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 Box 6.2 Dealing with low flows during droughts in the Meuse river basin

The Meuse International River Basin District (iRBD) covers parts of the territories of France, Luxemburg, Belgium (Wallonia, Flanders), Germany and The Netherlands. The iRBD covers an area of almost 35,000 km², with close to 9 million inhabitants. The length of the river is 905 km.

The Meuse is a typical example of a rain-fed river. High river discharges generally occur in winter and spring, lowest discharges usually in autumn. Flow variations can be sudden because of the geometry and geology of the basin which favour a quick reaction to intensive precipitation events. During extreme droughts the discharge can become so low that in certain stretches the river can be crossed on foot.

Urbanisation, industrialization, agriculture and navigation affect the status of the waters of the iRBD Meuse. The Meuse is the source of drinking water for almost 7 million people (a.o. in Brussels, Antwerp and Rotterdam). Navigation is of particular interest in the area, both in Flanders and in the Netherlands. Over the past two centuries an intricate network of shipping canals was developed, which for its water supply depends entirely on the Meuse.

 

The estimated water exploitation index (WEI+)  of the Meuse is ca 30 % on average. This makes the iRBD stand out as one of the more water stressed in western Europe (Map 5.2).

in 1995, after long negotiations, the issue of the distribution of the available water during low flows resulted in the Meuse discharge convention between Belgium (Flanders) and the Netherlands. The guiding principle of the Meuse discharge convention is to secure an equal use of water for economic purposes of both countries and to accept joint responsibility for the stretch of the Meuse where it marks the international border. In this stretch, low discharges can be harmful to the valuable ecology.

Simultaneously, in 1995, France, Wallonia, the Brussels Capital region, Flanders and the Netherlands reached agreement on a wider, multilateral convention on the protection of the Meuse. This convention was succeeded in 2002 by the International Meuse Commission (IMC) upon the signature of the Meuse Convention (Treaty of Ghent; now including Germany and Luxemburg). The purpose of the Convention is to achieve sustainable and integrated water management of the Meuse international river basin district.

The Maas discharge convention stipulates that both Flanders and the Netherlands take measures to limit their water use during water shortages. In the Netherlands this mainly involves pumping back water to the upstream stretches at the ship locks. Also the passing of ships at locks is performed in a ‘water-economical’ manner, using water saving devices. If this is not sufficient, the water allowance of other water user sectors are cut back, according to the prioritization described in the national priority sequence. Flanders limits its water use by the installation of pumps at the ship locks. A considerable part of the water intended for Flanders is used for these ship locks. When one of the parties at some point finds it difficult to meet the conditions of the treaty, it is jointly examined whether that party may temporarily use more water. The associated costs will be settled afterwards (Bastings et al., 2011)..

Lessons learned from the Maas discharge treaty (Bastings et al., 2011; Mostert, 1999).  Mostert (undated)):

  • Conventions are a matter of mutual trust. In the Meuse it took a long time to overcome historic disputes between Belgium and the Netherlands and build such trust;
  • Linking different issues can result in a package deal that is attractive to all parties. In the case of the Meuse, breakthroughs were reached after linking water quantity in the Meuse with seaport accessibility in the Scheldt;
  • To arrive at an attractive package deal, a cross-sectoral approach is often instrumental.

The 2018 drought again demonstrated the vulnerability of the Meuse basin for water shortages. Even though no major disasters or major water supply interruptions occurred, the economic and ecological damage was significant. The Dutch evaluation of the 2018 drought includes specific actions to reinforce the dialogue with Germany and France on the topics of drought and low flows (Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat, 2019).     

The consideration of climate change and the cooperation for climate change adaptation (CCA) at international level has also strengthened in Europe over the last decade (Ramieri et al., 2018). The EU Climate Adaptation Strategy launched in 2013 included references to cross-border issues. Furthermore, the evaluation conducted by the European Commission in 2018 showed that the strategy promoted several cross-border actions on climate risks between Member States[1]. Transnational strategies or action plans on CCA have been developed in many regions[2], including the Mediterranean, the Danube, the Alps and the Baltic. Existing international conventions (e.g. OSPAR, Barcelona Convention) have catalyzed the transnational dialogue and cooperation also on CCA issues. Moreover, web-based adaptation platforms, knowledge centers and networks have been activated, and transnational CCA-related projects are being implemented. However, CCA-related projects are more focused on knowledge creation and dissemination, awareness-raising, capacity-building, networking and cross-country exchange, and less focused on actual implementation of joint measures. Interreg programmes have provided significant support to transnational cooperation on CCA (Figure 6.1) (Ramieri et al., 2018).

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