The impact of climate change on the river Rhine and the implications for water management in the Netherlands

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This report gives the extended summary of the project 'The impact of climate change on the river Rhine and the implications for water management in the Netherlands', carried out within the framework of the Dutch National Research Programme on Global Air Pollution and Climate Change (NRP) - phase 2. This report is also a product of the IRMA-SPONGE project nr. 3/NL/1/164 / 99 15 183 0. The project contributes to the CHR- research on the Rhine basin. The institutes that collaborated in the project are the Faculty of Geographical Sciences - Utrecht University, Institute of Inland Water management and Wastewater Treatment - RIZA and the Landscape and Environmental Research Group - University of Amsterdam. This study firstly addressed the effects of changes in climate and land use on the river regime, including runoff, sediment production, transport and deposition in the Rhine basin. Secondly, the hydrological, morphological and ecological effects of soil subsidence, changes in the river regime and other climate related boundary conditions were investigated for inland water systems in the Rhine basin part of the Netherlands. This was done on the basis of a separation in three, connected, sub-systems, i.e. River Rhine branches, terrestrial areas and lake IJsselmeer. Finally, by combining the expected impacts with possible measures for adaptation, the vulnerability of these functions to climate change was assessed.