Annual report 2019 – The Rhine
This RIWA-Rijn annual report (in Dutch) gives an overview of the water quality of the Dutch part of the Rhine catchment in 2019. In addition, it describes recent developments in the field of permit granting and makes recommendations for further improvement of the process concerning discharge permits.
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The first chapter describes the parameters and their concentrations measured in 2019 at Lobith, Nieuwegein, Nieuwersluis and Andijk. The concentrations have been compared with the target values in the European River Memorandum (ERM) and again this year the target values have been exceeded.
In the second chapter of this report we look back on recent developments and our experiences on the subject of permits. The drinking water function of the river deserves good protection against discharges of hazardous substances from industry. That is why the Netherlands is working hard on optimising an important instrument for this purpose: the discharge permit. Without a discharge permit, substances may not be discharged, yet we have repeatedly been startled by new substances in high concentrations. In the Netherlands, we have noticed that the permit granting practice needed to be improved, and important steps have been taken to this end in 2019. In addition, we have discharge permits across borders. We have made a proposal as to how discharge permits can be made better and more transparent internationally.
This report is available in Dutch and in German.
RIWA-2020-NL-Jaarrapport 2019 De Rijn