The meeting of the leaders of River Commissions was held in Magdeburg (Germany) on August 21-22 2007

The meeting of the leaders of River Commissions was held in Magdeburg (Germany) on August 21-22 2007.The representatives of International Commission for Protection of River Moselle and Saar (Internationale Kommission zum Schutz der Mosel und der Saar), International Commission for the Protection of Odra River ( Internationale Kommission zum Schutz der Oder), International Meuse Commission (Commission Internationale de la Meuse), Common Wadden Sea Secretariat ( Gemeinsames Wattenmeersekretariat), International Commission for the Protection of Scheldt (Commission Internationale pour la Protection de l'Escaut), International Commission for the Protection of the Lake Geneva (Commission Internationale pour la protection des eaux du lac Léman), International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (Internationale Kommission zum Schutz des Rheins), ICPDR and Sava Commission attended the meeting.

The attendees mainly discussed the activities related to water management, flood protection and accident prevention with impact to the water quality. The Sava Commission is the youngest river commission in Europe, whilst some of the commissions were established more than 10 years ago. The exchange of experiences between different commissions is of importance for work of the Sava Commission in the field of water management, which contributes to promotion of our activities in Europe.

The purpose of the second day of the meeting was excursion to the cross-section of the inland waterways on river Elbe (more info on http://www.wsa-magdeburg.de), which was one of the first joint projects after the East and West Germany become united. The construction of the bridge for vessels across the Elbe has shorten and simplified the navigable link between Hanover and Berlin since the vessels do not need lifting from one to another levels with the locks.