Plan of approach for exceptional low water events in the Meuse basin
Description
The Meuse International River Basin District faced several consecutive years of the summer drought between 2017 and 2020. In order to be able to adapt to these events, which are likely to occur more often because of climate change, the International Meuse Commission has drafted a plan of approach to deal with exceptional low water events, published at the end of 2020.
The document aims to answer three questions:
- What is an exceptional low-water event in the Meuse basin?
- What are their concrete consequences?
- How to deal with such a situation?
The first part of the document describes the hydrology of the Meuse and works on the naturalization of the flows, to quantify the volumes of water withdrawn or discharged on the flows of the river.
The second part provides details on the impacts of low water on the status of surface water bodies and on the uses of surface water. It also includes a list of measures taken to reduce the negative effects of low water and a chapter on the potential effects of climate change.
The last part of the document is a list of recommendations to improve the international management of those exceptional low water events. These recommendations are being implemented in 2021 and 2022.
Reference information
Contributor:
International Meuse CommissionPublished in Climate-ADAPT Mar 08 2022 - Last Modified in Climate-ADAPT Dec 12 2023