The Present Status of the River Rhine with Special Emphasis on Fisheries Development

121 THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE RIVER RHINE WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT T. Brenner 1 A.D. Buijse2 M. Lauff3 J.F. Luquet4 E. Staub5 1 Ministry of Environment and Forestry Rheinland-Pfalz, P.O. Box 3160, D-55021 Mainz, Germany 2 Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment RIZA, P.O. Box 17, NL 8200 AA Lelystad, The Netherlands 3 Administrations des Eaux et Forets, Boite Postale 2513, L 1025 Luxembourg 4 Conseil Supérieur de la Peche, 23, Rue des Garennes, F 57155 Marly, France 5 Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape, CH 3003 Bern, Switzerland ABSTRACT The Rhine basin (1 320 km, 225 000 km2) is shared by nine countries (Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France, Luxemburg, Belgium and the Netherlands) with a population of about 54 million people and provides drinking water to 20 million of them. The Rhine is navigable from the North Sea up to Basel in Switzerland Key words: Rhine, restoration, aquatic biodiversity, fish and is one of the most important international migration waterways in the world. 122 The present status of the river Rhine Floodplains were reclaimed as early as the and groundwater protection. Possibilities for the Middle Ages and in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- restoration of the River Rhine are limited by the multi- tury the channel of the Rhine had been subjected to purpose use of the river for shipping, hydropower, drastic changes to improve navigation as well as the drinking water and agriculture. Further recovery is discharge of water, ice and sediment. From 1945 until hampered by the numerous hydropower stations that the early 1970s water pollution due to domestic and interfere with downstream fish migration, the poor industrial wastewater increased dramatically. Since habitat diversity, the lack of lateral connectivity then many measures have been taken by the riparian between main channel and floodplains and the cumu- states, communities and by industry to reduce nutrients lative unknown effects of thousands of synthesised and pollutants. The total phosphorus inputs were components in water. reduced by 65 percent compared to 1985, the nitrogen inputs only declined by 26 percent. This paper describes the different national and international programmes for the restoration of the Due to the improvement in water quality the River Rhine, its tributaries and measures for the rein- number and abundance of the majority of fish species troduction of the Atlantic salmon such as stocking, have increased and the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar habitat enhancement and construction of fish passages. L.), which was formerly extinct, not only occurs in The salmon has fulfilled a flagship role for a general some tributaries but also reproduces naturally. In total improvement of the Rhine. The most significant posi- over 60 species are present in the river basin. From its tive recent development is the EU Water Framework indigenous ichthyofauna of 44 species only Atlantic Directive: EU member states are required to compile sturgeon (Acipenser sturio L.) has not been seen with river basin management plans and rivers should have a certainty during the last decade. Most species other good ecological status by the year 2015. than the migratory species are self-sustainable, but the INTRODUCTION overall species composition is skewed towards a few ubiquitous ones, such as roach (Rutilus rutilus (L.) and The River Rhine is 1 320 km long and flows bream (Abramis brama (L.). Twenty exotic species are from the Swiss Alps through Switzerland, France, present but nowhere dominate the fish community. Germany and the Netherlands to the North Sea. The New species (e.g. Abramis sapa Pallas, Proterorhinus 225 000 km2 catchment area of the Rhine extends over marmoratus (Pallas) now appear more frequently as parts of Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, they reach the Rhine through the Rhine-Main-Danube Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the canal. The commercial fishery is based mainly on eel Netherlands and is populated by about 54 million peo- (Anguilla anguilla (L.) and pikeperch (Stizostedion ple (Table 1 and Figure 1). A number of industrial cen- lucioperca (L.). Exploitation of migratory fish species tres such as Basel, the Ruhr region and Rotterdam are is not remunerative and in the case of salmonids their situated along the Rhine, formerly a wild stream, fishing is banned. However, there is a flourishing meandering through a wide floodplain, today a vital recreational fishery. The “Salmon 2000 Programme” shipping route. Each day approximately 450 ships pass started by the Rhine Ministers of Environment under the Rhine at Lobith - Bimmen. In the year 2000 the the coordination of the International Commission for transport on the river at the Dutch – German border the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) has now been inte- was about 162 