Water Board - Germany

Germany

In Germany water boards (Wasserverbände), also sometimes translated as water associations, are organizations set up under public law for different purposes ranging from wastewater treatment, the operation of dams (primariliy for flood control and bulk water supply), irrigation, drainage, the restoration and protection of ecosystems to water resources monitoring.

Most water boards are established on the legal basis of the federal law on water and soil associations (Gesetz über Wasser- und Bodenverbände), complemented by state laws in several German states (Länder) such as in Lower Saxony where water boards are in charge of coastal protection. Membership can be voluntary or mandatory, depending on the purpose of the water board. Members can be individuals, typically landowners in the area covered by a water board, or municipalities. There are thousands of water boards in Germany, mostly in Northern Germany and usually consisting of individual members. The first such water boards were created for coastal protection in the 13th century as private associations that subsequently evolved into boards established under public law.

A different type of water boards are the ten water boards in the Ruhr area of North Rhine Westphalia, of which the Ruhrverband, the Emschergenossenschaft and the Wupperverband are the largest ones. Their legal basis are state laws passed specifically for the purpose of creating these agencies. The water boards in the Ruhr area consist of municipalities and companies. They were created beginning in 1913 in two forms, those aiming to clean up industrial pollution and those building operating and building dams, always covering a river basin such as the Ruhr, the Emscher and the Wupper, all tributaries of the River Rhine. In each of these river basins, the water boards in charge of wastewater treatment and those in charge of dams were eventually merged into single multi-purpose water boards.