NiddaMan – Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Nidda Catchment Area

The aim of the joint project is the development of strategies for a sustainable management of the water resources in the Nidda catchment area. These strategies are to serve as a planning instrument for practical water management.

Research approach

The Nidda catchment area represents the extreme form of an area that is densely populated and intensively used by agriculture and industry. Due to the extensive usage requirements of various societal groups towards the surrounding area and the body of water itself the natural structure of the Nidda was strongly altered in the past. In spite of a number of renaturisation measures the river is in a moderate to poor ecological state.

Within the joint project NiddaMan, insights are supposed to be gained concerning the stress factors in the catchment area which are to serve as a knowledge base for a sustainable practice in the sector of water management. To this end, investigations will be made concerning the contaminant influx, the chemical water quality, the assessment of ecotoxicological effects, the biodiversity and the efficiency of water management measures. Conflict areas of water usage will be identified and the knowledge of various practitioners will be taken into account. In order to achieve a participation of the public, an internet platform will be developed to enable a dialogue and an active participation of citizens.

The research results will flow into an integrated information and management system for water monitoring and the efficient planning of water management measures. This will be developed in the joint project with the aim to enable a transfer to other regions with a similar problem structure.

Background

The largest part of the German surface waters does not comply the aim of the EU water framework directive of a good respectively very good state. In order to secure the quality, availability and a longterm protection of this resource, the stakeholders responsible for a sustainable management of the water bodies are facing the challenge to achieve a cost efficient, target orientated and effective management. New knowledge bases and up-to-date analyses with respect to hampering, stress and success factors are urgently required in order to get the priorities of water management measures right.

Research partners

• Goethe University Frankfurt, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology
• BGS Wasser – Brandt Gerdes Sitzmann Wasserwirtschaft GmbH
• The German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Department G2 – Aquatic Chemistry
• Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Institute for Evolution and Ecology, Animal Physiological Ecology
• ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Water and River Basin Management, Department of Aquatic Environmental Engineering
• Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute IWAR
• Unger Engineers, Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH

Practice partners

• Hessian Agency for the Environment and Geology (HLUG)
• Darmstadt Administrative Authorities
• Wetterau District, Friedberg

Funding

The project „NiddaMan – Development of a Sustainable Water Resources Management Exemplified by the Nidda Catchment Area” is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the programme “Research for Sustainable Developments (FONA)”. Here, NiddaMan is part of the funding measure “Regional Water Resources Management for Sustainable Water Protection in Germany (ReWaM)” in the funding priority “Sustainable Water Management (NaWaM)”.