Upper Rhine
Encyclopedia
The Upper Rhine is the section of the Rhine in the Upper Rhine Plain
between Basel
, Switzerland
and Bingen
, Germany
. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometers 170 to 529 (the scale beginning in Konstanz
and ending in Rotterdam
).
The "Upper Rhine" is one of four sections (High Rhine
, Upper Rhine, Middle Rhine
, Lower Rhine
) of the river between Lake Constance and the North Sea. Countries and states along the Upper Rhine are Switzerland, France
(Alsace
) and the German states of Baden-Württemberg
, Rhineland-Palatinate
and Hesse
. The largest cities along the river are Basel
, Mulhouse
, Strasbourg
, Mannheim
, Ludwigshafen and Mainz
.
The Upper Rhine was straightened
between 1817 and 1876 by Johann Gottfried Tulla
and made navigable
between 1928 and 1977. The Treaty of Versailles
allows France to use the Upper Rhine for hydroelectricity
in the Grand Canal d'Alsace
.
On the left Bank, we find the French region of Alsace
and the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate
; on the right bank, the German states of Baden-Württemberg
and Hesse
. The first few kilometers are in the Swiss city of Basel
.
of about 300 km long and 50 km wide came into being between the present cities of Basel and Frankfurt
. This was due to tensile stresses in the Earth's crust and mantle
, which resulted in lowering the earth's surface. The moat has been partially filled up again by sedimentation
. On the edges we find mountain ridges, the so-called "rift flanks". On the Eastern side, they are the Black Forest
and Odenwald
mountains, in the West the Vosges
and Palatinate Forest. During the tertiary
, the High Rhine continued West from Basel and flowed via the Doubs
and the Saône
, into the Rhône
. The rift diverted the Rhine into the newly formed Upper Rhine Valley.
The Rhine knee
at Basel marks the transition from the High Rhine
to the Upper Rhine with a change of direction from West to North and a change of landscape from the relatively small-chamber high-Rhine cuesta
landscape to the wide rift zone of the Upper Rhine Rift Valley. The two largest tributaries come from the right: the Neckar
in Mannheim
, the Main
across from Mainz
. In the northwest corner of the Upper Rhine Valley, at Rhine-kilometer 529.1, near Bingen, where the Nahe flows into the Rhine, the Rhine flows into a gorge in the Rhenish Massif and thereby changes into the Middle Rhine
.
between 1817 and 1876 by Johann Gottfried Tulla
and changed from a relatively sluggish meander
ing river with major and many smaller branches into a fast flowing stream flanked with dams. The length of the Upper Rhine was reduced by 81 km. Some cut-off river arms remain; they are typically called "Old Rhine" or .
and Iffezheim
is almost entirely canalized. On a stretch of 180 km, there are ten dams
, provided with hydropower station and locks
. Between Basel and Breisach
, the old river bed carries hardly any water; almost all water is diverted through the Grand Canal d'Alsace
on the French side, to ensure safe shipping and hydro power generation around the clock. Only when there is a large supply of water, then the old river bed will receive more water than the canal. France gained the right to do this in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles; the right applies to the segment between Basel and Neuburgweier/Lauterbourg, where the Rhine forms the border between France and Germany.
The straightening (1817-1876) and channeling (1928-1977) reduced the water table
by up to 16 m and thus had a negative effect on flora
and fauna
. Gravel
is also missing from the river, due to the dams. This has caused erosion below the dam at Iffezheim. To counter this, 173.000 cubic meters per year of a mixture of sand and gravel with an average grain diameter of 20&nsbp;mm (corresponding to the local sediment transport capacity) has been dumped into the river, since 1978, using two motorized barges.
. As a result 0f the straightening of the Upper Rhine, floods from the Alps
now reach the Middle Rhine
much faster than in the past. Thus, the risk of such a peak coinciding with a flood peak of Neckar
, Moselle
or Main
has increased. About 123 km² of flood plain have been lost. Authorities in riparian states of France, Baden-Württemberg
and Rhineland-Palatinate
have launched the Integrated Rhine Programme, a framework for designating water retention areas. to combat downstream flooding. A French-German treaty was concluded in 1982, in which the parties agreed to restore the retention capacity on the stretch below Iffezheim to the level it had before the area was developed.
