ABSTRACT
This chapter is a case study of an existing regional system of water resources management primarily directed toward the problems of water quality. The subjects are the eight large water resources associations operating in the Ruhr industrial area of West Germany: the Ruhrverband, the Emschergenossenschaft, the Ruhrtalsperrenverein, the Lippeverband, the Wupperverband, the Niersverband, the Linksniederrheinische-Enterwaesserungsgenossenschaft (Lineg), and the Erftverband (see Figure 39). These associations, generally referred to as Genossenschaften, are the only organizations in the world that have designed, built, and operated regional systems for waste disposal and water supply, Of equal interest, they have developed comparatively sophisticated methods of distributing the costs of their water quality operations by levying charges on the effluents discharged in their respective regions. The important role that such charges can play in attaining efficient systems has been described earlier. In this chapter the activities of the Genossenschaften are studied with reference to the economic concepts and criteria developed in this study. 1
