to the website of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine.
The President of the ICPR, Mrs Martine Rohn-Brossard, took part in the 27th meeting of the European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils (EEAC) in Lisbon on 18 September 2019 and shared the experience of international cooperation in the Rhine basin with this Council.
During their annual meeting staged on 22/23 August 2019 in Koblenz, the Heads of the Secretariats of European River Commissions and a representative of the UNECE exchanged views on the current tasks of their commissions. The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine and the International Commissions for the Protection of the Moselle and the Sarre jointly staged this meeting. On board of the measuring and inspection vessel MS Burgund belonging to Rhineland-Palatinate, the participants among others discussed the impacts of climate change, the low water event in 2018 and the pollution of waters with plastics. In the “Mosellum” information centre at the impoundment of the Moselle at Koblenz, the topic of fish migration was explained to the participants.
In 2020, the annual meeting will be staged by the International Sava Commission in Zagreb. Just as the Moselle is for the Rhine, the Sava is the most important tributary to the Danube.
Today Veronika and Jens visited us on their way from Liechtenstein to the Netherlands. They are on their way with their kayak on the Rhine, the river that connects the Cologne and Liechtenstein citizens privately.
A few days after the plenary session of the ICPR in Liechtenstein, they started their tour: https://www.polarsteps.com/VeronikaWolff/2009628-mama-rhein-zahmwasseretappe?s=7c66af09-ede5-4a80-9a5f-d6d2728b70b1
Malbun, 04 and 05 July 2019
The annual Plenary Session of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) was staged in Malbun (Liechtenstein) on 4 and 5 July 2019. The preparation of the Conference of Rhine ministers, in particular of the new programme “Rhine 2040”, which will be approved there, ranged among its focal issues. Furthermore, the ICPR discussed the new results concerning the substance pollution of the Rhine and low water monitoring.
Koblenz, 06 February 2019
The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) has published recommendations on how states in the Rhine catchment can further reduce micropollutant inputs into waters. They particularly concern the areas of wastewater collection and wastewater treatment systems, agriculture, industry and trade.
Rotterdam, 15. November 2018
As from 15 November 2018, the way from the North Sea into the rivers Meuse and Rhine is again open for salmon at sufficient runoff. Salmon may again reach their home waters, where they reproduce naturally. All depending on the discharge, one or more gates of the Haringvliet dam (south of Rotterdam) will also be open during high tide. For the first time for 50 years… The dam had been built in 1971 as a protection against storm tides.
The new fishway at Gerstheim on the Upper Rhine is charged with water since 15 October 2018 (Photo EDF). The official inauguration will take place in 2019. The fishway at the Strasbourg barrage has been working since 2016, even though different optimisations are still being implemented. The fishways in Strasbourg and Gerstheim will open the access to the spawning habitats (among others for salmon) in the Elz-Dreisam system (region Freiburg) via the Leopoldskanal, once the three sills in the loops of the Old Rhine at Gerstheim and Rhinau will enable upstream migration. Counts show that the fishways located at Iffezheim (since 2000) and Gambsheim (since 2006) further downstream in the main stream of the Rhine are well accepted: In 2017, more than 170 upstream migrating salmon were registered at Iffezheim and 105 at Gambsheim. More than 150 salmon have migrated upstream the R. Sieg flowing into the Rhine near Bonn.
Solothurn, 3 and 4 July 2018
During the first half of the last century periods of low water on the Rhine were distinctly more pronounced. Discharges were lower, and low flow periods lasted longer than in the past 50 years. The perception that low water occurs more often than in the past is not correct. However, water users are more affected, e.g. navigation, energy production, industry and agriculture.
For the benefit of the Rhine and of all of its tributaries the members of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Netherlands and the European Commission successfully co-operate with Austria, Liechtenstein, the Belgian region of Wallonia and Italy. Focal points of work are sustainable development of the Rhine, its alluvial areas and the good state of all waters in the watershed.
Worldwide reward for decades of international cooperation in Rhine protection!
On 16 September 2014 the ICPR was awarded the Thiess International Riverprize 2014 in Canberra (Australia). During a gala dinner, the price was handed over to the President of the ICPR, Mr. Gustaaf Borchardt and its deputy manager, Anne Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig.
What were the reasons for the co-operation? Which steps and events proved to be decisive? Worldwide, the ICPR develops to be a model for environmental and water protection which numerous organizations take as an example. The secretariat has drafted some new pages concerning the ICPR success history. We would be grateful for any questions or suggestions you might have.
This report presents an overview over ecological improvement along the River Rhine and its present chemical water quality. Furthermore, it contains a survey of the implementation of the Action Plan on Floods.
The target of the workshop, jointly staged by the ICPR Working Groups B and H and in which some 30...
Die IKSR hat in den Jahren 2014 und 2015 ein Pilotprojekt zur Kontamination von Biota mit Schadstoffen im...
Der regelmäßige Austausch über stoffliche Gewässerbelastungen von flussgebietsweiter Bedeutung ist eine...
In 2017, the ICPR conducted a special monitoring programme that included both target analysis and non-target...
Kommt es im Rhein, Neckar, Main und kleineren Nebenflüssen, trotz aller Vorsorgemaßnahmen zu einer plötzlichen...
Koblenz, 06 February 2019
The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) has published recommendations on how states in the Rhine catchment can further reduce micropollutant inputs into waters. They particularly concern the areas of wastewater collection and wastewater treatment systems, agriculture, industry and trade.
The ICPR has been keeping an eye on the relevance of different micropollutants and existing approaches to reducing their polluting waters for more than 10 years. The exposure situation has been published (ICPR Technical Report No. 246) and different possibilities of...
Rotterdam, 15 November 2018
As from 15 November 2018, the way from the North Sea into the rivers Meuse and Rhine is again open for salmon at sufficient runoff. Salmon may again reach their home waters, where they reproduce naturally. All depending on the discharge, one or more gates of the Haringvliet dam (south of Rotterdam) will also be open during high tide. For the first time for 50 years… The dam had been built in 1971 as a protection against storm tides.
This is an important milestone for the two rivers, for the International Rhine Commission and the International Meuse Commission. Both commissions are...
Thanks to the initiative of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) and of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) the year 2019 is to be nominated International Year of the Salmon (IYS). Public and political awareness for the salmon and its preservation and sustainable use will thus be hightened. Big international events on this issue are planned and further national or regional initiatives or events are expressedly wanted for this IYS (please also see http://www.nasco.int/iys_video.html and https://yearofthesalmon.org/).
The FOEN (Federal Office for the Environment) invites to join the exciting voyage of the pilot Nino G from the strange planet Nuxxo to discover these challenges of Swiss water protection:
Video: "Swiss water bodies – all clear?"
