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Wolf et al. Environ Sci Eur (2021) 33:15 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-021-00460-8 RESEARCH Open Access Infuence of 200 years of water resource management on a typical central European river. Does industrialization straighten a river? Stefanie Wolf1* , Verena Esser2 , Holger Schüttrumpf1 and Frank Lehmkuhl2 Abstract Background: Over the last 200 years, the courses of most European rivers have experienced signifcant irreversible changes. These changes are connected to diferent kinds of anthropogenic river use and exploitation, which have varied from running water mills and rafting to large-scale hydroelectric power plants, industrial water withdrawal and food protection measures. Today, in most developed countries, water quality and ecological river development are important factors in water management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the specifc impacts of diferent time periods during the last 200 years on river courses and their efects on current river management using the example of the 165-km-long German Rur River (North Rhine-Westphalia). The Rur River is a typical central European upland-to- lowland river whose catchment has been afected by various phases of industrial development. Methods: In this study, a range of morphological changes over the last 200 years are determined based on historic maps and up-to-date orthophotos. River length, sinuosity, oxbow structures, sidearms and the number of islands are used to investigate human impact. The results are correlated with historic time periods. Results: This analysis shows that river straightening increases, especially during the Industrial Revolution, even with- out direct hydraulic channelization. The period and grade of river straightening have a direct morphodynamic impact on today’s river restorations. Since the Rur River is a typical upland-to-lowland river, the results show an additional impact by geofactors, such as landform confgurations. Conclusions: Morphodynamic development is correlated with fve historic periods of industrial development between 1801 and 2019 up to the introduction of the EU—Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD). Each period shows a diferent infuence on the watercourse, which is connected with human intervention. Even if worldwide compari- sons show that the fve historical phases difer slightly in their timing between regions, they are applicable to other study areas. Keywords: Tipping point, Human impact, Industrialization, River course development, River straightening Background experienced extensive channel changes, whereby the History of human infuence on river systems human impact is an important key driver [2, 3]. Since Rivers are one of the most anthropogenically infuenced the beginning of the Holocene, the infuence of humans ecosystems in the world [1]. Most European rivers have on the environment has continuously increased [4–6]; hence, many fuvial systems have been negatively and *Correspondence: [email protected] profoundly infuenced worldwide by human actions 1 Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management, for centuries [7–12]. In the early Holocene, rivers were RWTH Aachen University, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Straße 17, 52056 Aachen, mainly anabranching, which changed in the late Holo- Germany Full list of author information is available at the end of the article cene [3]. While geomorphologic changes before the © The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creat iveco mmons .org/licen ses/by/4.0/. Wolf et al. Environ Sci Eur (2021) 33:15 Page 2 of 23 late Holocene are mainly attributed to climatic factors to modern times is considered to have had the largest [4, 13], the establishment of agriculture and large-scale impact on lateral channel movement due to hydraulic deforestation in the Neolithic period led to a tipping structures [33]. point [14, 15]. Increased human land use has led to sil- tation of secondary channels, which changes river mor- phology [3]. Five phases of river management on the Rur River Te frst hydraulic engineering measures were river Hence, the culture of river management has changed straightening, dam and weir construction and the con- several times within the last 200 years. Focusing on the struction of mill canals and ponds [13, 16]. In the Mid- history of industrial development, this study period of dle Ages, as the main energy source, the establishment 200 years can be divided into fve phases of river man- of water mills increased dramatically [17]. agement of the Rur River (cf. Figure 2). Tus, each phase Various studies have investigated human impacts on has diferent water management characteristics on which river systems worldwide at diferent times [7, 8, 18, 19]. the emphasis is placed. Te phases are to be understood Gibling evaluates human infuences using worldwide as cultural epochs, and the time divisions are determined examples and creates a timeline divided into six phases using the example of the Rur catchment. Cultural epochs from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene [19]. He are generally variable in time and space [38, 39]. emphasizes that in many cases, serious changes were Interventions in water bodies in favor of industry connected with the Industrial Revolution and techno- started in the Pre-industrial Phase (1) in the eighteenth logical advances in the twentieth century, which are century with lignite and ore mining [40–42]. In the nine- included in his 6th phase, the Technological Era (after teenth century, as a result of water conficts between 1800 CE) (cf. Figure 1). agriculture and industry, textile companies were given In the last two centuries, changes in land use, indus- preferential treatment [42]. try, food protection, drinking water supply and hydro- In the Industrial Phase (2), rivers were primarily used electric power measures as well as shipping have caused for water-demanding industries. In this phase, in the Rur further morphodynamic impacts on fuvial systems [14, catchment, water-demanding industries, such as sugar 20, 21]. In particular, the development of automated cane and paper industries, settled near rivers in Aachen production and the steel industry has caused a higher as well as Jülich and Düren [42, 43]. Increased water demand for hydroelectric power, process water and demands of industries led to a water crisis [42] and fnally transportation routes provided by waterways [22–25]. to the construction of larger dams from 1900 onwards, In the late-nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolu- which ultimately had a greater impact on fowing waters tion led to changes in river morphology throughout [44]. Europe [26, 27]. Te alpine Rhone, Isar and Danube Te Industrial Phase (2) is superseded by the Agri- Rivers, for example, were channelized in the mid- to cultural Phase (3) after World War I, where large area late-nineteenth century, causing braided structures structural changes for food production and a shift from and large gravel bars to form [28]. Te Tisza River water power to electricity occurred. Important land use in Ukraine and Hungary has shortened by approxi- changes occurred after the late 1940s when intense agri- mately 30% through river training [26]. Terefore, the culture and rapid urbanization developed [45]. After increased use of fossil energy from 1950 onwards can World War II to the early 1980s, the reclamation of be linked to rapid river degradation and river pollution foodplains for agriculture as well as expanding settle- in the Western World [27, 29–31]. Although sewage ments were the main goals of river management [42, 43]. systems were introduced, pollution from industry, agri- Since 1980, water quality and the environment have been culture and urban areas since the late-nineteenth cen- the focus (Phase of Ecological Improvement, 4). In 1986, tury has led to long-term changes in river ecosystems waterbodies were recognized as part of ecosystems for [27, 32]. the frst time in the Federal Water Act in Germany [46]. Today, industries are still dependent on the water Today, we are in the second management cycle of the supply and hydroelectric power [33, 34], and it is EU-WFD (Water Framework-Directive) [47], the Phase expected that anthropogenic infuences on rivers of EU-WFD (5) (cf. Figure 2). Sustainability of running will continue to increase [35, 36]. Apart from that, in waters and renaturation largely determine the actions of recent decades, a rethinking of the protection of fuvial people [48], but industries are still large stakeholders in systems has occurred. Especially in Europe, sustain- water management [49, 50]. able development of water bodies has become a com- In this context, the increased use of water resources mon goal with the legislative basis of the EU-WFD as well as food protection are often connected with [37]. Terefore, the timeframe from the Middle Ages Wolf et al. Environ Sci Eur (2021) 33:15 Page 3 of 23 Fig. 1 a Tipping points of human development, b classifcation of the fve phases of river management in the Rur River catchment into phases of human impacts on river courses worldwide. Source: own illustration modifed after [19] riverbed regulations [25, 51], but does industrialization morphology and hydrology of rivers and their food- truly straighten a river? plains today [52]. Irreversible tipping points in water- Despite the massive anthropogenic infuences, course development are highly dependent on the nature geofactors of riverine landscapes still afect the of the catchment area, which is why watercourses Wolf et al.

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