View article

This presents the results of the Eurowater project concerning river basin management (rbm). It discusses the rbm system in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, it identifies three different: the hydrological model (management by river basin authorities), the coordinated model (coordination at the river basin level) and the administrative model (management not based on river basins at all). One conclusion is that the hydrological model, as proposed in the draft Framework Directive (version 26 February 1997), is difficult to implement in transboundary river basins and in countries with decentralised water management, such as Germany and the Netherlands.