Structure and legal form of the Ruhrverband: Bodies and self-administration

Structure and legal form of the Ruhrverband

The Ruhrverband, a public corporation, has united two traditional water associations since 1990 and manages itself under the supervision of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Its organisational structure, which is similar to that of a public limited company, enables its members to play an active role in shaping the association.

The Ruhrverband is a corporation under public law. It can look back on almost one hundred years of water management practice. In 1913, Prussian special laws established the former Ruhrverband and the former Ruhrtalsperrenverein. The Ruhrtalsperrenverein already existed from 1898 to 1913 as an association under private law. With the revision of the Ruhrverband Act, the two water associations were merged on 1 July 1990 to form today's Ruhrverband. The association manages itself, but is under the legal supervision of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This supervision is carried out by the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

Since 1990, the Ruhrverband has had an internal structure similar to that of a public limited company. The bodies of the Ruhrverband are the Association Assembly, the Association Council and the Association Administration. The rights and duties of the respective bodies of the Ruhrverband are defined in the Ruhrverband Act, in the Ruhrverband's statutes, in the rules of procedure of the Executive Board and in the rules of procedure for the association administration.

Up to 152 delegates can belong to the Association Assembly. Of these, up to 150 are delegated by the members of the association or elected by voting groups. The number of delegates of a member or member group is based on the amount of contributions paid, whereby the amount of contributions is calculated according to the amount of water withdrawn or the pollution loads discharged. Two delegates are delegated by the Chamber of Agriculture.

Tasks of the association assembly:

Drawing up the association's statutes
Preparation of the assessment guidelines
Election of the Association Council
Approval of the annual financial statements
Approval of the business plan
Preparation of the overviews in accordance with Section 3 (2) RuhrVG and the wastewater disposal concept in accordance with Section 53 LWG

In accordance with the new version of the Ruhrverband Act of 7 February 1990, the delegates of the member groups are delegated to the Association Assembly for five years.

To the Ruhrverband Act

To the statutes of the Ruhrverband

The fifteen-member Association Council consists of seven members from the group of municipalities and districts, two members from the group of water users, one member from the group of commercial companies and five employee representatives.

Chairman: Lord Mayor Thomas Kufen, City of Essen
Deputy Chairman: Dr Dirk Waider, Gelsenwasser AG

Group of water users:

Dr Dirk Waider, Gelsenwasser AG
Dr Franz-Josef Schulte, RWW Rhein.-Westf.-Wasserwerksges. mbH

Group of commercial companies:

Klaus-Werner Ostmeier, Kabel Premium Pulp & Paper GmbH

Group of independent cities, towns and municipalities:

Vera Besten, City of Hagen
Dr Jacqueline Bila, City of Sundern
Lisa Chiarelli, City of Altena
Züleyha Demir, City of Bochum
Lord Mayor Thomas Kufen, City of Essen
Jochen Ritter MdL, City of Olpe

Group of districts:

District Administrator Dr Karl Schneider, Hochsauerlandkreis

Employee representatives:
Employees of the association:

Bernd Guske, Chairman of the Staff Council
Jörg Gilberg, 1st Deputy Chairman of the Staff Council
Martin Kelbert, 2nd Deputy Chairman of the Staff Council

Non-employees of the association:

David Lehmann, Trade Union Secretary, ver.di
Gabriele Schmidt, Regional Director, ver.di

The Association Council assumes the supervisory function over the management of the Executive Board. According to the Ruhrverband Act, at least two meetings of the Association Council must be held each year, at which issues relevant to the future development of the Ruhrverband are discussed in detail. The Association Council submits the business plan and the preparation of the overviews in accordance with Section 3 (2) RuhrVG and the wastewater disposal concept in accordance with Section 53 LWG to the Association Assembly for resolution and elects the Ruhrverband's Executive Board.

The association's administration is divided into three Executive Board divisions.

The Chairman's division includes the technical divisions Technical Operations and Central Technical Departments as well as the Corporate Communications department and the Internal Audit department.

The Human Resources, Administration and Social Affairs Board division comprises the Human Resources Management and Central Services departments, Purchasing as well as the Digitalisation department and the Equal Opportunities, Data Protection, Information Security and Occupational Safety officers.

The Finance Board department comprises the Finance, Legal and Real Estate and Information Technology departments.

This organisational structure came into force on 1 May 2024. The Ruhrverband employs a team of more than 1,000 engineers, chemists, biologists, supply and disposal specialists, lawyers, foresters, business people, electricians, IT specialists, administrative experts, wastewater treatment specialists, laboratory technicians, fitters and technicians to manage the wide range of legal tasks involved in water management.

Advantages of the association model

Member participation

Self-governance guarantees the participation of members in the fulfilment of tasks and in the specification of standards for the distribution of contributions. It is in the members' own interest to implement the polluter-pays principle, the guiding principle of modern environmental law.

Cross-regional responsibility

As the Ruhrverband is responsible for the entire Ruhr catchment area, it can base its tasks on the natural conditions and is independent of municipal boundaries.

Economic efficiency and financial flexibility

Thanks to its supra-regional orientation, the Ruhrverband utilises cost-reducing economies of scope in the planning, construction and operation of its facilities. As a public corporation with its own authority to make contributions and a high credit rating, the association also has access to low-interest municipal loans and funding programmes from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.