District Councils who are responsible for authorisation of water abstraction for surface water and groundwater.
In the particular case of the Eifel-Rur river basin, the district government in
Cologne (Aachen) is responsible for implementation of the WFD on the ground.
The measures are financed 80 % from the state government and 20 % from own
contribution (e.g. the municipalities where they are responsible).
North Rhine-Westphalia’s water management is quite particular in the German
context, as it relies on waterboards to perform many of the duties of water management. This particular form of organising water management has its origins in the
nineteenth century, in response to the large-scale water-related challenges of North
Rhine-Westphalian coal mining. The responsibilities of the waterboards are
established in a particular law for each single waterboard. The next section
describes the responsibilities of the WVER.
4.2.2 The Eifel-Rur Waterboard (WVER)
WVER is a public water corporation in the district of Cologne (one of the five
governmental districts of North Rhine-Westphalia), similar in nature to a water
authority. It is a public body which is an operating organisation, executing different
tasks set by the special North Rhine-Westphalian law Gesetz über den
Wasserverband Eifel-Rur (“Law on the Water Association Eifel-Rur”). An
important point is that the WVER is limited to executing powers, without any rights
of an authority (e.g. it cannot issue permits). The WVER region comprises mainly
the catchment of the Rur and has approx. 2.087 km
2 and ca. 1.1 million inhabitants.
WVER responsibilities comprise the full range of water services. Duties of
WVER by law include control of water discharge in catchment area, river maintenance, river restoration, supply of raw water for drinking water production, supply
of production water, wastewater treatment, prevention of disadvantageous influences on river systems (in general looking at different issues) and hydrology.
Groundwater is not included under WVER’s duties, as only the northern low-lying
part of WVER’s area has significant groundwater bodies. In this region open-cast
coal mines are situated which influence the groundwater table, but even larger
mines are situated in the adjacent catchment area, which also influence the
groundwater table in the northern Rur region. As a consequence, groundwater
management has been entrusted to the waterboard in this neighbouring catchment.
In addition to its legal obligations, WVER informally collaborates with further
actors to achieve additional objectives including keeping reservoir levels high
enough for water quality, sailing and to ensure a pleasant landscape (tourism);
managing reservoir levels in a way that minimises disturbances of fish reproduction,
and electricity production by the company RWE.
WVER operates six reservoirs with a total capacity of 300 million cubic metres
in the northern part of the Eifel hills, which corresponds to the southern part of its
service area. The reservoirs were mainly developed for flood control and flow
4 Eifel-Rur: Old Water Rights and Fixed Frameworks for Action
69
In the particular case of the Eifel-Rur river basin, the district government in
Cologne (Aachen) is responsible for implementation of the WFD on the ground.
The measures are financed 80 % from the state government and 20 % from own
contribution (e.g. the municipalities where they are responsible).
North Rhine-Westphalia’s water management is quite particular in the German
context, as it relies on waterboards to perform many of the duties of water management. This particular form of organising water management has its origins in the
nineteenth century, in response to the large-scale water-related challenges of North
Rhine-Westphalian coal mining. The responsibilities of the waterboards are
established in a particular law for each single waterboard. The next section
describes the responsibilities of the WVER.
4.2.2 The Eifel-Rur Waterboard (WVER)
WVER is a public water corporation in the district of Cologne (one of the five
governmental districts of North Rhine-Westphalia), similar in nature to a water
authority. It is a public body which is an operating organisation, executing different
tasks set by the special North Rhine-Westphalian law Gesetz über den
Wasserverband Eifel-Rur (“Law on the Water Association Eifel-Rur”). An
important point is that the WVER is limited to executing powers, without any rights
of an authority (e.g. it cannot issue permits). The WVER region comprises mainly
the catchment of the Rur and has approx. 2.087 km
2 and ca. 1.1 million inhabitants.
WVER responsibilities comprise the full range of water services. Duties of
WVER by law include control of water discharge in catchment area, river maintenance, river restoration, supply of raw water for drinking water production, supply
of production water, wastewater treatment, prevention of disadvantageous influences on river systems (in general looking at different issues) and hydrology.
Groundwater is not included under WVER’s duties, as only the northern low-lying
part of WVER’s area has significant groundwater bodies. In this region open-cast
coal mines are situated which influence the groundwater table, but even larger
mines are situated in the adjacent catchment area, which also influence the
groundwater table in the northern Rur region. As a consequence, groundwater
management has been entrusted to the waterboard in this neighbouring catchment.
In addition to its legal obligations, WVER informally collaborates with further
actors to achieve additional objectives including keeping reservoir levels high
enough for water quality, sailing and to ensure a pleasant landscape (tourism);
managing reservoir levels in a way that minimises disturbances of fish reproduction,
and electricity production by the company RWE.
WVER operates six reservoirs with a total capacity of 300 million cubic metres
in the northern part of the Eifel hills, which corresponds to the southern part of its
service area. The reservoirs were mainly developed for flood control and flow
4 Eifel-Rur: Old Water Rights and Fixed Frameworks for Action
69