HYDROGRAPHY AND FEATURES OF WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN GERMANY

Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess the hydrographic conditions and water resources of Germany, as well as the peculiarities of the country’s water resource management system, which has a federal administrative structure in which river basins may be located on the territory of several federal states. The study uses materials from the official websites of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, the Federal Environment Agency, the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube, the Danube, Elbe, Ems, Oder, Rhine and Weser River basin associations, and international organisations (Aquastat-FAO). Elbe, Ems, Oder, Rhine, Weser, and international organisations (Aquastat-FAO). Hydrographic zoning, carried out in accordance with the provisions of the EU WFD, divides Germany into 10 river basin districts: Aider; Warnow – Pene; Weser; Danube; Elbe; Ems; Maas; Oder; Rhine; Schlei – Trave. The average annual volume of total water resources in Germany is 176 km3/year, of which 69,5% are internal water resources and 30,5% are external water resources. The total water resources per capita are 2,092 m3/year, and the internal water resources per capita are 1 454 m3/year, which means “water vulnerability” in terms of total water resources and “water stress” in terms of internal water resources. Between 1991 and 2022, water abstraction in Germany decreased by 2,6 times, especially in industry, where it decreased by 3,3 times. The structure of water abstraction in 2022 was as follows: industry – 67,7%; municipal water supply – 29,8%; agriculture – 2,5%. Germany has established a modern multi-level institutional structure for water resource management, namely: national level (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in cooperation with the Federal Environment Agency); river basin district (six river basin associations have been established: Rhine; Elbe; Oder; Ems; Weser; Danube); federal states (responsible for implementing river basin management plans and action programmes at regional level, coordinating municipal measures).