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Title and introduction |
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The IRMA-Programme: European Subsidy for Flood Prevention |
71 Ko
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IRMA, which stands for International Rhine-Meuse Activities, is a programme that was established after the Rhine and Meuse flooded their banks in 1993 and 1995. In order to reduce the risk of flooding in the future, an international flood control partnership was created. The countries in the catchment areas of the Rhine and Meuse - Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - submitted a joint flood control programme to the European Commission within the framework of the INTERREG-IIC initiative. Besides the EU Member States mentioned, Switzerland is also participating in various projects.
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Restoration of the Natural Courses of Tributaries and their Overflow Areas |
276 Ko
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Measures taken in the tributaries of the rivers Rhine and Meuse can affect the discharge of the main rivers. Retaining more water for a longer period of time will reduce the peak flood level of the main river. One of the objectives of the IRMA programme is to support projects that aim to restore the natural courses of tributaries and their overflow areas.
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Indirect Discharge of Rainwater from Residential and Industrial Areas |
873 Ko
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Urbanisation within the catchments of the rivers has led to increases in peak water discharge into the rivers from residential and industrial areas. The water infrastructure in these areas was designed to quickly remove rainwater. Residential and industrial areas, however, offer good opportunities to retain rainwater. The IRMA programme supports projects that find ways to reduce the direct discharge of rainwater in built-up areas. This fact sheet looks more closely at this measure and describes some of the projects in detail.
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Creating Retention and Overflow Areas within Catchments |
122 Ko
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There are several ways in which we can increase the natural capacity of tributaries to retain water and in that way lower the peak discharge of the main river. One of these is to restore the natural courses of the rivers and streams concerned. When this is inadequate, extra retention areas can be created to temporarily store large amounts of water. This fact sheet discusses projects involving the creation of additional retention capacity along the tributaries of the Rhine and Meuse, part of the EU funded Interreg Rhine Meuse Activities (IRMA) programme.
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| 5 |
Measures in the Major Bed of the Rivers Rhine and Meuse |
221 Ko
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During the past century, land reclamation and urban expansion have encroached on the surface areas of the river beds and floodplains of the Rhine and Meuse, in many places ‘forcing’ the river to flow between dikes. Retention zones have also been substantially reduced in size. As a result, the peak discharge has increased while the discharge capacity decreased. The EU funded Interreg Rhine Meuse Activities (IRMA) Programme supports projects that try to reverse this process. This fact sheet deals with projects carried out in the major beds of the Rhine and Meuse, whose aim to increase the discharge capacity and reduce the peak discharge.
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Modelling and Spatial Planning |
30 Ko
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Because high water levels and floods cannot be prevented altogether, it is necessary to assess how water levels can be reduced and how high water levels affect the areas involved, so as to minimise the damage. This requires the development of models that can assess these effects; such assessments can then be incorporated into spatial planning programmes. The Interreg Rhine Meuse Activities (IRMA) Programme supports projects in which models are developed to assess the risk of flooding for spatial planning purposes.
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Raising Awareness, Improving Knowledge of Sensitive Areas and International Co-operation |
29 Ko
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Measures to prevent and fight high water levels and floods will be most effective when all those concerned are aware of the risks and the potential damage that can be caused. It is therefore important to develop measures that improve our understanding of the potential damage, and to develop tools that raise awareness of the potential risks. Since the different communities along the Rhine and Meuse face more or less the same problems, it can be very much to their advantage to pool their knowledge of measures taken to fight or prevent high water levels. The Interreg Rhine Meuse Activities (IRMA) Programme supports projects that help to raise awareness and exchange best practices. This fact sheet discusses projects concerned with these subjects.
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| 8 |
Cluster Approach to Regional Water Management in the Netherlands |
160 Ko
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Fourteen regional clusters have been defined in the Netherlands within the framework of the IRMA programme. The clusters are intended to provide a link between the IRMA projects at local level and the objectives and criteria of the transnational IRMA programme. The clusters have resulted not only in cluster documents, but also in regional partnerships whose common aim is to take a structured approach to flood management problems.
