International River Committees

All these different interests compete and need to be balanced according to sound river management principles throughout the river basin. To ensure effective river management, we work closely with other countries in our river basins. This is done through a number of partnerships.

The Rhine

National and international boundaries do not apply to water. For example, water from 9 different countries flows down the Rhine into the North Sea. The complexity lies in the fact that the water is used in many different ways before it reaches the sea.

All these different interests compete and need to be balanced according to sound river management principles throughout the river basin. Rijkswaterstaat, together with all the Rhine riparian states involved, provides resources to ensure that the water is safe and free of risks for future generations.

Like many rivers, the Rhine is facing the effects of climate change, especially after the very hot and dry summers of the last 3 years. A recent example of what cooperation can achieve is the Rhine salmon programme.

By the end of 2016, more than 8,000 adult salmon had migrated up the Rhine to reproduce. This raises hopes that a near stable wild salmon population can be achieved in the Rhine system in the coming years.

Cross-border German-Dutch Working Group on Floods

For over 25 years, the Ministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Verkehr of the German federal state Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf, the Landesamt für Natur, Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz NRW (LANUV), the Dutch Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat, Rijkswaterstaat, the Provincie Gelderland, as well as the waterschappen and Deichverbände on both sides of the border, have been collaborating within the framework of the German-Dutch Working Group on Floods: in Dutch the Duits-Nederlandse werkgroep hoogwater or in German the Deutsch-Niederländische Arbeitsgruppe Hochwasser (D-NL-AG-HW).

The primary objective of the working group is to achieve better flood protection in the German-Dutch border region along the Rhine. To this end, regular meetings are held where the working group exchanges information, knowledge, and experience.

In addition, the working group handles joint public communication, conducts research, and coordinates activities and measures for improved flood protection in the border area. It also ensures the coordination of activities and communications in the German-Dutch border region along the Rhine within the framework of the EU Floods Directive.

Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR)

The Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine, which dates back to the Congress of Vienna (1815), is the oldest international organisation in modern history. Its legal basis is the Revised Convention for the Navigation of the Rhine, known as the Mannheim Document, of 17 October 1868.

The Central Commission is a modern international institution with an administration that enables it to deal effectively with all matters relating to inland navigation. It encourages the development of close cooperation with other international organisations active in the field of European transport policy and with non-governmental organisations active in the field of inland navigation.

International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR)

All the countries through which the Rhine flows work together in the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) to ensure the sustainable development of the Rhine and its flood plains and to ensure that all the waters in the river basin are in good condition.

In the ICPR, Rijkswaterstaat works together with its partners and enters into cooperation agreements on aspects such as data, models and knowledge, as well as forecasting products for water distribution.

The 16th Conference of Rhine Ministers took place in Amsterdam on 13 February 2020. The ministers responsible for water protection in the Rhine basin and the representative of the European Union assessed the achievements of the expiring ‘Rhine 2020’ programme and adopted a new, forward-looking ‘Rhine 2040’ programme with ambitious objectives.

International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine basin

The International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine basin (CHR) is an organisation in which the scientific institutes of the Rhine riparian states develop joint hydrological measures for the sustainable development of the Rhine basin.

The CHR was founded in 1970 on the advice of UNESCO to promote closer cooperation in international river basins. Since 1975, the work has continued within the framework of UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the WMO’s Operational Hydrological Programme (OHP). The member states of the CHR are Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

CHR’s mission and tasks

To increase knowledge of the hydrology of the Rhine basin through:

• joint research
• exchange of data, methods and information
• development of standardised procedures
• publications in the CHR series

Contributing to the solution of cross-border problems through the formulation, management and provision of:

• information systems, for example GIS for hydrological practice
• models, for example models for water management and a Rhine Alarm model

Research for practice

As a working alliance of the Rhine riparian states, the CHR is in a position to combine complex data sets into a single database on which projects can be carried out. These relate not only to the river itself, but also to the entire Rhine basin. The topics of these projects are:

• hydrological interests in water management and flood protection
• sediment management
• hydrological forecasting and modelling
• comparison of methods and measuring equipment
• studies on climatic change and its possible impacts
• recording the interactive relationships between the various factors influencing the hydrology of the Rhine basin

Creating synergies through cooperation

The CHR uses working groups and rapporteurs to carry out these projects. The hydrological services and universities of each member state provide experts resources. Where necessary, the CHR liaises with other international organisations and/or makes its findings available to them.

