Water quality
The Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia published profiles of the planning units in the North Rhine-Westphalian sections of the Rhine, Weser, Ems and Meuse in the 2016-2021 management plan for surface waters and groundwater in the Meuse/Meuse South NRW sub-basin in 2015.
Living and clean water bodies and clean groundwater are the goal of the management plan for North Rhine-Westphalia as part of the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (EC WFD). The introductory text of this management plan, which was completed at the end of 2015 for the period from 2016 to 2021 and reflects the current state of development very well, is now quoted.
"The management plan and the associated program of measures form the framework for dealing with the surface waters and groundwater resources of North Rhine-Westphalia in the Rhine, Weser, Ems and Meuse river basin districts. A detailed presentation of the available information on the individual water bodies would go beyond the scope of the management plan. For this reason, much of the data has been summarized in tables and diagrams. A planning unit fact sheet supplements the management plan, providing compact information on the status, pressure factors and measures for the individual water bodies. A total of 14 such fact sheets were compiled for North Rhine-Westphalia based on the sub-catchment areas.
The starting point for management planning is the results and assessments of water monitoring. Water bodies and groundwater throughout the country were examined for substances and the flora and fauna were recorded. At the same time, the methods used were updated and standardized with the aim of international comparability, and the results from previous water monitoring were further completed.
In 2013, the inventory of water bodies and groundwater resources in North Rhine-Westphalia was updated. The data collection ranged from updating the locations of wastewater treatment plants and recording discharges to forecasting whether the management targets for water bodies will be achieved by 2021. The results of the investigation cycle from 2009 to 2011 formed the basis for the inventory, which was used to develop the management plan and the program of measures that were presented as a draft at the end of 2014. This data was also published in the preliminary version of this planning unit profile.
Results from the 2012 to 2014 monitoring cycle are available; they have been included in the tables of the updated fact sheet. This makes it possible to see at a glance whether a water body meets all requirements or whether further improvement measures are necessary in order to achieve the "good status" required by the Water Framework Directive. Where possible, these results were also taken into account when revising the management plan and program of measures as part of the opinion phase.
Following the status assessment, the planned program measures for the second management cycle are presented. This program of measures includes all activities required at this point in time to ensure that the management objectives for the respective water body can be achieved. The programs of measures were drawn up by the responsible district governments and subjected to extensive public participation at the round tables and in the subsequent opinion phase in the first half of 2015.
The structure of the planning unit profiles is largely standardized for all planning units in North Rhine-Westphalia, which makes it easier to compare the individual profiles with one another."
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