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Dike Relocation on the Lower Rhine in Germany |
560 Ko
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In the course of time, the flood plains of the Lower Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia have been reduced from 1,800 km2 to 300 km2. The projects discussed here are four examples of typical ‘Room for the River’ projects, partly funded by the IRMA programme. Not only are dikes along the Upper and Lower Rhine in Germany being relocated, but supplementary projects are being executed aimed at water retention and creating water storage areas in the upstream stretches of tributaries as well as in the rest of the catchment area.
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Space for Water, Confluence at Arnhem (NL) |
131 Ko
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In the past few years the areas along the Rhine and Meuse have had to cope with extremely high water levels. In the Netherlands the rivers almost breached the dikes and flooded low-lying polders and towns in 1995. To find a permanent solution to these problems, the Dutch Department of Public Works and Water Management has taken various measures in the Lower Rhine cluster around the city of Arnhem (in the eastern part of the Netherlands), financed in part by a grant from the Interreg Rhine-Meuse Activities (IRMA) programme. Dikes are being relocated and water meadows lowered. In this way, obstacles in the river beds are being removed and the river is being given more space. Many of the measures are being combined with the development of natural features in the water meadows.
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Interregional co-operation between the Provinces of North Brabant (The Netherlands) and Limburg (Belgium) |
572 Ko
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The Dutch province of North Brabant and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp and Limburg have drawn up a joint long-range plan within the context of the IRMA flood management programme. The long-range plan describes selected projects to prevent water management problems in the border area between the Netherlands and Belgium. As several networks of streams in Belgium discharge via the Netherlands, it is important to take an interregional and integrated approach to the entire catchment area. Specifically, this means that measures must be taken in both Belgium and the Netherlands. It is essential that the two countries co-operate on solving water management problems. By producing a joint cluster document, the authorities involved have borne out their intention of working together to build a resilient water system in the border region. The initial result consists of 15 projects which were submitted and are now being executed thanks to an EU grant through the IRMA programme and other funding
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| 12 |
The
Scientific IRMA-Sponge Umbrella Project
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72
Ko
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The
IRMA-SPONGE project occupies a special place within the IRMA programme.
It is an umbrella project with a cluster of innovative, transnational,
mutually consistent and complementary projects focusing on flood
risk and vulnerability assessment. IRMA-SPONGE, which stands for
Interreg Rhine-Meuse Activities - Scientific Programme ON GEnerating
Sustainable Flood Control, is a cluster programme in which 30 scientific
institutes from all seven IRMA countries work together on 13 study
projects. These 13 projects all aim to implement the IRMA programme's
Theme 3 measures: Improvement of Knowledge and Co-operation.
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| 13 |
Communication
within the IRMA Programme |
3.430 Ko
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The main goal
of the IRMA (Interreg Rhine Meuse Activities) Programme is to
increase safety and public awareness of flooding problems within
the catchment of the rivers Rhine and Meuse. These goals are achieved
by water management, spatial planning and damage prevention. Besides
changes to the physical infrastructure, such as dike relocation
or re-meandering projects, communication is an important instrument
in achieving the goals of the IRMA programme. When more people
are aware of the dangers and consequences of flooding, it will
be easier to take measures in this field. Dissemination of information
takes place on different levels and with different goals in mind.
This fact sheet discusses different aspects and forms of communication.
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| 14 |
Projected
Results of the IRMA Programme |
1.042
Ko
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The EU IRMA
programme was set up to finance flood control projects within
the catchment areas of the rivers Rhine and Meuse. At the end
of 1999, 153 projects had been approved and will receive a total
of 140 million euros in IRMA grants, to be disbursed before the
end of 2001. The programme has also fostered international co-operation
among the member states, encouraging them to take a cross-border
approach to flood prevention. The IRMA programme is based on the
concept that spatial planning and flood prevention can be closely
interlinked as part of a trans-national river basin approach.
Although the programme will continue until the end of 2001, it
is already possible to review the projected results of the programme.
This final fact sheet discusses the anticipated effects. |
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| 15 |
Procedure
for closing projects |
65
Ko
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The
year 2002 is the closing year of the IRMA Programme. That means
that your project, like all the other IRMA projects, will have to
close this year.
Project closure
is a complicated process in which various different institutions
check to see whether projects have been properly implemented and
whether the requirements set in the grant award have been met.
The various institutions must respond within fixed periods of
time, and it is therefore essential that everything is properly
co-ordinated. Together, we must ensure that project closure goes
smoothly. But what does that mean for you? What is it that you
are expected to do?
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