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Die Klimafolgenforschung ist sich darin einig, dass es in vielen Flussgebieten Mitteleuropas zu einer weiteren Zunahme der Häufigkeit und Höhe von Hochwasserereignissen kommen wird. Ein verstärkter Hochwasserschutz wird daher immer dringlicher werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird das geltende Hochwasserrecht darauf untersucht, inwieweit davon Impulse für einen verbesserten, insbesondere vorbeugenden Hochwasserschutz zu erwarten sind. Besondere Beachtung gilt dabei den jüngeren Entwicklungen, die dieses Recht durch die Hochwasserrichtlinie der EU von 2007 und die WHG-Novelle 2009 genommen hat -zu einer Zeit also, als dem Gesetzgeber die voraussichtlichen Hochwasserfolgen des Klimawandels bereits vor Augen standen.

The Taihu (Tai lake) region is one of the most economically prospering areas of China. Due to its location within this district of high anthropogenic activities, Taihu represents a drastic example of water pollution with nutrients (nitrogen, phosphate), organic contaminants and heavy metals. High nutrient levels combined with very shallow water create large eutrophication problems, threatening the drinking water supply of the surrounding cities. Within the international research project SIGN (SinoGerman Water Supply Network, www.water-sign.de), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), a powerful consortium of fifteen German partners is working on the overall aim of assuring good water quality from the source to the tap by taking the whole water cycle into account: The diverse research topics range from future proof strategies for urban catchment, innovative monitoring and early warning approaches for lake and drinking water, control and use of biological degradation processes, efficient water treatment technologies, adapted water distribution up to promoting sector policy by good governance. The implementation in China is warranted, since the leading Chinese research institutes as well as the most important local stakeholders, e.g. water suppliers, are involved.

Article 9 of the Water Framework Directive requires Member States to take account of the cost recovery principle with regard to “water services” and to provide, by water pricing policies, adequate economic incentives for an efficient and environmentally sound water usage. This contribution exposes the interpretation and implementation of Article 9 WFD in Germany. It shows that a stringent cost recovery approach is applied to classic water supply and that an incentivizing pricing instrument is implemented by most German States in the form of a water abstraction levy. However, this levy is not applied in all Stats and those applying it are making considerable exemptions for important water using industries. It is concluded that this is barely in line with Article 9 WFD.

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