This RIWA-Rijn annual report provides an overview of the water quality of the Dutch part of the Rhine river basin in 2019. In addition, it describes recent developments in the field of permitting and presents recommendations for further improving the process surrounding discharge permits.
The first chapter describes the parameters and their concentrations measured in 2019 at Lobith, Nieuwegein, Nieuwersluis and Andijk. The concentrations are compared with the target values set out in the European River Memorandum (ERM), and once again this year exceedances of these target values have been observed.
In the second chapter of this report, we reflect on recent developments and our experiences regarding permitting. The river’s function as a source of drinking water deserves strong protection against the discharge of harmful substances from industry. For this reason, considerable efforts are being made in the Netherlands to optimize an important instrument in this regard: the discharge permit. Although substances may not be discharged without a permit, we have nevertheless been repeatedly confronted with the presence of new substances at high concentrations.
In the Netherlands, it became clear that permitting practices required improvement, and important steps were taken in this direction in 2019. In addition, we are faced with discharge permits issued across national borders. We therefore put forward a proposal on how discharge permitting can be improved and made more transparent at the international level.