governments a chance to develop their spatial areas at the same time

Two aims:

Room for the River Programme

More than 30 Room for the River projects

Types of measures

Depoldering

Overdiepse Polder

Noordwaard depoldering ‘current situation’

Noordwaard: average situation (0,70 m + NAP)

Highwater 1 * year (2.00 m + NAP), every year in winter

Extreme situation (3.50 m + NAP), once every 500 years

Dike relocation: Nijmegen – Lent

NIJMEGEN

Trein station

Waal Brug

Spoor-brug

Waal

LENT

NIJMEGEN

Room for the River project in realisation

Nijmegen new situation

Nijmegen current situation

New Quay Nijmegen and Quay Orleans France

Rules of cooperation

• De-centralised organization

• National delegations

– political mandate

– technical know how

– funds

• Consensus

• Decisions are recommendations

• Obligation to report on the implementation of measures

• Political trust, no sanctions

• Neutral secretariat

Regular budget

- Regular budget (1.000.000 €/a)

- 75% salaries (secretariat)

- Rent, publications, computers, communication

•Rhine Convention •Rules of procedure and financial regulations

What makes the ICPR effective?

The Rhine basin is an

International River Basin District

(IRBD)

international Co-ordination is

essential

Plenary Session (PLEN)

Co-ordination Committee (CC)

Delegation leaders

Redaction Group

Bord

erin

g S

tate

s*

Secretariate

WG Floods

(H)

WG Water

Quality/

Emissions

(S)

WG Ecology

(B)

Expertgroups

GIS

Economy (E)

Strategy Group (SG)

International Co-ordination: ICPR

* Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), France, Germany,

Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Switzerland

Regular budget

- Regular budget (1.000.000 €/a)

- 75% salaries (secretariat)

- Rent, publications, computers, communication

What makes the ICPR effective?

ICPR

2.5%: EC

12.0%: Switzerland

85.5%: France (32.5%)

Germany (32.5%)

Netherlands (32.5%)

Luxemburg ( 2.5%)

WFD (special budget)

32% each: France, Germany Netherlands

1.5% each: Austria, Luxemburg

0.5% each: Belgium/Wallonia, Liechtenstein

Seat in Koblenz (D)

Support of meetings (80/year)

Positions (11)

1 head

3 experts

4 interpreters / translators

3 administrative staff

Working languages

German

French

Dutch

ICPR - Secretariat

What makes the ICPR effective?

Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment

Thank you for your attention

Ingwer de Boer

Special advisor for the Minister

Of the Ministry of Infrastructure and

the Environment

International Cooperationin Water Management

ICPDR Ivan Zavadsky

Paris, 13 September 2013

Experiences from the Danube River Basin

From Black Forest to Black Sea

1, 2

, 4, 6

: wik

iped

ia/G

FDL;

5 IC

PD

R/M

ello

Danube Basin by 1990

environmental degradation

19 countries

environmental awareness

pollu

tion:

isto

ckph

oto;

bar

b w

ire: w

ikip

edia

, GFD

L

Danube RiverProtection Convention

29 June 1994, Sofia (Bulgaria)

Protection of water & ecological resources

Sustainable useof water

Reduce nutrients & hazardous substances

Manage floods& ice hazards

Danube RiverProtection Convention

(b) planned activities and measures in the field of water construction works, in particular regulationas well as run-off and storage level control of water courses, flood control and ice-hazardsabatement, as well as the effect of facilities situated in or aside the watercourse on its hydraulicregime;

...

(e) the handling of substances hazardous to water and the precautionary prevention of accidents.

Part A: ICPDRPart B: Countries, bi-lateral, sub-basin organisationPart C: Management units within country (e.g. municipality)

Role of ICPDR regarding EU Directives (WFD & EDF)

Contracting Parties

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Serbia

Montenegro

Romania

Bulgaria

Rep. of Moldova

Ukraine

European Union

Germany

Austria

Czech Republic

Slovakia

Hungary

Slovenia

Croatia

ICPDR Delegations of Contracting Parties

River Basin Management

RBM EG

PM EG

MA EG

Flood EG

IMGIS EG

PP EG

ICPDRSecretariat

ad hocS EG

ad hoc Strategic

Pressures & Measures

Monitoring & Assessment

Flood Protection

Public Participation

Information Management & Geographical Information

System

APC EGAccident

Prevention/ControlTask

Groups

Stakeholder Involvement:22 Observers

Key Issues & Activities

Organic Pollution

Nutrient Pollution

Hazardous Substances Pollution

HydromorphologicalAlterations

ICDPR Activities directly related to Human Security

reds

ludg

e.bm

.hu

Danube AEWS

NFI

/Bau

mga

rtner

iSto

ckph

oto

ICPDRAccident

Prevention

ARS-Inventory Safety Measures Emergency Planning

Industrial Sites ContaminatedSites

Recommendations

SusceptibleSitesChecklists Mutual

Assistancy

WRI-Methodology

M1-, M2-Methodology

- Basic SafetyRequirements

- ContaminatedSites

- Tailing Dams

- ContaminatedSites

-Refineries

- Tailing Dams

Principal International Alert Centers

• Communication Unit

• Expert Unit

• Decision Unit

AEWS Operation

AEWS started its operation in 1997;The ICPDR Secretariat maintains the Internet-based central communication system, which is integrated with the ICPDR information system (Danubis); AEWS upgrade built on the open source software was launched in March 2013An ICPDR Task-Group supervises the system operation;Regular tests are being organized by Secretariat

i i 24/ d f h

AEWS homepage

• All PIACs responded and reacted within 3 hours response time threshold

• General improvement of response times observed

AEWS 24/7 operability tests

UA2 MD SI BA HU UA1 RS CZDE

BG HRSK AT

RO

00:00

01:00

02:00

03:00

04:00

05:00

06:00

PIAC

Res

pons

e Ti

me

(hh:

mm

)

2010 2011 2012

Inventory of industrial sites

Red Sludge spill 2010

Red Sludge spill 2010

AEWS:Lessons learned from the major accidents

There is a contradiction between the need of careful checking of information by decision makers and the need of a quick communication of accident data to downstream countries. Rapid AEWS reaction during accidents helps to create confidence and avoids any suspicion of hiding facts. APC EG recommendation that an alert should be triggered whenever there exists a chance that the pollution caused by an accident could have

d t b d i t th h th

Flood Protection:Danger of floods in DRB

The Danube River Basin suffered from massive floods in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2013

09 StWG Meeting

Floods 2010

Agenda Item: 4.1

ICPDR response to floods:Flood Action Programme

Action Programme on Sustainable Flood Protection in the Danube River Basin adopted in 2004

Improvement of flood forecasting and early flood warning

systems (linking of national/regional systems, EFAS)

Preparation and coordination of sub-basin flood action plans

Creating forums for exchange of expert knowledge

Recommendation for a common approach in assessment of

flood prone areas and evaluation of flood risk

Action Programme –Basin-wide targets

Action plans for sub-basins

17 flood action plans for the sub-basins prepared in 2009;

First comprehensive overview of hundreds of measures to reduce flood risks ever prepared in DRB.

Danube Declaration 2010

Adopted by the Danube ministers;

Flood protection is not short-term task but

permanent task of highest priority;

Commitment to implement EFD and develop flood

risk management plan(s) for DRBD.

Flood hazard maps (under development)

Further information: www.icpdr.org

Thank you!