SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT IN GERMANY

Christine Bismuth
agricultural engineer (M.Sc.)
German Federal Environmental Agency, Bismarckplatz 1, 14197 Berlin

Walter Kahlenborn and Andreas Kraemer
ECOLOGIC, Friedrichstr. 165, 10117 Berlin)

Introduction

Recognising that problems concerning water quality and quantity tend to be of a regional rather than a global nature, the German Federal Environmental Agency has commissioned a study to identify sustainable and non sustainable trends in water management.

The study bases on interviews with German water management experts, who were requested to give their opinion on the concept of sustainability, to supply their personal definition and give (counter-) examples for sustainability. Common perceptions as well as conflicting ideas were then identified and again discussed with the experts previously asked. They were further elaborated in an international seminar and in a national workshop with the aim to formulate a common national definition of sustainable water management.

Definitions

A definition for sustainable water management should respect the following requirements set by the Agenda 21:

Water management action must be subject to democratic control and local co-determination.

The basic economic functions of the local community must be supported.

The basic functions of water management, water supply and sewage disposal and the maintenance of recreation areas must be guaranteed for all citizens.

Based on this requirements an extended definition had to be developed and discussed with the German water experts:

„ Sustainable Water Management means the integrated management of all artificial or natural water cycles in accordance of the following aims:

The protection of water as a natural life habitat or as a central element for life habitats respectively.

The preservation of water in its various facets as a resource for the existing as well as for the future generations.

The evolution of options which assure the natural basis for life for a long-term economic and social development compatible with nature.

The Achievement of the aims respects all requirements of other sectors for a sustainable development."

Principles

Considering the above quoted definition, principles of sustainable water management were developed and discussed in regard to German Water Management:

the regional principle

the integration principle

the polluters pay principle

the co-operation and participation principle

the resource minimising principle

the precautionary principle

the sources reduction principle

the reversibility principle

the intergeneration principle

The Regional Principle

The regional principle demands that each region avoids to externalise its water related problems to other regions and protects its own local resources. A region should be based on a river basin. The implementation of technical or organisational solutions will not be possible, if they are not adapted to the regional needs and do not respect the natural and social conditions.

The Integration Principle

The integration principle calls for integration of environmental exigencies in other politic sectors. In German water management a fragmentation of the resources water for different uses and qualities has to be noted. So water is separated into drinking water and used water (sewage). The cycles which connects both fraction are usually not registered. The separation of water in different fragments has only been possible by the establishment of complex technical structures. Together with the specialisation of the technical systems also a specialisation of the controlling administration and management units occurred. The economic and ecological costs are rising with the fragmentation: Many rivers were optimised in view to navigation but ecological aspects were neglected with consequences for the flood prevention. To master such problems or better not to let them evolve, the different users, servers, administration units etc. have to develop an integrated perception of the water resource.

The Polluters Pay Principle

Several damages to the environment but also damages to the social system are not calculated and compensated by the responsible parties. Instead are many costs carried by the state and the social community. Partly takes a temporary or spatial transfer place, with the result that future generations or foreign countries have to pay for the damages of recent uses. This is not conform with sustainable development especially in its social dimension.

The demand for a adequate assignment of costs and responsibilities is the central statement of the polluters pay principle. The polluters pay principle includes also the resource-user-pays-principle. To assure the water resource for future generations as well as a ecological habitat the polluters pay principle has to be set into practice in all is aspects. Special attention has to be given to non point sources.

The Co-operation and Participation Principle

The involvement of the people in decision making process is on of the key postulates of the AGENDA 21. The co-operation and participation principle demands that before decisions are taken all interests are considered and that concerned parties are embedded in the decision making process.

The implementation of this principle means for the water management to take actively part in the dialogue with other social and economic groups. An open dialogue implies transparency in the decision making process.

Generally has the broad public only restricted access to information and to public bodies. There is the urgent need to improve the transparency and the involvement of the public in the decision making process. The Water and soil boards as well as the river basin boards should participate with environmental associations. The several technical-scientific associations in Germany which are responsible for numerous technical guidelines, regarded as technical standards, should involve the public in their decision making process, to assure environmental protection as a public matter.

The Resource Minimising Principle

Water management should try to minimise the use of resources and energy. Until now only few measurements have been undertaken to implement this principle. Resource management is not only a task of the water management but of the hole market itself. The frame conditions of the local and world market have therefore to be changed to minimise the use of resources.

The Precautionary Principle

According to this principle should no actions been undertaken which would cause severe damages or even if their is only a slight possibility of damage. This is also due to measurements which have no clearly defined risk potential.

The large amounts of substances and their ubiquity appearance in the water bodies make the fulfilment of this principle very difficult. As a solution the concept of critical loads or carrying capacity was proposed. But in reality it is not possible to predict the effects of a substance in the water bodies, especially if one considers the synergetic effects and reactions with other substance. There is also the danger that „carrying capacity" could be misunderstood as „ideal load" which is perfectly reasonable to reach. The principle of prevention prescribed in the Federal Water Act and national provisions could be watered down.

As a consequence the establishment of quality objectives should be limited to those particular substances whose use leads to increased concentrations in the environment despite the implementation of precautionary measures at the source.

The Sources Reduction Principle

This principle demands to stop emission at their source. It further demands an integrated view of production processes but also of consumption processes with the aim to modify them in such a way, that no or only very few environmental damage occur. On the long term should all dangerous substances be substituted or only be used in closed production cycles.

The Reversibility Principle

This principle postulates on the one hand that all measurements of water management should be reversible on the other hand it postulates that already during the planning processes of measurements their possible adjustment to changing needs should be considered. This principle demands from water management to respect the protection of species and ecological habitats. It prohibits further the over use of non renewable water sources.

