1. Division Water
OECD Environmental Performance Reviews Switzerland 2017 Water management
AOB – WD & MD – Tallinn

2. Switzerland – a few facts
Constitution: Water rights 26 Cantons
2300 municipalites responsible for
- drinking water (2500)
- waste water (800)
High and low population density
Lake Geneva to Lake of Konstanz
>400P/km2 comparable to the NL (411P/km2)

3. Switzerland – 41’000 km2 – 1.5 m rain/y
1700 – 1900 flood control:
Large river corrections
1900 – 1970 Culverted rivers
(4000 km = 7% of 65’000 km)
20% of agricultural land
is drained

4. Hydromorphology - Switzerland – 60% electricity by hydropower
Total: 1150 hydropower plants – (CH plans even more)
The 186 biggest (16%)
about 90% of the
production
The 417 biggest (36%)
about 98% of the
production

5. Negative impact of hydropower
1000 obstacles for fish migration
1500 water withdrawals
500 hydro power plants or other installations causing negative
effects on bed load budget
100 river stretches with
hydropeaking

6. Negative impact of hydropower
Mitigation measures:
Goal: reduce the negative impact
Deadline 2030
50 Mio Euro /y

7. Surface Water quality purified waste water from
sewage tretament plants
in Swiss rivers
rivers suffering from pesticide
inputs from agriculture
65 direct inputs from industrial
sewage treatment plants

8. Surface Water quality Mitigation measures
Pesticide risk-reduction plan:
Goal: 50% risk reduction
Deadline: 2030
Micropollutants from waste water
Goal: reduction of the load into rivers
of a a high load of waste water and from
the 12 largest WWTP (upper country responsability)

9. morphology 14’000 km modified rivers large river corrections
30 of 35 lakes with
regulated water level
torrent control

10. morphology Goal: 4000 km revitalised river streches Deadline: ca. 2080
50 Mio. Euro / year

11. Ground- and drinkingwater protection & quality
NO3 from agriculture
in groundwater
groundwater / drinking water
ressources in conflict with
traffic, settlements, agricultural
land use
impact on drinking water capture near rivers

12. Switzerland – agriculture – 1.5m rain/y
Agri-land use: ’000 km2
Lake G to L. K.: 5’000 km2
(and «intensive»)
CH: Producer support No 1
(OECD)
self supply 60% (kcal):
Land use – space for waters
High N, P and pesticide use:
Problems: P in 12 of 20 large lakes;
pesticides in middle and small rivers etc.

13. Recommendations on water management

14. Urban sewage treatment and micro-pollutant removal
upgrade sewage treatment plants with a view to reducing risks of water pollution by micro-pollutants; consider extending micro-pollutant abatement and control policy to industrial sewage.
Nutrient and pesticide management in agriculture
consider phasing in a pesticide taxation at production and wholesale points, based on toxicity.
Consider introducing a tax on nitrogen surpluses at the farm level as a sanction for noncompliance with legal requirements under the WPA.

15. River system rehabilitation
foster the role of well-functioning river systems as connection areas within the ecological infrastructure concept called for by the Swiss Biodiversity Strategy.
Consider revising long-standing rights of water use for power that impede rehabilitation of small rivers and designating selected river stretches as being of national importance, thereby triggering the weighing of interests between hydropower development and ecosystem rehabilitation for these river stretches.

16. River system rehabilitation
Ensure synergies and coherence between the different river rehabilitation objectives (flood protection, protection for nature and landscape etc.).
Extend water quality monitoring to small rivers and small lakes and improve understanding of their ecological functioning to develop protection measures, given their ecological importance and their high exposure to agricultural pollution.

17. Drinking water supply and groundwater protection
Consider making the delimitation of groundwater protection areas and groundwater protection zones legally binding and having them fall within the framework of cantonal and municipal land use plans.

18. OECD EPR-CH 2017
Links OECD FOEN

19. International cooperation
ICPR
IGKB
CIPEL
Four major European rivers take their source in the Swiss Alps:
Rhine NORTH SEA
Rhone Mediterranean Sea
Inn (which goes to the Danube) Black Sea
Ticino (which goes to the Po river in It) Med. Sea
This means that Switzerland shares with other European countries those river basins plus the one of Adige.
CIPAIS

20. THE END