Responsibilities and tasks of the WWK (= water board West German canals) are defined in the related statutes, enacted December 3, 1969,[1] based on a treaty between the German Federal Ministry for Transport and the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia [2] and an executive order of the Environment Ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany).
The responsibilities are solely covering the water supply sector and not the operation of the shipping canals that are under direction of the Federal Waterways Authority (Bundeswasserstraßenverwaltung[5]).
For the amount of water tapped by local clients individual permissions from the responsible municipal or District Council departments are obligatory.
Members of the WWK decide about the guidelines of the association, the business plan and fees, elect the chairman (“Verbandsvorsteher”) and chief operating officer (“Geschäftsführer”).
[1] The number of votes depends on the quantity to be received The control and supervision is carried out from a centralized telecontrol station[6] in Datteln The West German shipping canals serve the mass transportation in the Ruhr region between the rivers Rhine and Ems direction North Sea and via the Mittelland Canal to the Weser, Elbe, Oder and Vistula.
[5] The construction of artificial shipping canals was necessary in the industrialisation period of the Ruhr due to lacking transportation routes via capable, navigable rivers.
[7] The industrial development of the coal and steel industry and especially the coal-fired power stations after World War II meant a growing demand of service water (from the canals and the river Lippe) and a growing discharge of too warm and/or unsatisfactory treated waste water into the river Lippe.
Negotiations of the Lippeverband with the government of North Rhine Westphalia and with the Federal Waterways Authority (Bundeswasserstraßenverwaltung) were finally from 1968 on leading to new regulations: The ’’Wasserverband Westdeutsche Kanäle’’ WWK was established, consisting of representatives of the Lippeverband and the water users, accompanied by the Federal Waterways Authority and the Environment Ministry of North Rhine Westphalia[7] .
In the years 1973-1978 a series of new pumping stations was established that could serve the canals “upstream” from the rivers Rhine and Ruhr and discharge “downstream” in case the Lippe has enough water to supply with.
To balance the whole system the Stever – after being fed out of the canal in Senden – is backed-up in two water reservoirs (Talsperre Hullern and Halterner Stausee) of 32 million m3 capacity.
Along the canals industry and businesses consume about 60 million m3 annually for cooling, production, irrigation and the afore mentioned processing of ground water wells.
Frequent measurements of state-approved inspection authorities show results and values close to drinking water quality in the canals.