This means:
For the stretch between Iffezheim and the mouth of the Neckar, attenuation of the apex of a 200-year flood (i.e. a flood that statistically occurs once in 200 years) of the Rhine to a discharge of 5000 m³/s at the Maxau gauge station, that is, a reduction from 5700 m³/s to 5000 m³/s.
For this purpose the following measures are planned and partially implemented:
The effectiveness of the flood protection measures was verified using a computer model. The State Institute for the Environment, Nature Protection and Measurements in Baden-Württemberg carried out forecast calculations with the help of a mathematical "synoptic flood progression model". The analysis of the calculations and the evaluation of the results were made on the basis of the requirements and methods set by the international Flood Study Commission for the Rhine. The implementation of the proposed flood control measures on the Upper Rhine can prevent the occurrence of a 200-year flood between Iffezheim and Bingen, with an overall economic loss estimated at around 6.2 billion euros.
is a framework for future political and administrative cooperation in the area. This framework does not apply to the Northern part of the Upper Rhine valle, nor the Palatinate, as these not border areas. On the other hand, parts of the High Rhine
are in the scope of this framework.
Upper Rhine Plain
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben is a major rift, straddling the border between France and Germany. It forms part of the European Cenozoic Rift System, which extends across central Europe...
between Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Bingen
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometers 170 to 529 (the scale beginning in Konstanz
Konstanz
Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
and ending in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
).
The "Upper Rhine" is one of four sections (High Rhine
High Rhine
The High Rhine is the name used in Germany for the part of the Rhine River that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel.The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine in Basel...
, Upper Rhine, Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the Rhine River flows as the Middle Rhine through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and the surrounding lands raised...
, Lower Rhine
Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hoek van Holland, Netherlands.Almost immediately after entering the Netherlands, the Rhine splits into many branches. The main branch is called the Waal which flows from Nijmegen to meet the river Meuse; after which it is called Merwede...
) of the river between Lake Constance and the North Sea. Countries and states along the Upper Rhine are Switzerland, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
) and the German states of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
and Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. The largest cities along the river are Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Mulhouse
Mulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
, Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Ludwigshafen and Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
.
The Upper Rhine was straightened
River engineering
River engineering is the process of planned human intervention in the course, characteristics or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and behaviour of rivers since before recorded history - to manage the water resources,...
between 1817 and 1876 by Johann Gottfried Tulla
Johann Gottfried Tulla
Johann Gottfried Tulla was a German engineer, who in the nineteenth century accomplished the straightening of the Rhine, improving navigation and alleviating the effects of flooding. His measures gave the upper Rhine a completely new appearance...
and made navigable
Navigability
A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and slow enough for a vessel to pass. Preferably there are few obstructions such as rocks or trees to avoid. Bridges must have sufficient clearance. High water speed may make a channel unnavigable. Waters may be...
between 1928 and 1977. The Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
allows France to use the Upper Rhine for hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
in the Grand Canal d'Alsace
Grand Canal d'Alsace
The Grand Canal of Alsace is a canal in eastern France, channeling the Upper Rhine river. It is 50 kilometers long between Kembs and Vogelgrun, and provides access to the region from the Rhine River, Basel in Switzerland, and the North Sea for barges of up to 1,350 metric tons...
.
On the left Bank, we find the French region of Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
and the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
; on the right bank, the German states of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
and Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. The first few kilometers are in the Swiss city of Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
.
Geology
Around 35 million years ago, a rift valleyRift valley
A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. This action is manifest as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion...
of about 300 km long and 50 km wide came into being between the present cities of Basel and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. This was due to tensile stresses in the Earth's crust and mantle
Mantle
A mantle is an ecclesiastical garment in the form of a very full cape which extends to the floor, joined at the neck, that is worn over the outer garments....
, which resulted in lowering the earth's surface. The moat has been partially filled up again by sedimentation
Sedimentation
Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration...
. On the edges we find mountain ridges, the so-called "rift flanks". On the Eastern side, they are the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
and Odenwald
Odenwald
The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...
mountains, in the West the Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
and Palatinate Forest. During the tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
, the High Rhine continued West from Basel and flowed via the Doubs
Doubs
Doubs is a department the Franche-Comté region of eastern France named after the Doubs River.-History:As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke the Franc-Comtois language, a dialect of Langue d'Oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect...
and the Saône
Saône
The Saône is a river of eastern France. It is a right tributary of the River Rhône. Rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department, it joins the Rhône in Lyon....
