By the middle of the century, in the Rhine catchment up to 20 % higher discharges are to be expected during winters and up to 10 % lower discharges are expected during summers, while regional variations may occur. These are among the findings of a new Study of Scenarios for the Discharge Regime of the Rhine recently presented by the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) in Vaduz. For the first time, the “Study of Scenarios for the Discharge Regime of the Rhine” presents discharge projections at representative gauging stations on the Rhine and the Moselle for the near future (up to 2050) as well for the remote future (up to 2100).
Cross-institution research and projects (KLIWA; KLIWAS; CHR projects “Discharge Regime” and “RheinBlick2050“) have processed a vast amount of data with methods agreed upon across the borders for different hydrological regimes of the Rhine catchment. They give an integrated view of today’s state of knowledge (mid-2011) which will presumably have to be up-dated when new findings are available.
The results reveal a considerable bandwidth of results summarized in the tables of Chapter 4 of the Study of Scenarios.
When developing the adjustment strategies still to be drafted for the Rhine catchment, the great bandwidth of findings must be taken into account for the future projections.