Impact of climate change on the discharge of the river Rhine : a case study for a sub-basin in the lowland part of the Rhine system, the Overijsselsche Vecht

For the river Rhine changes in the discharge regime can affect important river functions as safety, shipping, ecology and water supply. Against this background the International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine basin (CHR) initiated a project to assess the effects of climate and land use changes for the discharge regime of the Rhine. The main purpose of this project is the development of a water management model for the whole Rhine basin. This model should be suitable to analyse the effects of climate and land use changes for total discharge and its distribution over the year, as well as for the height and frequency of discharge peaks. The consequences for water management strategies should become clear. The model should also be used to examine the effectiveness of mitigating measures. Several institutes from the Rhine riparian states cooperate in the project.