International Meuse Commission

The International Meuse Commission (IMC) was established in 2002 with the signing of the Meuse Treaty (Treaty of Ghent). The aim of the treaty is to achieve sustainable and integrated water management in the international river basin district of the Meuse.

The treaty was signed by the Walloon Region, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the Flemish Region, the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Meuse Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2006.

The main tasks of the IMC are to:

• align the obligations of the European Water Framework Directive
• align the obligations of the European Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks
• give advice and recommendations to the contracting parties for the prevention and control of catastrophic water pollution (warning and alarm system)

The Committee meets once a year. The IMC has 5 permanent working groups and some temporary project groups for preparation. The IMC formulates recommendations and takes decisions unanimously, has a rotating chairmanship and meets in three working languages (French, Dutch and German).

The IMC has recognised 5 non-governmental organisations as observers. They take part in the meetings. Rijkswaterstaat participates in the International Meuse Commission on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

International Scheldt River Commission

With a total length of 350 km, the Scheldt flows from northern France through Wallonia and Flanders to the city of Vlissingen in the Netherlands, where it meets the North Sea.

The International Scheldt Commission is an intergovernmental body made up of 6 contracting parties: France, Belgium, Wallonia, Flanders, the Brussels capital region and the Netherlands. It aims to achieve sustainable and integrated water management in the international Scheldt river basin district (Scheldt district).

Important topics for collaboration are the harmonised implementation of the European Union’s Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive, covering issues such as chemical and ecological water quality, fish migration, sediment management, groundwater, flood risk management, adaptation to climate change (in particular the prevention of the consequences of drought) and the cross-border control of harmful water pollution.

The Scheldt basin includes all natural and artificial surface waters, groundwater and coastal waters of the Scheldt river basin, the basins of the Somme, the Aa and the Canche, the French northern polders, the Flemish polders up to the Oosterschelde and the Grevelingenmeer in the Netherlands.

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Rijkswaterstaat and the regional water boards are active members of the International Scheldt Commission.

Flemish-Dutch Scheldt Commission

In the Flemish-Dutch Scheldt Commission (VNSC; only in Dutch), Flanders and the Netherlands work together to ensure a sustainable and vital Scheldt estuary. The estuary is of vital environmental importance, both as an important economic centre and as a valuable nature reserve.

Eems Coordination group

In the international river basin Eems, the Netherlands and Germany work together on the cross-border objectives of the European Water Framework Directive and the implementation of the Floods Directive. International cooperation is also coordinated by the Eems Secretariat. This collaboration takes place on 3 levels:

• International steering group
• International coordination group
• International river basin sub-committees

Rijkswaterstaat is active on all 3 levels on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

The international river basin district Ems covers the territory of Germany and the Netherlands. In total, the Ems river basin covers an area of approximately 17,802 km². Of this, 23% is in North Rhine-Westphalia, 61% in Lower Saxony and 13% on Dutch territory. The remaining 3% is made up of the Ems-Dollard area in the Ems estuary, which is jointly managed by Germany and the Netherlands.

The Ems has a length of about 371 km from its source to its mouth in the North Sea. Sludge from the Ems estuary is currently used for flood protection. In 2019 a new dyke between Eemshaven and the city of Delfzijl was opened which is crucial to protecting our land from the sea.

Permanent Dutch-German Border Waters Commission

With regard to regional waters, most of the Dutch-German international consultation takes place in seven subcommittees (A to G), in which all those directly involved in regional water management on both sides of the Dutch-German border are represented.

Subcommittee G of the Permanent Dutch-German Border Waters Commission

Subcommittee G is a subcommittee of the Permanent Dutch-German Border Waters Commission, which was established in 1963 as a result of the border treaty between Germany and the Netherlands (since 1960). The Border Waters Commission has the task of advising on water management issues that are also relevant to the border waters of the neighbouring country.

Subcommittee G deals with the Ems-Dollard area. Since the adoption of the Ems-Dollard Environmental Protocol (1996), this subcommittee has dealt with water and nature management issues. In recent years, this has increasingly included tasks related to the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive and the Floods Directive.

With the establishment of the Convention on the Use and Management of the Territorial Sea of 3 to 12 Nautical Miles (2014), additional regulatory regimes have been established for the laying of cables and pipelines and the production of renewable energy.

Working groups (including the Eems-Dollard Water Quality System Working Group and the Sewage Sludge Knowledge Exchange Working Group) of experts from both countries have been set up to assist the subcommittee in working on specific issues.