River typology – the basis of river assessment

River assessment is based on river type-specific reference conditions. The more a river stretch is deviating from the reference condition, the worse is its ecological status.

Map of German river types

Thus, a river typology has been developed for Germany, presently comprising 24 river types:

• 4 types in the Alps and in the pre-alpine areas

• 8 types in the lower mountainous areas

• 8 types in the lowlands

• 4 types occurring in different ecoregions

Precise information is provided by the "Map of German river types" and by the documents "Short description of German river types".