1) Describe and evaluate the water related situation in the beginning of the 20th century Rhur area and

in the Rhur river itself?

A)The industrial revolution has brought a much change in Rhur area it grew from scarcely populated
agrarian area to area containing cities bearing several hundred thousand residents
By 1901 the annual abstraction from Rhur river amounted 197 million cubic metres, waste water from
industries and domestic sewage is discharged into the river untreated making the river unhygenic
causing the outbreak of typhoid epidemic in 1901 &19011, lower reaches of Rhur became too much
polluted turning water to brownish and formation of oil sludge,by 1911 annual abstraction from Rhur
reaches 412 million cubic meters
Dr.Karl Imhoff, who later became managing director of the Ruhrverband, draws up the report
"Keeping the Ruhr clean", An act on keeping the Ruhr clean (Ruhrreinhaltungsgesetz), based on
Imhoff's report, is being published in the Prussian law gazette on June 5 1913 , creating the legal basis
for sewage treatment along the Ruhr

2) What were the reasons for the foundation of “Ruhrtalsperrenverein” and “Ruhrverband” in that
period, nowadays merged to “Ruhrverband”?

A)After the rapid industrilization from mid 19th century the cities in lower Rhur valley got hardly any
water on summer months, and the water works abstracted large quantities of water upstream and
transferred them to other basins depriving lower Rhur area power plants and industries any water,
against this backdrop Ruhrtalsperrenverein (Rhur reservoirs association) was formed which is a
voluntary alliance of water works and power plants under a private law
But the supply shortages are prevalant,in 1911 drought coupled with high abstract of water works and
discharge of untreated domestic and industrial sewage into the river caused the river to turn into
blackish brown and oil sludge formation in the lower reaches ,eventually typhoid brokeout in mulheim
infecting 1500 people ,water shortage also resulted in disruption of industrial production ,thease
extreme situations lead to the formation of Ruhrverband in 1913 based on the Prussian special law

3)Which tasks were then taken over by both organisations?

A)Ruhrtalsperrenverein is established in 1899 as Ruhr reservoirs assosiation under the private law,
whose motto is the control of runoff and supply of water for domestic and industrial needs from Rhur
and its tributaries, and by 1913 public law it became public corporation, making construction of dams,
water quantity management and water drainage works coming under it
While Ruhrverband was found in 1913 to operate sewage treatment plants and keep the Rhur clean

4)In which manner did they fulfil these tasks?

A)By 1913 law users of Rhur became members of these associations which includes
municipalities,districts,industries,power plants,businesses,public water supply companies etc.,which
enabled to act it independent of political interests and individual business interests
The conflicts about usage and quality of rivers water between users of the upper and lower Rhur are
solved and became past, even though small water shortages occurred during hot summers it is
mitigated by the completion of the Bigge reservoir in 1965

5)How is the “Ruhrverband” organized?

A)The Ruhrverband is a corporation under public law. The association is a self-governing body but
subject to the legal supervision of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. since 1990, the
Ruhrverband is based on an internal structure similar to that of a public limited company. The
Ruhrverband's bodies comprise the
A)Assembly of Associates
B)the Supervisory Board and
C)the Executive Board.
The rights and duties of these bodies are laid down in the Ruhrverband act
A)Assembly of Associates:
The Assembly of Associates consists of up to 152 delegates, 150 of which are being delegated by the
association's members or elected by voting groups. The number of delegates per member or group of
members is determined by the amount of financial contributions, which in turn is calculated on the
basis of the amount of water abstracted from or the polluting load discharged into the river. Two
delegates are appointed by the chambers of agriculture.
B)The Supervisory Board:The Supervisory Board of the Ruhrverband consists of 15 members, seven
of which are delegates from the communities and districts. Two members are representatives of the
entities abstracting water from the Ruhr, one member represents the business community and five are
employee representatives.
C)The Executive Board:The Ruhrverband's Executive Board is being elected by the Supervisory
Board and consists of the chairman and at least one more board member. The Executive Board runs
the Ruhrverband's administration in compliance with the Ruhrverband act
6)How did it finance its measures?

A)The finance to organization is from its users who are also its members, The amount of financial
contributions from each entity is calculated on the basis of the amount of water abstracted from the
river and the polluting load discharged into the river.

7)What are the advantages of River Basin associations like “Ruhrverband”?

A)The advantages of River Basin associations like “Ruhrverband” are

1)Self-administration guarantees the participation of members when it comes to fulfilling the
association's tasks and laying down the guidelines for the distribution of fees. It's in the members own
interest to implement the "polluter pays principle", the guiding principle of modern environmental law.

2)Since the Ruhrverband is responsible for the entire Ruhr catchment area, its activities can be based
on the natural conditions and are independent of administrative borders.

3)Working across regions, the Ruhrverband can leverage cost synergies when it comes to planning,
constructing and operating its facilities.

4)As a corporation under public law which can stipulate its own membership contributions, the
Ruhrverband enjoys high creditworthiness and access to the favourable credit terms of municipal
loans and other low-interest programmes of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

8)Nowadays, what are the four basic pillars to guarantee a permanent supply of clean raw water by
Ruhrverband in order to support the waterworks in the Ruhr valley in producing drinking water?

A)The Ruhrverband plans, constructs, finances, operates reservoirs, sewage treatment plants,
impounding lakes and storm water treatment facilities as one stop shop for entire catchment area of
Rhur, it also looks into water supply, water quality, water quantity management