Rivers don’t end at state borders. Numerous water management issues and problems can only be solved together through trans-border cooperation. The central idea, to no longer manage European waters nationally, but rather in terms of river basins, is firmly anchored in the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD). Other guidelines, such as the Flood Risk Management Directive (FRMD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) also follow this idea.
Baden-Württemberg is part of the Rhine and the Danube river basins, two of the largest in Europe. All important overarching issues of management of these waters are coordinated and settled in the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) and the Danube River (ICPD) as well as the International Water Protection Commission for Lake Constance (IWPC).
