The River Rhine has suffered because of numerous drastic environmental changesfor example, the regulation of the river bed and the construction of weirs and dams. Furthermore, discharges of agricultural, industrial and municipal wastewater have caused a deterioration in the water quality. This problem became particularly acute in the 1960s and 1970s. After the Sandoz accident in Basle in November 1986, the states bordering the River Rhine agreed the Rhine Action Programme for its ecological rehabilitation. This programme has the following four aims, which should be realized by the year 2000: (1) to create conditions which will enable the return of higher species (such as salmon); (2) to safeguard Rhine water as a source for the preparation of drinking water; (3) to abate the contamination of sediments due to toxic compounds; and (4) to fulfil the requirements of the North Sea Action Plan, as the River Rhine flows into the North Sea. Water quality criteria have been developed for about 50 contaminants or contaminant groups and for phosphorus and ammonium. Early signs of the ecological recovery of some aquatic communities in the River Rhine have been observed, but eutrophication and pollution by micropollutants, in particular polychlorinated biphenyls found in suspended matter, sediments and biota, still form a serious threat. In addition to further improving the water quality, river habitats must be improved, reversing the artificial river control measures taken in the past for the return of a number of characteristic riverine organisms such as migratory fish. The 'Ecological Master Plan for the River Rhine' aims to restore the mainstream, along with the main tributaries, as habitats for migratory fish (e.g. salmon). This involves protecting, preserving and improving ecologically important reaches of the River Rhine and the Rhine valley. The first steps for realizing the hydrological and morphological modifications have been taken, starting with the development of a specific ecological network focusing on the most important floodplain areas along the Rhine. Habitat improvement measures started later than the pollution abatement measures and, so far, relatively few studies on the effectiveness of the ecological rehabilitation techniques concerning habitat improvements in the Lower Rhine have been published. A major task for research programmes will be to identify the detailed quantifiable and verifiable ecological objectives (e.g. water quality criteria, hydrological and morphological targets) to guarantee the actual ecological rehabilitation of the River Rhine.
The river Rhine has been in humanity's use for many centuries for a variety of activities. However, in our time, considerable changes in the course and the natural conditions of the river and the increasing use of the river for the discharge of wastewater has caused serious floods and major ecological problems. Since 1950, the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) acts as the coordination point between the states bordering the Rhine for the development of programmes for river protection. The Sandoz disaster in 1986 was a turning point in the approach of the ICPR and the starting point for the present strategy of integrated riverbasin management. Recent developments have indicated the success of the current approach.
The “Ecological Master Plan for the Rhine (Salmon 2000)” was elaborated within the framework of the “Rhine” Action Programme (RAP). It focuses on two points.Restoration of the main stream as the backbone of the ecosystem Migratory fish can only return to the Rhine when certain conditions are given. Improvement measures must be realized. For the support and realization of the project “Salmon 2000” two applications for subsidies were approved by the European Community. The first project concerns various habitat improvements, re-establishing, re-stocking and success control measures in several Rhine tributaries. The second project concerns the methods of improvements at barrages which are currently considerable obstacles to migration. At the barrages of Iffezheim and Gambsheim/Upper Rhine, new fish ladders must be built. The Master Plan will only prove successful if the re-establishing and restocking of habitats is being carried out simultaneously with measures aiming at reestablishing the surmountability of barrage weirs.Preservation, protection and improvement of ecologically important reaches. The plan demands an extension of the alluvial areas. Complete ecological interaction between these areas and the river must be allowed. A group is working on a specific ecological network with the most important alluvial areas along the Rhine. These areas shall serve as “stepping stones” for the whole Rhine ecosystem. This plan may be considered as an exemplary conception of international waterways protection. Its significance includes amongst other things the applicability to other similar river systems.
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