Main themes of the 68th CHR meeting
Weggis, Switzerland - 14 and 15 November 2011
Changes in the discharge regime of the Rhine: The compilation of the proposed joint article on the projects "Changes in the discharge regime of the Rhine" and "RheinBlick2050" hasn't started yet. CHR plans to contract the compilation of such an article to the Luxemburg research institute Gabriel Lippmann.
The brochure about the project was printed and can be downloaded or ordered via the CHR website (see Publications).
RheinBlick2050 (climate change): The final report was printed and sent to the CHR members. The project page on the CHR website has been updated and information about the project was added to the English and German Wikipedia. Two peer reviewed publications, one for the magazine "Hydrology und Wasserwirtschaft" and one for "Nature Climate Change"' are in preparation.
The question how to deal with the data that have been collected and improved in the project has nor been answered yet. The data owners can not provide all data for free. The project leader will investigate the possibility to make the data available as a derived product. In this case it is important to mention CHR as data source.
HYMOG (water balance): The first phase of the project was completed and the final report is ready for printing. The result of the project is a validated, consistent, redundant-free and very comprehensive database for a 20 years period as well as proposals for adjustments of different rating curves. In the series, few errors were discovered.
The HYMOG final report appears in the blue CHR series. Annexes will be added to the report on CD.
CHR will provide the HYMOG data on demand.
In the previous CHR meeting it has been decided not to carry out the second phase of HYMOG as a classical project. Instead an alternative in the form of hydrological forum has been proposed. In such a forum, scientists from state institutes, universities and private companies from the Rhine basin dealing with hydrological models should meet on a regular basis to discuss technical themes and maybe initiate common projects. Possible themes to discuss might be hydrological uncertainty, snow melt, groundwater exchange, etc. Such a forum could help to establish CHR as a knowledge centre and would be a connection to the WMO strategy of 'seamless prediction'.
The Netherlands are very much in favour of such a forum and are willing to take the lead in the organization. Deltares, BfG and the Centre for water Management will compile a proposal.
Contribution of snow and glaciers to the discharge of the Rhine: The main project objective is identification and quantification of snow and glacier melt portions in the total discharge of the Rhine and its tributaries in different discharge and weather conditions. The consequential objective is estimation of the development of discharge portions conditioned by glacier and snow melt considering longer-term climatic changes. In fact, there are similar projects like CCHYDRO and NFP61, but it was noted that these do not give answers to abovementioned questions.
The preliminary project plan consists of the following steps:
The funding of the project has been guaranteed. Agreements have been made between FOEN and CHR and between BfG and CHR. An agreement with Austria is still in preparation. The Netherlands also have promised a financial contribution to the project.
Comparable to the CHR project 'Changes in the Discharge Regime' the project will be monitored by a steering group.
The possibilities for contracting of the project have been discussed and it was decided to carry out a pre-investigation of the market. This means that selected institutions are invited to send in an expression of interest for the execution of the project. This pre-investigation will be done by Mr. Belz in cooperation with the preliminary steering group in the months December 2011 and January 2012. The call for tender could then be send in January 2012 and the contracting should take place in April/May. The contractor will be invited to the next CHR meeting to present his plans for the execution of the project.
The CHR representatives prefer a contract with a consortium.
Rhine Alarm Model: CHR has received a request from the Swiss research institute EAWAG to use the Rhine Alarm Model for estimation of the spread of cooling-water from a nuclear power plant. It was concluded that the results of the model close to the discharge location were not very reliable. This is also caused by the fact that the model schematization for this area deviates from reality.
Sediment: Fact Sheets of completed Case Studies have been created at ISI office. In addition, there is a synthesis report on all case studies as well as a new ISI general flyer.
Cooperation with other international organisations: Conversations with representatives of WMO and the president of ICPR have taken place, in which possibilities for cooperation between CHR and WMO or CHR and ICPR have been discussed.
In the meeting with WMO focal points for a possible cooperation were determined. The CHR representatives are not convinced that CHR and WMO have the same priorities. On the other hand it was found that the workshop on 'Model Comparison' that has been organized together with WMO shows that cooperation on selected themes is possible and useful.
In the meeting with the ICPR president Mr. Weidenhaupt, he promised to investigate whether CHR can obtain an observer status in ICPR meetings. Until now Mr. Weidenhapt has not responded. Mr. Spreafico will contact Mr. Weidenhaupt once more.
After that a meeting has taken place between the secretary of ICPR, Mr. van de Wetering and the secretary of CHR, Mr. Sprokkereef. In this meeting it was concluded that the themes on the agenda of CHR meetings are not important enough to justify a two day business travel for the ICPR secretary. The CHR members understand this. Both secretaries intend to meet on a more regular basis to discuss ongoing matters in their commissions.
Future Activities of the CHR: A proposal from Deltares and the Centre for water Management for al low flow scenario study has been discussed. This proposal fits to the Dutch activities of the Delta Commission and has been brought up in previous discussions on future activities.
The proposal was supported by the BfG as well as by representatives of Austria and Switzerland. The Swiss representative emphasizes the importance to tune a low flow project with the snow and glacier project.
The CHR representatives have asked Deltares and the Centre for Water Management to further elaborate the proposal and to present a project plan in the next meeting.
Length of the Rhine: After discussions in 2010 about the length of the Rhine, CHR has declared the "official lenght' of the Rhine based on national measurements in Switzerland, Germany and The Netherlands. The result will be presented as a news item on the CHR website.
The next (69th) CHR meeting will be held 14 and 15 June 2012 in France.