million tonnes and is expected to rise up grated in the programme on the sustainable develop- to approximately 199 million tonnes in 2015 (Wetzel ment of the River Rhine “Rhine 2020” whose main 2002). The river is also of importance for the water objectives are ecology restoration, flood prevention supply for agriculture and the drinking water provision with special emphasis on fisheries development 123 for about 20 million people. Twenty-one hydropower Table 1: Hydrological characteristics of the River plants on the Rhine mainstream have a total installed Rhine capacity of 2 186 MW. River Rhine has suffered Total drainage area 185,000 225.000 severely from stream regulation and pollution. (km2) (including “Alpine Rhine”) Total length (km) 1,250 1.320 (including “Alpine Rhine”) The first documented human influence on the Mean discharge (m2/s) 2,280 ** river with regard to canal construction to regulate the Minimal discharge (m2/s) 590 ** discharge took place in the Roman era. The construc- Maximum discharge (m2/s) 11,800 ** tion of dykes on floodplains began in the early Middle ** at Rees (Dutch border) Ages with the development of agriculture. However, Figure. 1. The catchment area of the River Rhine 124 The present status of the river Rhine until the eighteenth century the main channels were (Lelek 1989). As a result of the treatment of waste- meandering and many river islands, floodplain forests water discharges during the 1970s – 1980s, dissolved and snag habitats were still present. Later on, the need oxygen levels returned to normal but nutrients, mainly for timber resulted in the disappearance of floodplain nitrogen, still reach the river from diffuse agricultural forests, whereas the wood was removed to facilitate sources. While concentrations of several heavy metals shipping. River regulation began in the nineteenth cen- have been reduced over the last few decades, the sedi- tury and was completed in the twentieth century with a ments of the river forelands are still strongly contami- series of weirs, locks and dams to control flooding, to nated and micropollutants are presumably the cause produce hydropower and for shipping (Figure 2). The for the reduction in the bottom fauna (van den Brink, decline in water quality due to uncontrolled industrial van der Velde, Buijse et al. 1996). and domestic discharges culminated in serious prob- lems with drinking water and an overall degradation of One can distinguish six stretches of the River Rhine: the Rhine ecosystem from 1950 to 1970, when dis- The Alpine Rhine from its source in the Alps to Lake solved oxygen concentration became extremely low Constance. Figure 2. The Upper Rhine at Breisach (From ICPR 1991) with special emphasis on fisheries development 125 The High Rhine from the outflow of Lake islands that existed until 1825 disappeared. The once Constance to approximately 170 km downstream at the braided river system with islands, sand and gravel flats city of Basel (This is the beginning of what is general- – a highly diverse system of various habitats in a ly referred to be the Rhine). This stretch still has a dynamic environment – was transformed into a petri- riverine character despite having 11 dams with fied canal with high current velocities. To counterbal- hydropower stations, as well as four dams upstream of ance erosion and sedimentation 10 dams were built, the river Aare (Table 2). with hydropower plants and with locks for navigation. For safety reasons and easier navigation, the main river Table 2: The most important tributaries of the River channel has a bypass, which is an artificial canal on the Rhine French territory (between km 173 and km 227). The Tributary Length hydropower plant in Kembs can take a maximum dis- Mosel (France and Germany) 550 km charge of 1 400 m3 s-1. The remaining water, with a Main (Germany) 524 km 3 -1 Neckar (Germany) 370 km mean discharge of 91 m s , flows through the former Aare (Switzerland) 295 km river channel, the so-called “Rest-Rhine”. The mini- Lippe (Germany) 437 km mum discharge in the summer period is 20 m3 s-1 and Ruhr (Germany) 235 km the maximum is about 256 m3 s-1. The first dam is about Ill (France) 217 km 700 km from the North Sea at Iffezheim and has been equipped in 2000/2002 with one of the largest fish pas- The Upper Rhine from Basle downstream to sage structures in Europe. It is a modified vertical slot the city of Bingen. This was the most diversified part pass optimised by French and German fishery and of the Rhine in the past and it is also known as the “fur- hydraulic engineering experts. A fish pass for the next cation zone”. Swift stretches extend over a length of dam upstream at Gambsheim will be constructed in about 190 km. The canalisation of the Upper Rhine, 2003/2004. The main tributary in this stretch on the the so-called Tulla rectification, was carried out right side is the dammed and navigable Main River, between 1817 and 1876 and had tremendous environ- which is connected to the Danube system by the mental consequences (Figure 3).

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