U.S.- Italy Research Workshop on the
Hydrometeorology,
Impacts, and Management of Extreme Floods
Perugia (Italy), November 1995
FLOOD MANAGEMENT OF THE TRANSNATIONAL RHINE RIVER
J. Wessel
Director RBA Centre
Faculty of Civil Engineering, TNO
Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
This paper deals with
the management aspects of the Rhine River specially those related to flood
control. Current trends in flood
management triggered by recent catastrophic events and some thoughts for future
developments are discussed. The Rhine
River is the most important waterway of Western Europe. It links the German industrial areas around
Mannheim and the Ruhr with the port of Rotterdam. For this reason, it has been the object of not only wars and
negotiations, but also of coordination and cooperation. In 1993, 1994, and 1995 several floods have
occurred in the basin. The most extreme
flood was that of January 1995 which caused extreme damage in many
regions. The damage was estimated at
more than 200 million Dutch guilders in the Netherlands alone. In Germany upstream flood control measures
have had some negative impacts. In the
lower Rhine and in the Netherlands there is a large system of embankments and
during the 1995 flood there was a concern that some dikes may fail. It appears that the future management of the
Rhine will require a much closer cooperation of all the basin states specially
the cooperation of users organizations, and dependable real time information
from all sectors and all parts of the basin should be made available.