, into the Rhône
Rhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
. The rift diverted the Rhine into the newly formed Upper Rhine Valley.
The Rhine knee
Rhine knee
The Rhine knee is the name of a few bends in the Rhine river.-Rhine knee at Basel:In Basel the Rhine changes its westerly direction of flow to a northerly direction, along the borders of France and Germany, to flow to the North Sea. From a political viewpoint the Rhine knee is near the tripoint of...
at Basel marks the transition from the High Rhine
High Rhine
The High Rhine is the name used in Germany for the part of the Rhine River that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel.The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine in Basel...
to the Upper Rhine with a change of direction from West to North and a change of landscape from the relatively small-chamber high-Rhine cuesta
Cuesta
In structural geology and geomorphology, a cuesta is a ridge formed by gently tilted sedimentary rock strata in a homoclinal structure. Cuestas have a steep slope, where the rock layers are exposed on their edges, called an escarpment or, if more steep, a cliff...
landscape to the wide rift zone of the Upper Rhine Rift Valley. The two largest tributaries come from the right: the Neckar
Neckar
The Neckar is a long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse, in Germany. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the River Rhine...
in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, the Main
Main
The Main is a river in Germany, with a length of the most significant right tributary of the Rhine.-Geography:...
across from Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
. In the northwest corner of the Upper Rhine Valley, at Rhine-kilometer 529.1, near Bingen, where the Nahe flows into the Rhine, the Rhine flows into a gorge in the Rhenish Massif and thereby changes into the Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the Rhine River flows as the Middle Rhine through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and the surrounding lands raised...
.
Straightening
In 1685, Louis XIV started a program to move the Upper Rhine, change its course and drain the flood plain, in order to gain land. Until 1840, the river was moved up to 1.5 km to the East, taking territory away from Baden. Around 1790, large part of the Rhine Valley were deforested, creating arable land, fields and pasture to feed the population. The Upper Rhine was straightenedRiver engineering
River engineering is the process of planned human intervention in the course, characteristics or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and behaviour of rivers since before recorded history - to manage the water resources,...
between 1817 and 1876 by Johann Gottfried Tulla
Johann Gottfried Tulla
Johann Gottfried Tulla was a German engineer, who in the nineteenth century accomplished the straightening of the Rhine, improving navigation and alleviating the effects of flooding. His measures gave the upper Rhine a completely new appearance...
and changed from a relatively sluggish meander
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
ing river with major and many smaller branches into a fast flowing stream flanked with dams. The length of the Upper Rhine was reduced by 81 km. Some cut-off river arms remain; they are typically called "Old Rhine" or .
Canalizing and dams
The Rhine between BaselBasel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
and Iffezheim
Iffezheim
Iffezheim is a town in the district of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It lies close to the Rhine river, where the Lock Iffezheim is also situated.-Mayors:*Jakob Huber *Konrad Mußler *Johannes N...
is almost entirely canalized. On a stretch of 180 km, there are ten dams
DAMS
Driot-Arnoux Motorsport is a racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsports. DAMS was founded in 1988 by Jean-Paul Driot and former Formula One driver René Arnoux. It is headquartered near Le Mans, only 2 km from the Bugatti Circuit.- History :The year after its foundation,...
, provided with hydropower station and locks
Locks
Locks may refer to*Lock, a fastening device*Locks of hair*Dreadlocks, matted coils of hair, known as locks*Lock , a device for transferring vessels between bodies of water of different levels...
. Between Basel and Breisach
Breisach
Breisach is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway between Freiburg and Colmar — 20 kilometres away from each — and about 60 kilometres north of Basel near the...
, the old river bed carries hardly any water; almost all water is diverted through the Grand Canal d'Alsace
Grand Canal d'Alsace
The Grand Canal of Alsace is a canal in eastern France, channeling the Upper Rhine river. It is 50 kilometers long between Kembs and Vogelgrun, and provides access to the region from the Rhine River, Basel in Switzerland, and the North Sea for barges of up to 1,350 metric tons...
on the French side, to ensure safe shipping and hydro power generation around the clock. Only when there is a large supply of water, then the old river bed will receive more water than the canal. France gained the right to do this in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles; the right applies to the segment between Basel and Neuburgweier/Lauterbourg, where the Rhine forms the border between France and Germany.
