Working Group of Water Management Associations in North Rhine-Westphalia

The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wasserwirtschaftsverbände in Nordrhein-Westfalen (agw) — in English, the Working Group of Water Management Associations in North Rhine-Westphalia — is a consortium of eleven large water management associations (Wasserwirtschaftsverbände) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded on 25 January 2006 and headquartered in Bergheim, the agw serves as a joint platform for its members to communicate water policy topics to the public and to represent their shared interests before political bodies and state administration. Its members together cover roughly two-thirds of the state's territory and operate a substantial infrastructure network: as of 2024, 282 wastewater treatment plants with a combined capacity of 17 million population equivalents, 1,799 stormwater treatment facilities, 32 dams with a total volume of about 128 million cubic metres (providing 99 million cubic metres of drinking water reserve), and 17,672 kilometres of flowing watercourses. The member associations employ around 6,000 people. The agw's mission centres on integrated river basin management that transcends municipal boundaries, ensuring responsible use of water as a foundation of life. It promotes exchange and cooperation among its members, advocates for sustainable water management, and works to raise public awareness of water's importance. A particular focus is placed on attracting young professionals to the water sector. The working group operates a head office (Geschäftsstelle) and a board (Vorstand), and maintains an intranet as a central information hub for its working groups. The eleven member associations are: Aggerverband, Bergisch-Rheinischer Wasserverband, Emschergenossenschaft, Lippeverband, Erftverband, Linksniederrheinische Entwässerungs-Genossenschaft (LINEG), Niersverband, Ruhrverband, Wahnbachtalsperrenverband, Wasserverband Eifel-Rur, and Wupperverband. Nine of the eleven are special-statutory water associations (sondergesetzliche Wasserverbände), while the Bergisch-Rheinischer Wasserverband and the Wahnbachtalsperrenverband operate as water and soil associations (Wasser- und Bodenverband). These special-statutory associations are unique in Germany: they are democratically legitimised institutions acting on a public-law basis for a solidarity-based, sustainable and holistic water management, and they perform self-administration of water management as non-profit entities, thereby relieving the state of certain responsibilities. The agw is not a commercial company in the conventional sense but a non-profit working group. It does not sell products; its "offerings" are coordination, representation, public communication, and joint initiatives such as the Abwasserwärme (wastewater heat) initiative in NRW. Through its website and news service, it publishes updates on EU water policy, flood protection, and regulatory developments affecting the water sector.

The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wasserwirtschaftsverbände in Nordrhein-Westfalen (agw) was founded on 25 January 2006 as a working group of several water management associations in North Rhine-Westphalia. Its establishment reflected a desire among the state's large water associations to coordinate their public communication on water policy topics and to jointly represent their interests vis-à-vis political bodies and the state administration. The agw is headquartered in Bergheim. The member associations themselves have much longer histories, many dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when industrialisation and urbanisation in the Ruhr region and Rhineland created urgent needs for wastewater treatment, flood control, and drinking water supply. These associations operate on a special statutory basis (sondergesetzlich) that is unique in Germany, combining democratic self-administration with public-law mandates. By joining the agw, they created a collective voice for integrated river basin management that transcends municipal boundaries. Since 2006, the agw has grown into a significant coordination body. Its eleven members together cover roughly two-thirds of North Rhine-Westphalia's territory. As of 2024, they operate 282 wastewater treatment plants with a combined capacity of 17 million population equivalents, 1,799 stormwater treatment facilities, 32 dams with a total volume of about 128 million cubic metres (providing 99 million cubic metres of drinking water reserve), and manage 17,672 kilometres of flowing watercourses. The associations employ around 6,000 people. The agw's activities include promoting exchange and cooperation among members, advocating for sustainable water management, communicating water policy topics to the public in an accessible way, and attracting young professionals to the water sector. It maintains a head office and a board, and operates an intranet as a central information hub for its working groups. Recent news items on its website cover topics such as EU water policy, flood protection five years after a major flood disaster, the EU Parliament's call for temporary suspension of extended producer responsibility and the 4th treatment stage, the Abwasserwärme (wastewater heat) initiative in NRW, the entry into force of a water package, and a national restoration plan hearing. These indicate the agw's ongoing engagement with regulatory and environmental developments at both state and EU levels.

• agw founded as a working group of water management associations in North Rhine-Westphalia.

• Member associations operate 282 wastewater treatment plants, 1,799 stormwater treatment facilities, 32 dams, and manage 17,672 km of watercourses, employing around 6,000 people.

Non-profit working group and public-law-oriented consortium representing the collective interests of North Rhine-Westphalia's major water management associations, focused on sustainable water management and public outreach.

Product categories. Integrated river basin management coordination · Public communication on water policy · Representation of member interests before politics and state administration · Joint initiatives such as Abwasserwärme (wastewater heat) in NRW · Promotion of young professionals for the water sector

1. 1AGW-NRW - Gemeinsam für eine nachhaltige Wasserzukunftagw-nw.de
2. 2AGW-NRW: Wasserwirtschaft aus einer Hand: die agwagw-nw.de
3. 3Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wasserwirtschaftsverbände in Nordrhein-Westfalende.wikipedia.org
4. 4Working group of water management associations in North Rhine-Westphaliawikidata.org