The Intergeneration Principle

The intergeneration principle demands to respect the interests of future generations. To implement this principle long term plans and advanced prognostic methods are needed.

The current state of German Water Management

By subject the discussion was divided into the following issues of water management:

· quantitative water management,

· the morphology of waters and landscape,

· water quality,

· sewage-water management,

· administrative and legislative aspects.

Quantitative Water Management

In the Federal Republic of Germany water resources far exceed present and future water use. Nevertheless, water supply problems arise due to the irregular regional distribution of useably water resources and the demand for water as well as the poor quality of many sources. Thus it has been necessary for quite some time to supply in particular densely populated regions with water using water pipelines (long distance water supply) and reservoirs. But there is an inherent danger with long distance water supplies that people lose touch with their own region. Difficulties that occur in the water supply areas then only constitute secondary problems for the water consumers.

The Morphology of Surfacewaters and Landscape

The pressures exerted on waters by users (shipping, hydroelectric power, flood control etc.) in the form of technical measures negatively effect their morphological state. Such pressures reduce the natural diversity of different environments and the dynamics of water, interrupt water flow (dams, barrage weirs), and disrupt the unity of rivers and floodplains. This leads to a reduction in natural species diversity and a displacement of the spectrum of river fishes.

It was generally accepted that water ways have to be restored to a near-natural state in the future and the remaining relatively intact floodplains have to be protected from environmental pressures, such as lock construction for shipping. This will be one of the main coming tasks in German water policies but also one of the main conflict fields with the traffic sector.

The trend toward ever-bigger ships and the necessity for widening the waterways runs counter any improvement in the morphological situation of the waters of the Federal Republic of Germany. Other solutions, such as flat-bottomed boats or changing transport systems, must be found to accommodate the demands of users.

Water Quality

Up to now, water quality objectives in the sense of quality targets have been set by the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (IKSR). The quality of German surface waters has improved during the last decade even though small surface waters still show deficits in respect to their water quality. This is mainly due to the inputs of nutrients and pesticides from agricultural sources. Also for the Rhine have the quality targets for Nitrate (25 mg/l), Ammonium (0.2-0.4mg/l) and Phosphorus (0.16-0.2 mg/l total) been exceeded. From a scientific point of view, even significantly lower concentration must be achieved in lakes in order to prevent unwanted eutrophication effects. The insufficient reduction in the quantity of nutrients also constitutes a key problem for coastal waters. The quality targets for two third of the substances named in the Rhine Action Programme have already been attained. For nine substances however the targets were not attained (mercury, cadmium, copper, zinc, HCH, tricloromethane, HCB, PCB and ammonium). Due to the large share of diffuse sources concerning a number of the substances listed, it will probably not be possible to achieve the quality targets within the next years.

The Federal Republic of Germany satisfies approximately 70 % of its drinking water requirements form the groundwater. The most important problem factors for the groundwater quality are the nitrate values and the crop protection products found. An additional factor which promotes high nitrate values in groundwater is the atmospheric nitrogen deposition, expressly nitrogen oxides from burning processes (traffic) and ammonia from agriculture with high livestock rates. A problem which has yet not been focused are the synergetic effects between different micro pollutants, among others pesticides.

One approach that can be adopted to protect groundwater resources is the installation of water protection zones, where restrictions on the use of water and precautionary measures against a potential impairment of the groundwater become progressively more stringent as one approaches the water withdrawal point. This frequently involves conflicts between water management interests and the interest of other users of the area in question - and particularly those of agriculture and of local authority residential and industrial developments. Additional problems arise with surveillance and enforcement here, particularly in the case of application over wide areas.

Sewage-Water Management

From 1970 to 1991 only in Westgermany 120 Mrd. of DM were investigated in to canalisation systems and waste water treatments plants. In 1991 90,6 % of the population were connected to a central sewage system.

A decentralised treatment of sewage waters has been favoured by the representatives of the NGO´s. They noted that a decentralised treatment of waste water, which favours anaerobic processes, does not only lead to con reductions but also to higher energy efficiency and would therefore, be more sustainable. Agreement was reached that decentralised waste water treatment could be installed in sparely populated areas.

Administrative and Legislative Aspects of German Water Management

The positive results achieved over the past years are taken as a sign that the administration can be reduced. At the same time the increased costs in the field of water supply and sewage disposal put the administration under strong pressure to justify any further measures that it takes. This also holds true for a wide range of generally small and highly diverse organisations involved in water management: municipal companies, private companies, special-purpose associations, water and land associations and statutory associations, etc. A further problem at present is the poor integration of all the areas of policy that are dependent on the land. Area development, water management, nature conservation and agriculture are nearly always accommodated in separate authorities, making it virtually impossible for a coherent policy to be developed.

Citizen participation is guaranteed up to a certain extent by the municipal self-administration. On the point to what degree and how other forms of citizen participation could be implemented as foreseen by the AGENDA 21 started a controversial discussion between members of administration and representatives of the NGO`s. The NGO`s suggested the installation of local water councils with the participation of all interested stakeholders. The administration mentioned that it is in some cases the last instance to prevent the violation of environmental laws (e.g. construction of buildings in flood areas). It seems that this debate which does not only cover administrative issues but also constitutional and democratic issues is only at its starting point.

Conclusions

If a number of aspects of water management in the Federal Republic of Germany are rated as non-sustainable, then this should not be interpreted as meaning that the existing water management system has proved to be inefficient. The efficiency of a system can only be judged on the basis of the requirements that are placed on it.

The institutional debate has to be continued also in view of the proposed European water frame work directive. It is an undeniable fact that German water management will have to change if the concept of sustainability is implemented into practise. Actions of priority will be the restoration of the morphology of the river and flood plains, and the reduction of non point sources, especially from agricultural sources.