The straightening (1817-1876) and channeling (1928-1977) reduced the water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
by up to 16 m and thus had a negative effect on flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
. Gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
is also missing from the river, due to the dams. This has caused erosion below the dam at Iffezheim. To counter this, 173.000 cubic meters per year of a mixture of sand and gravel with an average grain diameter of 20&nsbp;mm (corresponding to the local sediment transport capacity) has been dumped into the river, since 1978, using two motorized barges.
Conservation
The flood plains between Mainz and Bingen are important for nature conservation. In this section, the so-called island Rhine, there are many nature reserves and bird sanctuaries.Integrated Rhine Programme (IRP)
The Upper Rhine plays a key role in flood control on the Middle and Lower RhineLower Rhine
The Lower Rhine flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hoek van Holland, Netherlands.Almost immediately after entering the Netherlands, the Rhine splits into many branches. The main branch is called the Waal which flows from Nijmegen to meet the river Meuse; after which it is called Merwede...
. As a result 0f the straightening of the Upper Rhine, floods from the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
now reach the Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the Rhine River flows as the Middle Rhine through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and the surrounding lands raised...
much faster than in the past. Thus, the risk of such a peak coinciding with a flood peak of Neckar
Neckar
The Neckar is a long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse, in Germany. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the River Rhine...
, Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
or Main
Main
The Main is a river in Germany, with a length of the most significant right tributary of the Rhine.-Geography:...
has increased. About 123 km² of flood plain have been lost. Authorities in riparian states of France, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
and Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
have launched the Integrated Rhine Programme, a framework for designating water retention areas. to combat downstream flooding. A French-German treaty was concluded in 1982, in which the parties agreed to restore the retention capacity on the stretch below Iffezheim to the level it had before the area was developed.
This means:
For the stretch between Iffezheim and the mouth of the Neckar, attenuation of the apex of a 200-year flood (i.e. a flood that statistically occurs once in 200 years) of the Rhine to a discharge of 5000 m³/s at the Maxau gauge station, that is, a reduction from 5700 m³/s to 5000 m³/s.
- for the stretch below the mouth of the Neckar, attenuation of the apex of a 220-year flood to a discharge of 6000 m³/s at the Worms gauge station, that is, a reduction from 6800 m³/s to 6000 m³/s.
For this purpose the following measures are planned and partially implemented:
- By France: Special operations power stations on the Rhine and construction of two polders ErsteinErsteinErstein is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in the Alsace region in France.-History:Erstein was known in Alsace in the Middle Age for its Benedictine Abbey...
and Moder - By Baden-Württemberg: Construction of about 13 polders
- By Rhineland-Palatinate: construction of polders and relocating levees
The effectiveness of the flood protection measures was verified using a computer model. The State Institute for the Environment, Nature Protection and Measurements in Baden-Württemberg carried out forecast calculations with the help of a mathematical "synoptic flood progression model". The analysis of the calculations and the evaluation of the results were made on the basis of the requirements and methods set by the international Flood Study Commission for the Rhine. The implementation of the proposed flood control measures on the Upper Rhine can prevent the occurrence of a 200-year flood between Iffezheim and Bingen, with an overall economic loss estimated at around 6.2 billion euros.
Tri-national metropolitan region Upper Rhine
The tr Franco-German-Swiss regional Upper Rhine ConferenceUpper Rhine Conference
The Upper Rhine Conference provides the institutional framework for cross-border cooperation in the Upper Rhine region...
is a framework for future political and administrative cooperation in the area. This framework does not apply to the Northern part of the Upper Rhine valle, nor the Palatinate, as these not border areas. On the other hand, parts of the High Rhine
High Rhine
The High Rhine is the name used in Germany for the part of the Rhine River that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel.The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine in Basel...
are in the scope of this framework.
External links
- EUCOR-URGENT
- Franco-German-Swiss Conference of the Upper Rhine
- Regional Association of the Southern Upper Rhine
- RegionalverRegional Association of the Central Upper Rhine
- Association for Regional History in the Upper Rhine area
- Information on the Integrated Rhine Programme from the government office in Freiburg
