Water protection

Bodies of water are home to great biodiversity and constitute important habitats for flora and fauna. At the same time, they play a significant role in providing both potable and general service water. Sustainable water resource management preserves the basis of human life as well as the living environment of animals and plants. Water protection includes measures for the protection of surface water (rivers, lakes, streams, ponds etc.), as well as groundwater.

Water protection forms a significant part of municipal services in protection of the environment. In Germany, water protection is regulated through the ‘Landeswassergesetze’ (Federal State Water Laws) and the ‘Wasserhaushaltsgesetz’ (Water Management Act). The Wasserhaushaltsgesetz stipulates that users of bodies of water, who discharge more than 750 m³ on any given day need to appoint one or several water protection representatives (§ 64 par. 1 WHG). Besides an advisory role for the user of the body of water and their employees, the water protection representative’s task according to the Water Protection Act is to assess the condition of the waters on a yearly basis and to produce a written report on measures that have been taken or are intended for the future (§ 65 par. 1f WHG).

After more than 15 years experience in water management, IWR GmbH is a competent partner for all things water protection. We support cities and municipalities to plan and implement suitable measures to protect bodies of water, while fulfilling the legal requirements. Our qualified experts are happy to advise you on how to satisfy your legal obligations in regard to water protection and will also support you in the implementation of effective measures. As an external service provider we meet all requirements for a water protection representative and will produce the annual written report.

For the duties of the water protection representative we use a digital documentation system. The annual visual inspection of the discharge points, for example, can be logged with upkeepr, an app which we specifically developed. Upkeepr enables employees to create digital documentation on site and to attach images to it. The completed file with the images is then uploaded to a server and can be made available to all parties. The clearly laid out documents can be saved as PDFs and serve as evidence for the water authority.